More support for local businesses as Guyana, Barbados sign tourism agreement

The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and The Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI) have signed an agreement, that will see Guyanese tourism businesses benefitting from support from Barbados.

This is a result of the signing of the St. Barnabas Accord between President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley which covers tourism and international transport.

BCSI Executive Director, Michelle Smith-Mayers noted that this support will help solve some of the issues in relation to procedures, management within the hotel and restaurant sector, and other tourism businesses that need to improve the level of services.

“What we are trying to do is get an analysis of what the needs are. We know that a lot of those needs are going to be behavioural change,” she said.

However, Smith-Mayers noted that with Barbados’ help, Guyana does not have to “fight its way in the dark.”

“This is a cooperative partnership. This is not a situation where we are charging for these services. We feel that it is important for us to help the hotel association and help THAG to be strong because it will be very necessary to have a strong hospitality and tourism association in Guyana in the next few months and beyond,” she said.

President of THAG, Harrinand Persaud noted that Guyana can learn a lot from the experiences of Barbados.

“We do look forward to partnering up with you. We can definitely gain a lot from Barbados. They have been very busy and popular with tourists and Guyana is now in the spotlight. So, we hope that we can offer the same level of service and quality that Barbados is known for, and our presidents have definitely wanted us to cooperate and this is definitely a step in the right direction,” Persaud said.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of THAG, Oslyn Kirton noted that shortly more than 2,000 hotel rooms will be added to the current stock in Guyana.

She said with the new hotels under construction, this is a step in the right direction, stating the partnership and support are needed.

THAG has 42 members but provides service to 73 companies within the tourism industry, with more companies expected to sign on to benefit from the initiative.