CTO confab urges regional approach

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CANA): The Caribbean Tourism Organisation's (CTO) Fourth Annual Confe-rence on Sustainable Tourism Development opened in Guyana Friday with speakers urging an integrated regional approach in the quest for the development of a sustainable tourism product.

The opening ceremony at Le Meridien Pegasus in Georgetown was formally opened by acting Guyana President, Sam Hinds and was attended by the Ministers of Tourism of Guyana and Barbados, CTO executives, diplomats, and close to 300 local and foreign delegates with links to the tourism industry.

The conference is being held under the theme "Keeping The Right Balance - Unlocking the Potential".

CTO Deputy Secretary General Karen Ford-Warner said the meeting provided the opportunity for regional and international experts from the public and private sectors and NGO community to discuss crucial matters pertaining to sustainable tourism in the Caribbean.

Understanding

"Our understanding of sustainable tourism development recognises that this industry must be built on the complex inter-relationship of economic environmental and socio-cultural factors with equity as the lynchpin. The real challenge is to convert this understanding into challenge into real policies, strategies and action," Mrs. Ford-Warner said.

Noting that Caribbean tourism was usually considered as "sea, sand and surf", Barbados Tourism Minister and CTO Chairman, Noel Lynch said Guyana "a nature lover's paradise and eco-tourist's dream" represents the untapped potential of the region's fastest growing industry.

He offered a CTO definition of sustainable tourism as "the optimal use of social, natural, cultural and financial resources for national development on an equitable and self-sustaining basis in order to provide a unique visitor's experience and improved quality of life through partnerships among governments, the private sector and communities (213)".

CTO Secretary General, Jean Holder expressed a vote of confidence in Guyana's role in the quest for sustainable tourism in the region.

He, however, suggested that Guyana would need to employ a three-pronged approach to ensure success. He called on the Government to demonstrate commitment to tourism by investing adequate human and financial resources and establishing a proper regulatory framework for the industry.

"Guyanese people will also have to be provided with information to enable them to share the vision of a tourism future for their country and make such adjustments as are necessary to deliver the highest level of service," Mr. Holder said.

"And thirdly, information about the tourism resources of Guyana will have to be effectively communicated by both the private and public sectors to the market place. We live in an information age and we are involved in an industry that operates on the cutting edge of information technology," he added.

The CTO Secretary General said the conference challenges Guyana as host country, at the highest policy political level to expose Guyanese and foreigners to its commitment to tourism and its current thoughts about developing a planned and sustainable tourism industry.

In addition to plenary and formal sessions, delegates will be taken on several tours around Georgetown and to several eco-tourism destinations.

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