GUYANA’S South Rupununi District is emerging as one of the country’s most sought-after tourism products, appealing to the adventurous and thrill-seeker masses who are looking for authentic and unique experiences.
Director of Guyana’s Tourism Authority (GTA), Kamrul Baksh, during a recent media familiarisation tour to several tourism products within the South Rupununi tourism circuit disclosed that a special programme is in the works to offer more funding, marketing, training and other support to several proprietors.
According to Baksh, the GTA, along with the Ministry of Tourism Industry and Commerce for the past three years, has been formally working with the circuit.
Already some $20 million has been invested in the tourism circuit, providing various training courses in hospitality.
“So far, we have invested over $20 million in this circuit, and we will continue to support the South Rupununi because we believe that the value proposition that the south offers to Guyana is quite immense,” Baksh told reporters at Wichabai Ranch.
Wichabai Ranch, located in the midst of South Rupununi mountains is among the several tourism products, the GTA and the ministry are collaborating on to accelerate both local and foreign tourism traffic.
While the already established North Rupununi circuit offers tourists a rainforest experience, the south circuit gravitates more to a ranch-like lifestyle, offering a unique experience of the savannahs and its wildlife, a product which the GTA is hoping to promote on a much larger scale.
“The north took several decades to get to where it is and what we are doing here now with our partners in a very tight-knitted eco-system is to ensure that we can bring the South Rupununi on par with the north within the next few years.”
Baksh noted that the GTA was working with its regional partners to secure funding, training and marketing opportunities to continue work with the hope of boosting the circuit over the next few years.
“We have recognised that the south has incredible products and, through the product development division, we have been working on creating more experiential products where persons who wish to venture deeper into Guyana would be able to have hands-on experience.”
One of these experiential products, is the Morai Morai Ranch in Katoonarib, which offers an authentic eco-tourism experience and Saddle Mountain Ranch which offers the ultimate savannah experience.
Meanwhile, Amarissa Barker, Programme Manager at Visit Rupununni—a group of Rupununi tourism enterprises, during an interview with this publication, shared that looking ahead, there is a focus on marketing these new tourism products both locally and internationally.
These plans include participating in both local and international exhibitions to showcase these offerings and attract both local and foreign tourists.
“Now that some of these products have been developed, we need to work on marketing. We need to sell these products, not only to locals but also to foreigners as well.”
Already the implementation of several projects which included culinary, first aid, and tour guide training have been successful and, according to Barker, these only pave the way for greater advancement.
This post was originally published on here
