Almost all local ‘bed and breakfast’ providers are fully booked for the upcoming Cricket Carnival and it is anticipated that the few remaining rooms will be reserved soon.
The ‘Bed and Breakfast’ initiative was implemented to provide additional accommodation to visitors for the first ever Cricket Carnival.
“So far we have 120 persons that have signed up and have enlisted with the bed and breakfast programme that is being run by the Guyana Tourism Authority, we have had great progress made so far over 80 rooms are completely booked out and paid for,” Kamrul Baksh, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) told the News Room on Monday at the sidelines of an event at Herdmanston Lodge in Georgetown.
This he said is quite significant and “actually in the next two weeks immediately preceding the Cricket Carnival, those rooms should be fully booked.”
Persons with apartments and houses are also being encouraged to come on board where they can provide accommodation and earn for the carnival period.
The Cricket Carnival will be hosted from September 16 to October 2, 2022, with several sports and entertainment events planned. Cricket Carnival will now be an annual event as Guyana is set to host the Hero Caribbean Premier League for the next three years.
The bed and breakfast programme was birthed out of the need for accommodation during Cricket Carnival but Baksh on Monday said it will continue beyond that. To ensure visitors experience a comfortable stay with quality amenities, Baksh said the GTA has already inspected the listed properties.
These properties are being marketed and promoted on Stabroek Travel, cricketcarnival592.com, GTA’s Facebook page and Airbnb.
With dozens of properties listed for bed and breakfast rentals, there are only 15 available hotels.
In addition, the government announced that it will build houses to rent to visitors and those proceeds will be used to fund houses for less fortunate families here.
The revenues earned will be used as a down payment at the commercial banks for housing solutions for the less fortunate.
