The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) received one of its biggest endorsements, yesterday, when the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) signed an agreement to support the Association’s administrative and marketing work over the next three years.GT&T’s Wyston Robertson and THAG’s Paul Stephenson after signing a three-year agreement to support the work of the Tourism Association. Signing the agreement on behalf of the company, GT&T’s Marketing Director Wyston Robertson, hailed the work of the Association, saying it began promoting tourism at a time when tourism was not seen as viable economic sector.The agreement sees THAG benefiting from $7.5 million – a huge boost for an Association striving for badly needed revenue to run its operations. Just recently, the Association had to fight off an attempt by the government’s regulatory body – the Guyana Tourism Authority – to publish a rival tourist guide to “Explore Guyana,” which serves as a main source of revenue for the Association.The relationship between THAG and the government has been testy of recent, but President of THAG, Paul Stephenson, said that the Association will still be pursuing support from the government, including subvention and support to attend international travel shows.Roberston described Guyana as the window of the Amazon, and said GT&T is pleased to support eco-tourism initiatives. For example, he said the company decided to support the Pakaraima Mountain Safari because the company is seeking to introduce telecommunications service to the mountain communities.Further, he said GT&T is moving to set up state-of-the-art telecommunications services at Kaieteur Falls, the country’s most famous tourist destination.Apart from seeking government support,Scarpe Yeezy Scontate, Stephenson said the Association will also be seeking to increase revenue by widening its membership base and attracting the kind of support from the corporate community like GT&T has provided.
