Tourism will be key sector in Guyana’s economic transformation – Pres Ali

…says country has natural leverage from oil and gas sector

The tourism sector has been on a rebound in recent years, and according to President Dr Irfaan Ali, the Government will be leveraging Guyana’s oil and gas status to ensure it plays a key role in Guyana’s economic transformation.
Last week, President Ali spoke of the importance the Government places on tourism as an economic sector. According to President Ali, tourism will have a massive role to play in Guyana’s economic growth.

The President further noted that with the country’s natural advantages as an oil and gas producer, they can leverage that success to promote Guyana’s tourism product. Nor is this limited to tourism, as according to the President, his Government will also be doing same for the agriculture sector.
“We’re looking at health tourism. And tourism is going to be a massive asset for Guyana. And trust me. In maybe five to ten years, you will see tourism as one of the key sectors in our economic pillar of transformation. And that will come because of the natural leverage that Guyana is enjoying, with being in the spotlight.”
“There was a time, to get the economist magazine to come here, they didn’t even know where Guyana was. But today, because of one sector, oil and gas, we’re able to project the opportunities in many other sectors, including tourism and agriculture,” President Ali said.
Guyana is currently collaborating with a number of countries on sectors such as tourism. Just recently, Guyana signed an agreement with Costa Rica to further partnerships between the two countries in tourism.
Signing the Letter of Intent and Collaboration was Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond and the Costa Rican Minister of Tourism, William Rodriguez Lopez, at the Minister’s office at the Costa Rican Tourism Board Building in San Jose.
The agreement is aimed at strengthening tourism partnerships between the two countries and covers institutional arrangements and an action plan for knowledge sharing, technical support and other areas of collaboration.
There has also been talk of closer collaboration with Guyana and St Lucia and Ecuador, when it comes to tourism. A new Ambassador from Ecuador was recently accredited, with President Ali noting the importance of ties between Guyana and Ecuador and the potential for further collaboration in tourism and other areas.
In a statement, it was announced that President Ali accepted the Letters of Credence from Carlos Alberto Velastegui, Ecuador’s Non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
According to the statement, President Ali updated the Ambassador on Guyana’s development path and its leadership effort in climate, environmental services, energy, and food security. President Ali also emphasised the importance of further cooperation between the two countries, particularly in tourism and education.
Guyana is already working in collaboration with Barbados to twin the two countries’ tourism products and to share best practices for the sector. Last year, an agreement was signed by President Ali and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados to further facilitate relations between Guyana and Barbados, and collaboration in a number of areas, including tourism.
The agreement, called the Saint Barnabas Accord, was signed on the sidelines of the 43rd Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government meeting, and it paved the way for the two countries to further dialogue in nine specific areas. It was an updated agreement, since a previous Saint Barnabas Accord was signed between the two leaders. (G3)