Guyana makes Forbes Top 50 best places to visit post-pandemic

Guyana has once again made the list of top travel destinations, this time on Forbes Advisor’s ‘Top 50 Best Places to Visit Post- Pandemic.’

In its latest edition, published last Thursday, Forbes stated that while Guyana is South America’s only English-speaking country, it has not been widely explored. It also listed some of the country’s most notable features including the majestic Kaieteur Falls and rich wildlife, and advised travellers to “strap on an adventure mindset.”

With regards to travelling post pandemic, the article noted that “more people are being vaccinated every day and travel is already top of mind. Suddenly, the whole world feels in reach again, even if travel restrictions haven’t quite been lifted yet.”

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Ms. Carla James-Vantull said she is pleased with Guyana’s listing.  She said it reinforces the country’s marketing message that it is uniquely positioned as one of the safest destinations in relation to social distancing. She also said the vast, pristine, open landscapes and small group numbers lend to a more intimate tourism experience which ideal for travel in the “new norm” post-COVID travel.

“Significant efforts were made by the GTA to develop recommended hygiene and sanitation protocols for the sector, and capacity building and technical assistance to support the implementation of those protocols at a business and community level. These efforts along with our conditional approval system gives us the confidence to boast that Guyana is safe for travel,” Ms. James-Vantull said.

She told DPI that the vaccination programmes in Guyana and worldwide would restart the tourism industry.

“Which is why we urge and appeal to people to be educated about the vaccine, understand it, and get vaccinated so that we could accomplish that 80 per cent vaccination of our population so that we can achieve herd immunity and that’s really what’s going to open – tourism.”

She said Guyana has seen a decline to 58.8 per cent between January to March when compared to the same period last year. However, the industry started seeing an uptick of 4.2 per cent in March, which indicated a return to tourism and travel.

“Guyana is truly a safe place to travel. Our tours are designed with small group sizes, open spaces, small lodges so you really don’t have mass tourism or where large gatherings is an issue, so we are really well positioned on that front.

Our tourism sector in Guyana is very resilient and we have been able to see that in how they were able to cope in this time of the pandemic. Our borders were shut down since March 18, which basically meant that they could not operate at least for eight or nine months, until we would have worked on a reopening plan,” the GTA Director said.

Guyana’s tourism sector has been gaining more recognition over the past few years, as tourists explore more exciting places to visit.