Above: Rockstone in Guyana’s Region 10 (Photo: GINA)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana has the potential to become the Caribbean’s number one tourism destination, according to President Donald Ramotar.

“This is a growing and new sector in our society,” he said. “Those clever business people would do well as they have a great advantage to establish themselves in the industry as we will have a rush coming to the sector over the coming years as Guyana is an extremely beautiful country.”

Ramotar was speaking at the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana’s annual awards ceremony on Saturday.

“Government will inject the needed finances to clean up the city as the garbage situation poses a threat to the promotion of our tourism industry,” he said. “The objective is to have Georgetown return to the standard which it once had of being the garden city.”

Part of that push could come with help from new regional carrier REDjet, which brought 30,000 passengers to Guyana in December, according to Chairman Ian Burns.

“Guyana is well-positioned for a number of tourism activities such as eco-tourism and wildlife, coupled with the fact that Guyana has a rich culture and friendly people — nevertheless, tourism cannot go forward without collaboration,” Burns said.