guyana tourism news january 2013 issue

4
them as they embarked on their journey to explore Guyana. “For me it seems like an emerg- ing destination, it seems as though you are interested in promoting eco tourism and that is my main interest. I think the pristine environment is the main attraction”. Travel enthusiast, Julia Dimon explained. Adventure Life’ believes that travel should inspire, be au- thentic and it should reflect passion and personality. As they seek to showcase this, two representatives from Ad- venture Life, Ms. Julia Dimon and Mr. Matthew Rutherford have journeyed to Guyana for the first time, to capture the essence of the destination and to connect with the people. Dimon, a Travel Writer and TV Travel Host has visited more than 80 countries across the globe, and she will speak of her experiences in Guyana when she appears on the New York Times Travel Show, and LA Times Travel Show, in Janu- ary and February respectively of this year. This venture was made possi- ble through collaboration be- tween the GTA and Wilder- ness Explorers, who will serve as the official Tour Guide of the visitors while they are in Guyana and with support from the management of Iwokrama, Surama and Rewa. From surviving the night in the forest to navigating the city streets, the duo was assured of an exciting, exhilarating experience as they begin their “Amazon Adventure”. Ms. Dimon also secured a commitment from Outside TV (an extension of Outside Magazine) and the Travel Channel to feature the desti- nation in addition to the promise of a write up of the destination in an MSNBC article. Alluding to the importance of this exposure, the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Min- ister, Irfaan Ali said “Adventure Life is here and we are working with Wilder- ness Explorers to facilitate the trip. This program has a wide viewership and it forms part of our strategy this year to attract more film/ documentary crews and travel writers to the destina- tion”. Through their customised itinerary, the travel writers will be able to maximise on the experiences over the next eight days as they visit several areas across the country, including Rewa, Surama, Iwokrama, Atta Lodge and several sites in Georgetown. Both representatives ex- pressed excitement and great expectation over all the possibilities that awaited Beginning with A Blast...Guyana to be featured at International Travel Shows early in 2013 Guyana Tourism Authority January 2013 Issue Guyana On Show Inside this issue: Easier Entry for Yachts 2 Photo Competition a Success 2 Beautification Pro- gramme Launched 2 Massive Plans for Mash 2013 3 6th Edition of Guy- anaWhere and What launched 4 Review of Safety Guidelines for Wa- ter Sports 5 Ms. Julia Dimon and her co- worker Mr. Mathew Ruther- ford meeting with the GTA Director, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh

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Our Monthly Newsletter - January 2013 Issue

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Page 1: Guyana tourism news january 2013 issue

Caption describing

picture or graphic.

them as they embarked on their journey to explore Guyana. “For me it seems like an emerg-

ing destination, it seems as

though you are interested in

promoting eco tourism and that

is my main interest. I think the

pristine environment is the main

attraction”. Travel enthusiast,

Julia Dimon explained.

‘Adventure Life’ believes that

travel should inspire, be au-thentic and it should reflect passion and personality. As they seek to showcase this, two representatives from Ad-venture Life, Ms. Julia Dimon and Mr. Matthew Rutherford have journeyed to Guyana for the first time, to capture the essence of the destination and to connect with the people. Dimon, a Travel Writer and TV Travel Host has visited more than 80 countries across the globe, and she will speak of her experiences in Guyana when she appears on the New York Times Travel Show, and LA Times Travel Show, in Janu-ary and February respectively of this year. This venture was made possi-ble through collaboration be-tween the GTA and Wilder-ness Explorers, who will serve as the official Tour Guide of the visitors while they are in Guyana and with support from the management of Iwokrama, Surama and Rewa. From surviving the night in the forest to navigating the city streets, the duo was assured of an exciting, exhilarating experience as they begin their “Amazon Adventure”.

Ms. Dimon also secured a commitment from Outside TV (an extension of Outside Magazine) and the Travel Channel to feature the desti-nation in addition to the promise of a write up of the destination in an MSNBC article. Alluding to the importance of this exposure, the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Min-ister, Irfaan Ali said “Adventure Life is here and we are working with Wilder-ness Explorers to facilitate the trip. This program has a wide viewership and it forms part of our strategy this year to attract more film/documentary crews and travel writers to the destina-tion”. Through their customised itinerary, the travel writers will be able to maximise on the experiences over the next eight days as they visit several areas across the country, including Rewa, Surama, Iwokrama, Atta Lodge and several sites in Georgetown. Both representatives ex-pressed excitement and great expectation over all the possibilities that awaited

Beginning with A Blast...Guyana to be featured at International Travel Shows early in 2013

Guyana Tourism Authority

January 2013 Issue

Guyana On Show

Inside this

issue:

