Georgetown: The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has completed two training sessions for the month of January on Experiential Travel.
The training is part of the Guyana SME Tourism Growth Accelerator Demonstration Project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. This project is focused on contributing to the development of new tourism products, capacity building within the GTA, and capacity building, entrepreneurship and enterprise development within the tourism private sector and host communities.
In full-day sessions held on January 6 – 10 and January 13 – 16, the ‘Train the Trainer’ and the general tourism sector participant session for the Experiential Travel Training were held at the Cara Lodge in Georgetown. A total of thirty-five (35) persons were trained (12 trainers and 23 trainees) which included participants from GuySuCo, Dagron Tours, Lokono Outdoors, Singing Chef Adventures, Odyssey Tours, Wilderness Evergreen, Iwokrama, Visit Rupununi and GTA team members. Along with the tourism stakeholders mentioned, four (4) indigenous communities that have emerging tourism products participated in this programme. These were namely Moraikobai, Wakapau, Capoey, and Akawini.
Mr. Matthew Humke, Director of Enterprise Development at Solimar International and of Trek Guatemala, led both of the trainings. He has over 20 years of experience in areas such as tourism training, tourism operations, sustainability best practices, and sales and marketing.
Experiential travel is a form of tourism designed and organised by local hosts in which travellers experience a country, city or particular place by actively and meaningfully engaging with its history, people, culture, food, and environment. These activities provide visitors with access to one-of-a-kind, insider experiences that engage all of the senses. Examples of experiential travel include exploring a food market with a local chef and sampling fruits and snacks, dining in a local host’s home, and learning traditional craft-making techniques. Shared characteristics include immersion and active participation in the experience, storytelling and learning and authenticity.
The Experiential Travel training was tailored to provide local tourism stakeholders with the tools and insight that they need to create and deliver profitable tourism experiences. The ‘Train the Trainer’ session aimed to equip the pre-qualified individuals within the sector with the knowledge and technique needed to execute future trainings in this area. The participants were also provided with an Experiential Travel Workbook to inform and guide product development.
Davina Layne, Manager of Training, Licensing & Operations within the Travel Industry Development Division (TIDD) at the GTA also provided participants with the requirements for licensing a tourism business as it relates to the existing regulations and the new Experiential Travel regulations being developed by the Authority.
The GTA remains committed to elevating the tourism sector and will be hosting a series of training programmes throughout 2020. For more information on Guyana’s training initiatives
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