Unlock urban tourism potential – Mexican ambassador urges local stakeholders

Whilst Guyana is well known by the tourist community for its lush rainforests and diverse ecosystems Mexico’s Ambassador to Guyana, Mauricio Vizcaíno Crespo, recently urged stakeholders within the industry to explore unconventional areas within the sector, highlighting that Guyana has major potential to develop tourism products within its urban centres.

The Ambassador made this highlight on Sunday during a recent edition of the energy perspectives podcast. When asked about what lessons Guyana could learn from Mexico on how to develop its own tourism product. Ambassador Crespo explained that whilst both country’s have scenic natural destinations, he urged Guyanese stakeholders within the industry to explore areas outside of ‘beach and sun tourism’ noting that the country’s urban centres have several locations that offers unique tourism experiences.
“But even for Guyana, with a more homogeneous territory, you also have so many scenarios that you have the rivers, you have the rainforest, you have the mountains, also the seaside. But there are so many other sides to the typical, we call it the beach and sun tourism.”
The Ambassador added. “Because many, many people think of Mexico, oh, beautiful beaches. We’re going to enjoy wonderful seafood. And they forget about the towns in the mainland all the development, for example, in Mexico City, which is also offering all sorts of tourism, medical tourism, shopping tourism, business tourism. And there are other places besides the beaches that are offering wedding tourism destinations so I think that Guyana has this particular opportunity to look around”.
“It’s already beautiful, it’s gorgeous, it’s exuberant. You have the bird watching and I was listening to one of my colleagues saying like, you don’t even have to drive into the forest to do the bird watching. You can do it standing on your garden on the street. There are like toucans, parrots, falcons. Every day I see falcons standing out of my window and that’s something that I think very few capital cities in the world can say.”
Recognizing that the government is currently working assiduously to develop the country’s infrastructure Ambassador Crespo noted that it is important for stakeholders to preserve these areas whilst undergoing this tranformation.
“you’re trying to modernize the infrastructure of the country, but keeping those streets available for you, the Guyanese, but also for the people visiting, must be the priority and that’s what we’ve done with our touristic destinations, like preserve the natural beauty, but at the same time, offer what people want, relaxation, again, medical services, business….i think that’s one thing that Guyana is starting to do and that you should continue on that path.”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, during the launch of the Annual One Guyana Christmas Village, President Dr Irfaan Ali announced that, thanks to robust policies and government interventions throughout the year, Guyana’s tourism sector has experienced significant growth in 2024.
On this point, the President revealed that come 2025, the tourism sector will reach its all-time high.
Only recently, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) launched seven new tourism experiences, in collaboration with the tourism private sector. These include the Rupununi Hiking and Cultural Expedition, Jaguar Tour, Jungle Survival Tour Rockstone, Kato Hiking and ATV adventure, Essequibo River Jungle Trip and Jonestown Memorial Tour.