Easier Entry for

Yachts

2

Photo Competition

a Success

2

Beautification Pro-

gramme Launched

2

Massive Plans for

Mash 2013

3

6th Edition of Guy-

ana—Where and

What launched

4

Review of Safety

Guidelines for Wa-

ter Sports

5

Ms. Julia Dimon and her co-

worker Mr. Mathew Ruther-

ford meeting with the GTA

Director, Mr. Indranauth

Haralsingh

Page 2: Guyana tourism news january 2013 issue

a Nikon COOLPIX Aw100, 16 Megapixels, water proof, shoot proof, freeze proof digital camera with GPS and full HD 1080p Video, a Canon SELPHY CP900 Black Wireless Colour Photo Printer and a Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline, Tripod and Ball head and a Nikon D7000: From Snapshots to Great Shoots photography book. The winners lauded the GTA

2nd Place went to Amanda Rich-ards and her photo, in the cate-gory of Scenery, which depicted the old koker at Mon Repos. Her camera of choice was the Nikon D7000. 3rd Place also went to Amanda Richards and her photo, in the category of attractions, which

captured City Hall. Her camera of choice was the Nikon D7000.The prizes awarded to first, second and third place winners respectively included

for the activity and expressed gratitude for having an outlet to showcase their pictures; they also made valuable sug-gestions on ways to expand and improve the contest this year. Entry into the competition

was free and was open to all

amateur photographers over

21 years.

The Guyana Tourism Author-ity (GTA) will be hosting a series of consultations, this year, with local stakeholders to review existing safety guidelines for regattas and water based activities in Guy-ana. In recognition of the popularity and growing inter-est in the regattas as a sport-ing activity, the Authority is using the opportunity to re-vise and reformulate safety policies and to implement non existent ones.

Inside Story Headline

Capturing Guyana’s Beauty... ‘See it, Snap

it’ Photo Competition a Success

Richards who won both sec-ond and first places, were presented with their prizes last week in a simple cere-mony at the GTA office in Sophia. According to the GTA Direc-tor, Indranauth Haralsingh, this activity was conceptual-ized to encourage persons to capture and share the beauty of Guyana with as many per-sons as they can.A panel of judges selected the winning three (3) from a total of sev-

enty (70) photographs in the three categories; attractions, scenery and culture. 1st Place went to Duane De-

freitas and his photo, which

was in the category of people

and which depicted running

rapids in a canoe, just below

Carona Falls. His camera of

choice was a Nikon D200.

Even more persons are being encouraged to appreciate and capture Guyana’s beauty through the Guyana Tourism Authority’s amateur ‘ See it, snap it’ photo competition. This contest formed part of the Authority’s Tourism Awareness Month Activities in November 2012, and at-tracted widespread participa-tion from persons across the country. The three winners, Duane Defreitas, who copped first position and Amanda

“We Just wanted to

encourage

everybody to see it,

snap it and send it.

A picture sends a

thousand words and

we can share so

much of Guyana by

sending photos.”

Page 2

GTA reps meet with Re-

gatta Organisers

The Winners of the Photo

Competition with the

GTA Director, Mr.

Haralsingh

GTA Reviewing Safety Policies and Guidelines for Water Based

Sports

The Ministry and the GTA will then use the revised rules as criteria for the endorsement and support of any local water based activity.

Towards this end, the first in a

series of meetings was held last

week, in Parika, with Region 7

Chairman, Mr. Gordon Brad-

ford, and President of the Boat

Racing Association of Guyana,

Mr. Winston Miller and the

Director of Mainstay Resort,

Mr. Wilfred Jagnarine .

During the interactive ses-

sion, the participants dis-

cussed the relevance of the

existing rules and made rele-

vant suggestions including,

the availability of a medi- vac

air craft, the presence of

additional medical person-

nel, a review of the course

layout and the screening of

competitors for alcohol con-

sumption, among others.

Page 3: Guyana tourism news january 2013 issue

The tourism ministry is set to work aggressively this year to boost arrivals, increase occu-pancy and to create and to sustain demands for `Destination Guyana’. Minister with the portfolio, Ifraan Ali, made this bold announcement during a press briefing last week, where he outlined the various strate-gies that will be pursued to

achieve these goals. Accord-ing to Ali, one of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013 for the

