Guyana seeks Barbados assistance is setting up Hospitality Institute

Georgetown: Guyana has invited the Director of the Hospitality Institute of Barbados to visit Guyana and assist with the implementation of a phased approach for a local hospitality institute. This is according to Director of Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Indranauth Haralsingh.

Haralsingh explained that this same person completed the feasibility study for the local hospitality institute, with funding and backing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

While the feasibility study is complete, Guyana is still to do additional work on the hospitality institute which is desperately needed to build capacity, train and help Guyanese, and make Guyana’s tourism industry more competitive, Haralsingh was quoted by the Government Information Agency as saying.

But while the country awaits this infrastructure, critical to making the industry far greater, Haralsingh pointed out that the GTA continues to facilitate training, and is in fact, one of the key agencies that leads in tourism training and capacity building locally.

For this year alone, he noted, the agency has trained hundreds of persons across Guyana, thus far, even as it has as part of its agenda some key training coming up. Recently, the GTA completed Dutch language training at the border at Moleson Creek. This effort saw Guyanese working with the Canawaima ferry including the security personnel, port health and customs and immigration officials among others, being trained in conversation Dutch. Haralsingh explained that GTA also produced a booklet in conversation Dutch and an accompanying CD to assist with the training.

The agencies have also completed Spanish training with the front desk operators among others at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Haralsingh added. Moving forward, he said that in two weeks’ time, the agency is set to conduct some level of Portuguese language training at the border in Lethem.

Meanwhile, First aid and CPR were completed with the speedboat operators plying the Parika-Supenaam, Parika-Bartica and Vreed-en-Hoop-Stabroek route. Working in connection with the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), the GTA also completed training with boat captains for their licences.

And as it relates to educating the public on the importance of fostering tourism for the benefit of the country, Haralsingh explained that this is done through school talks and through the agencies’ participation at local trade shows and fairs.

The agency is working with the Tourism Ministry to have the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s module for primary schools implemented in the school system as part of pushing this agenda. At the level of the secondary school, this will be handled by the Ministry as soon as next year, as a Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) approved tourism education curriculum will be implemented.

And for the public, he explained that what is being examined is a general programme, whereby the “War on bad manners,” campaign is revived and rolled-out all across Guyana, “so that every Guyanese can be a good salesman or saleswoman for our country.”