With the promotion of eco tourism having been less than successful for Guyana, last week the Minister of Tourism announced a change in strategy. The country is largely covered in rainforest, home to rare butterflies, parrots, lizards and other exotic creatures, and boasts the world’s highest single waterfall – Kaietur. Georgetown, the capital, has some unique wooden buildings dating from as far back as the 18th century and St George’s Cathedral is possibly the world’s tallest freestanding wooden building. However, visitors have been slow to take advantage of all this English-speaking country has to offer and the airport sees only around 125,000 passengers a year.

At last week’s ceremony in Georgetown, the Minister of Tourism Mansoor Nadir announced that both the airport and the highway were in the process of modernization to enable the trip to the capital to be completed within 45 minutes. During his presentation Mr Nadir also said that a contract had been signed for the construction of a 320-room hotel with casino, completion due in 2008. Further developments included a Chinese funded convention centre and cricket stadium and a Canadian investment for a 150-room hotel close to the convention centre.

There was little elaboration on the cost of the new hotel casino or its investors, although it appears that the construction company is from New York. Guyana’s first casino will be built on the Caribbean coast where the River Demerara flows into the sea. Tiny Guyana and its 740,000 inhabitants will be hoping that the modernization projects, the new hotel developments and gambling revenues will do much to enhance the country’s economy by increasing the numbers of tourists. (E-06.28.05)

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