Mashramani celebrations in February, which will be de-signed to target the needs of all visitors particularly those from the neighboring coun-tries of Brazil, Surinameand Trinidad. He explained, “One of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013, you will know that we have a lot of Guyanese returning home for Mashramani but we have not, in a structured way been able to target the potential of our neighbors”. In this re-

gard, the Ministry will focus its energies on attracting the participation of a 30 mem-ber Brazilian Samba Band, which has the potential to attract as much as 400 ‘followers’ to Guyana. “this will be utilized as the

vehicle through which we

can attract an average of

400 tourist. We are working

with the state of Rorima and

Tourism agencies within the

state to promote and sell

packages,” Minister Ali ex-

Tourism Ministry to continue aggressive marketing

strategy….massive plans for `Mash’ 2013

Urban Beautification for a Living City … Tourism Ministry, M&CC

and Business to collaborate

Taking steps to honour their corporate social responsibil-ity, members of the business-community ,yesterday, met with Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali as his Ministry unveiled their ‘Urban Beautification Plans’ for a section the City. In his address to the gather-ing, which included his Wor-ship the Mayor of George-town, Hamilton Green, Minis-ter Ali pointed to the benefits of collaboration, made mani-fest in the success of the Par-liament Square project. “We have been successful in trans-forming the area on Brick-dam, now known as Parlia-ment Square. This was made possible through collabora-tion with the Private Sector, and forms part of the wider ‘Brickdam Renewal Plan’,” he explained.

Page 3

Scenes from Mash 2012

The tourism minister revealed that a massive ‘street celebration’ is being conceptualized as part of the plan to at-tract more persons for the upcoming Mashra-mani celebrations and to magnify the significances of the occasions.

According to the Minister, a similar such beautification and city enhancement pro-ject for the Tourism Ministry will bring with it a plethora of benefits for all involved, in-cluding the citizenry and the private sector. Ali also pointed to similar such en-hancement projects launched in various parts of the world which have trans-formed “depressed” areas into beautiful spaces. Allud-

ing to the Ministry’s contri-

bution to the overall beautifi-cation effort, he revealed plans to erect a Waterfall directly in front of the South Road office, which will stretch to include paved walkways for pedestrians. On this note Minister Ali called on the members of the busi-ness community to also con-sider partnership for this project .

Mayor Green lauded the Minister for the initiative and expressed the hope that the project will become a “flagship” for other such activities, which will be ex-tended across the country, and which will have the in-put of the populace. Pointing to the challenges, Green acknowledged the need for the “policing” of the area and encouraged the inclusion of a wider section of soci-ety, particularly the school population.

Ministry of Tourism held first stakeholders meeting

on Beautification exercise.

Page 4: Guyana tourism news january 2013 issue

Minister of Tourism (ag) Irfaan Ali and representa-tives of THAG, GTA and the Editor and Producer of the 2013 ‘Guyana Where & What’ Guide at a sim-ple launching ceremony.

Sixth Edition of Guyana

“Where and What” launched

The sixth edition of the “Guyana Where and What”, a magazine which serves as a tour guide for tourist and visitors to Guyana’s shores, was officially launched, yesterday, at the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, South Road office.

Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister (ag), Irfaan Ali used the op-portunity to congratulate its author, Mrs. Gem Madhoo-Nascimento on yet another successful edition, which he said will significantly aid in the enhancement of the tourism sector.He explained too that the guide will serve to complement other local publications, such as the GTA’smonthly newsletter, the Explore Guyana Magazine and the recently conceptual-ized Invest Guyana Magazine; which will have its primary focus on the

Tourism Sector.

Tourism Ministry to Continue Aggressive

marketing Strategy

The Tourism Ministry is set to work aggressively this year to boost arrivals, increase occu-pancy and to create and to sustain demands for ‘Destination Guyana’.

Minister with the portfolio, Irfaan Ali, made this bold an-nouncement during a press briefing last week, where he outlined the various strategies that will be pursued to achieve these goals.

According to Ali, one of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013 for the Mashramani celebrations in February, which will be de-signed to target the needs of all visitors particularly those from the neighbouring countries of Brazil, Suriname and Trinidad.

He explained, “One of the main initiatives is the launch of a visi-tor plan for 2013, you will know that we have a lot of Guyanese returning home for Mashramani but we have not, in a structured way been able to target the po-tential of our neighbours.” In this regard, the Ministry will focus its energies on attracting the participation of a 30 mem-ber Brazilian Samba Band, which has the potential to attract as much as 400 ‘followers’ to Guy-ana.

“This will be utilized as the vehi-cle through which we can attract an average of 400 tourists. We are working with the state of Roraima and tourism agencies within the State to promote and sell packages,” Minister Ali ex-plained.

In addition to this, there is also strong interest from a Surinam-ese delegation from the Aptijt (pronounced Uptake) Band , which is one of the leading Bands in that country with a following of at least 500 per-sons. Alluding to the benefits of these and other interests, Ali said, “We are already working to make this happen. In addi-tion to this, there is also strong interest from Trinidad, where persons will also celebrating Carnival close to Mashra-mani. We want to target that population and offer Guyana as the potential destination that they can visit, we are going to promote our eco lodges and resorts and river tours.”

The Tourism Minister re-vealed that a massive ‘Street Celebration’ is being conceptualized as part of the plan to attract more persons for the upcoming Mashramani celebrations and to magnify the signifi-cance of the occasion.