The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) on Saturday announced the reopening of the Karanambu and Piraiba Lodges after “conditional approval was granted.”
A press release from the GTA noted that the approval is in keeping with the national COVID-19 measures and GTA’s hygiene and sanitation protocols, which allows for the lodges to recommence welcoming travellers to their properties.
This brings the total to 13 tourism businesses that have received conditional approval to reopen and are marked as safe for travel. According to the release, Director of the GTA, Carla James expressed her satisfaction at the consistent pace for which businesses have been granted their conditional approvals.
“Our team has been working assiduously with these businesses to ensure that they have all the necessary measures in place to safely reopen, and we will continue to monitor their adherence to all of the stipulated protocols as outlined by the Ministry of Health,” she was quoted as saying.
She further stated that, “2020 redefined the landscape for travel, creating a new normal, and in 2021 with the advent of a vaccine, we will welcome the opportunity for travellers to visit a safer Guyana.”
With this, she believes that 2021 will be a year of tremendous growth for Guyana’s tourism sector as it prepares to significantly bounce back.
Businesses that receive conditional approval are reminded to maintain the protocols as outlined by the GTA and the national Gazetted safety measures. Failure to adhere to these measures will result in the revocation of the conditional approval. Domestic and international travellers are recommended to use only GTA approved tourism businesses to book and plan their tour activities.
The GTA said it has increased the number of inspections and training to support tourism businesses with their preparations for safe reopening. As a reminder, this two-step process entails the submission of business written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to the GTA for a desk review and an on-site inspection of businesses to verify the implementation of the SOPS.
For more information on the two-step conditional approval process for reopening of tourism businesses, persons are asked to contact Micheala Lindore, Tourism Business Support Officer within the GTA at micheala@guyanatourism.com or Carla James, Director of the GTA at carla@guyanatourism.com.
