Congress adopts declaration of Georgetown

The 24th Inter-American Ministerial Congress on Tourism has ended in Guyana with the adoption of the “Declaration of Georgetown” that forms the basis for the development of partnerships for the growth of the tourism industry in the Americas.

Guyana’s Minister of Business with responsibility for Tourism, Dominic Gaskin, who chaired the conference, noted that a lot of the topics discussed were “very relevant to Guyana.

Very good exposure

“We have a lot to learn. We are fairly young as a tourism destination. To have all these expertise from different countries in the same room is very good exposure for us,” he said, adding “it was very valuable for us and it gave us a sense of where we are and where we need to go with tourism in Guyana.”

Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the Organization of American States, Kim Osborne, said, “What we had was strong indications of support, collaboration and co-operation between and among countries, to share dialogue and experiences, to share lessons learnt and good practices; to the extent that member states have offered co-operation to each other. We are grateful for the outcome of the meeting.

Emerging destination in the Americas

“Guyana did an amazing job at hosting and showing the product it has to offer. I think it hosting this ministerial congress really positions it as an emerging destination in the Americas with the flora and fauna, and amazing natural products. It is something people were not really aware of, and it was an opportunity to tell the rest of the Americas what Guyana has to offer.”

Earlier, a senior Caribbean tourism official said building resilience in the Caribbean tourism sector is a much broader subject than just focusing on structural resilience, as economic resilience is equally vital for the survival of the sector.

Caribbean – most dependent tourism region

Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Hugh Riley, told the Congress on Thursday, that the issue of building resilience is important and timely, since the Caribbean “is the most dependent tourism region on the planet.

Riley said if the Caribbean and the Americas are serious about being economic resilient, advocacy must be a mandate and that a sustainable marketing fund should be created, because marketing the Caribbean brand collectively and effectively is critical.

He said that if the countries pooled their resources together they will be a “powerful force to recon with out there in this competitive business” noting that brand leadership is a fundamental factor in building a resilient Caribbean tourism sector.