| – plans to host Wildlife Festival in 2015Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority Indranauth Haralsingh has deemed this year’s British Birdwatchers Fair (BBWF) a success, noting that Guyana broke its record of having 18 international tour operators proactively selling, promoting, and advertising destination Guyana, via their catalogues and websites.This was compared to just one such person, eight years ago, when Guyana first participated. Haralsingh said that tours are being advertised for Guyana in 2013, 2014, and 2015 are already receiving tremendous response.He explained that “a number of key meetings were held with tour operators who have a keen interest in selling destination Guyana. Expanding our sales and distribution network is critical to the growth and development of birding in Guyana. Fourteen companies and tour operators have a high interest in selling Guyana.”Dubbed the ‘International Wildlife Event of the Year’, the world’s largest bird festival, was organized by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in partnership with Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.This year, the Birdfair celebrated its 25th anniversary.“Birdfair attracts over 300 exhibitors and over 25,000 birdwatchers, nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, conservationists, etc from all over the world,” Haralsingh said, noting that bird watching is one of Guyana’s most successful niche products, the market for which is thriving.Guyana’s participating team included Wilderness Explorers,NFL Jerseys Cheap Authentic, Tony Thorne, Claire Antell, and Specialist Bird Guide, Mr. Luke Johnson.According to Haralsingh, “Bird fair 2013 was a very successful one for Guyana, in that our major objectives of promoting Guyana as a top bird watching destination, securing new leads, networking and obtaining feedback, delivering a presentation on Guyana’s biodiversity, hosting a Guyana Summer Destination Presentation Event, identifying potential tour operators/travel writers for a Guyana FAM trip, etc., were achieved.”He added that hundreds of persons visited and interacted with the team at the Guyana booth daily, and were very interested in Guyana as a holiday destination. He noted too that many had gone to the Guyana booth seeking information and samples of the award winning the El Dorado Rum.“Many visited because of the rising popularity of Guyana as a birding hotspot and as an off the beaten path birding destination with top species such as the Harpy Eagle, Red Siskin, Sun Parakeet, etc, along with amazing wildlife. The booth was also used as the venue for several meetings with tour operators and potential visitors and was a great forum and platform for networking,” Haralsingh further said.The Guyana team, he noted, also did presentations on Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, and the Forest.“A look at Biodiversity in Guyana was presented by Tony Thorne to an audience of about 80 persons. This presentation promoted Guyana as a wildlife rich and pristine destination worth exploring and visiting. This was well received as bird watchers are also keen to watch other wildlife on a birding trip. This kind of presentation helps to position and differentiate Guyana from its competitors,” the GTA Director posited.Last week, the Tourism Authority, and Wilderness Explorers met to discuss a proposed Wildlife Festival in Guyana in 2015. It was stated that this event will seek to have the participation of world famous wildlife experts, travel writers and authors (publications) and photographers for about eight to 10 days.“This festival will feature wildlife workshops and lectures, photography workshops, travel writing workshops and art workshops and will serve to attract the high end bird watchers from across the world,” Haralsingh said, adding that it will also help to raise the destination profile and help to position Guyana as a top birding and wildlife destination.Among those expected to participate is Chris Leadbeater, an Award Winning Journalist from the UK, who had promoted Guyana as one of his best and most memorable vacations, after he came in 2007. |
