Georgetown : The 13th Sustainable Tourism Development Conference (STC) was officially opened last evening at the Guyana International Conference Centre.
Guest speaker Minister Skerritt who is also the Minister of Tourism and International Transport of St Kitts and Nevis made reference to the leadership Guyana has shown on the world stage to the fight against global carbon emissions.
“I believe it was the result of a deliberate decision by the leadership of this country to stand up and be counted in the global fight against the vast extremes of climate change and of course lead by example,” Minister Skerritt remarked.
Guyana’s decision not to exploit the extraction of its timber resources for economic gain as a result of pressures from the economic imperatives but instead dedicated its 40 million hectares of rainforests to the fight against climate change was hailed as 'responsible decision making'. “It is therefore my pleasure today to add to the global appreciation and applause to the Guyana Government and people for placing such high value on your biodiversity conservation, ecosystems management and climate change adaptation efforts,” Minister Skerritt said.
The four-day conference is being held under the theme “Keeping the Right Balance: Sustaining our Resources,” with attention focusing on exploring best practices on how tourism sustainability and engaged communities can better interconnect with biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation initiatives.
Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce (ag) Irfaan Ali reiterated the Guyana Government’s view that “eco-incentives and benefits must be skewed in the direction of motivating investments in sustainable tourism.” Acknowledging that some tourism sectors are much larger than others, Minister Ali called for the establishment of an integrated marketing plan that fuses the advantages of each of the countries of the region.
Minister Ali explained the plan should be structured with enough robustness to withstand external shocks and at the same time create avenues for new opportunities.
Participants of this year’s conference include a pool of leading local, regional and international tourism experts and practitioners who will share through learning sessions, panel discussions.
Excursions to some of Guyana’s “best kept secrets” are also part of the programme.
Minister Ali told the delegates that Guyana’s geographic position in South America makes it a prime spot for opening up opportunities for the rest of the Caribbean in the area of market and transportation access to both Suriname and Brazil.
Over 30 International media organizations and over 12 international speakers are scheduled to participate in the STC 13.
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