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Guyana Receives Overwhelming Interest at 2008 British Birdwatching Fair
Thanks in part to BBC's new three-part series on Guyana, Lost Land of the Jaguar, there was tremendous excitement among travelers and birdwatchers that visited Guyana's booth at the British Birdwatching Fair ("Birdfair"). This was the third year in a row that Guyana has been represented at Birdfair, which took place from August 15-17, 2008, at the Egleton Nature Reserve in Rutland Water, UK. The show features more than 300 exhibitors and thousands of visitors from around the world.
The Guyana booth included representatives from the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative (GSTI) - a joint effort between the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) / Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) project - as well as individuals from Wilderness Explorers, a Guyana-based tour operator, and Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.
This year was Birdfair's 20th anniversary, and for the first time the show had a special theme: the Caribbean. In celebration of this spotlight, the Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago booths sponsored a barbecue where more than 120 people danced to steel pan music and enjoyed rum punch provided by Demerara Distillers Ltd. Guyana was also featured in a special seminar by Ron Allicock, a ranger and birding guide at Iwokrama, and Tony Thorne, Managing Director of Wilderness Explorers, entitled "Guiana Shield Endemics: Where to Find Them In Guyana".
Greenheart Trust, which operated a second Guyana-themed booth focused on conservation activities in the South Rupununi, also received prominent attention at Birdfair, winning the prize for "Best Overseas Stand."
Guyana's involvement at Birdfair - and the growth in popularity over the years - is detailed in several press releases that can be viewed at the News section of our website.
A Guyanese Summer Evening Spotlights BBC Series and Bradt Guidebook
In August, more than 100 tour operators, media representatives, dignitaries and other tourism industry delegates attended a special event in London titled,A Guyanese Summer Evening, to learn about Guyana as a tourism destination. The highlight of the night was a presentation by Steve Greenwood, producer of the three-part BBC series on Guyana titled Lost Land of the Jaguar, which features stunning wildlife and awe-inspiring adventure.
Mr. Greenwood held the rapt attention of the audience as he played clips from the series and described a bit about what it was like to spend one month in the interior of Guyana with a team of 20 filmmakers. "Sometimes you go to a rainforest and see nothing but trees and ants and it's a bit dull. In Guyana you genuinely do see a high concentration of wildlife," he raved. The series aired in prime time in the UK - 6.1 million people watched the final episode - and is expected to reach a global audience of approximately 50 million people. Part of the goal of the program was to attract younger viewers and get them more interested in rainforest conservation.
The Honorable Laleshwar K. N. Singh, Guyanese High Commissioner to the UK, and Edward Glover, Chairman of the Iwokrama Board of Trustees and former British High Commissioner to Guyana, also spoke about the importance of rainforest conservation for both Guyana and the world. Mr. Glover noted that 119 million tons of carbon are stored in the Iwokrama forest, which represents 70% of the UK's annual greenhouse gas emissions.
The evening also served as the official launch for the Bradt Travel Guide to Guyana, the first comprehensive English-language guidebook to the country written by Kirk Smock. Donald Greig, Managing Director of Bradt Travel Guides, spoke about the growing interest in sustainable tourism and cited the rise in popularity of Guyana as a tourism destination, noting that the first customer to Bradt's booth at the British Birdwatching Fair came in search of the Guyana guidebook. The title was in such high demand that Bradt sold out by 3 pm on the first day of the fair.
A Guyanese Summer Evening was sponsored by Wilderness Explorers, a Guyana based tour operator, in collaboration with the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative (GSTI) - a joint program between the GTA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) / Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) project - Demerara Distillers Ltd., and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development. Hill & Knowlton kindly donated use of the venue.
For more information on the BBC series, visit www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/jaguar/; for more on the Guyana guidebook, see www.bradtguides.com.
North Rupununi Receives Assistance from British Columbia in Tourism Training
The North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) has partnered with the Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) of British Columbia, Canada, to undertake a targeted indigenous tourism training and product development program. Delivered in September 2008 with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Indigenous Peoples' Program and in-kind donations from local tourism suppliers, the program provided tourism basics training for two persons from each of the sixteen NRDDB communities and product development assistance for six area communities (Surama, Wowetta, Aranaputa, Fair View, Annai and Rupertee).
Conservation International Funds Rupununi Community Tourism
Conservation International (CI) is funding a Community Tourism Enterprise Development project in the Rupununi with a goal fostering the development of ecotourism (especially community-based ecotourism) that contributes to the conservation of natural and cultural resources while creating opportunities for the economic development of the region.
The project will seek to ensure that small-scale community and entrepreneur tourism development across the Rupununi region takes advantage of the area's unique resources in a well-planned and coordinated manner. The project will also ensure that a number of individual tourism products are provided with the technical assistance they require to successfully develop and form market linkages that will tie them to the national and international tourism industry.
Utilizing unique aspects of each community's heritage, the communities will work to develop a range of different tourism products that can be integrated into tourism packages in a complementary way. The project will support and coordinate the development of these products and develop a marketing plan that will establish linkages with tour operators selling the products.
Iwokrama Ranger, Ron Allicock Participates in Birding Guide Internship
Furthering the development of Guyana's local birdwatching guides, Iwokrama Ranger, Ron Allicock recently participated in the month-long International Intern Program at Joppa Flats, offered through the Joppa Flats Education Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and cosponsored by the American Birding Association (ABA).
The intern program is designed to enhance the professional skills of conservation staff, educators, and naturalist guides from Latin America. Participation in the program allows interns to increase their knowledge of North American birds, North American birdwatchers, and terminology related to guiding, while improving leadership skills. Interns graduate from the training program with an enhanced ability to develop and lead educational programs and research projects and implement conservation projects.
Participants of the program also received Swarovski binoculars and scope that were used in field trips to many protected areas in New England with top ornithologists and guides, such as Bill Peterson. The training will filter down to birding guides throughout Guyana, as Ron will be sharing his new knowledge to improve guiding skills throughout the country.
Birding and Fishing TV Series Filming in Guyana
Following a connection made at the 2008 American Birding Association convention in Snowbird, Utah, the producer of Birding Adventures and Reel Adventures confirmed that a crew will be visiting Guyana for ten days in October to film four television shows. Two of the shows will focus on birding and the other two on sport fishing in Guyana.
Birding Adventures, the first birding TV program that focuses on destination and adventure birdwatching, is billed as a show that, "explores the best exotic birding destinations on the planet; the most unusual, rare and highly sought after bird species; [and] amazing cultures and wildlife."
The programs will each reach a combined 11 million households in the southeastern United States. Tourism suppliers providing support throughout the filming will also receive advertising slots during the airing of the shows, further promoting Guyana as a birding and nature destination. For more information, visit www.birdingadventures.com.
Tourism in Guyana Promoted in Brazil and Florida
Representatives from the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative (GSTI) were recently in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Orlando, Florida, to promote Guyana as a tourism destination and make important industry connections with international tour operators and media. A familiarization trip through Brazil's Pantanal region also provided insights into improving tourism in Guyana.
In Sao Paulo for the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), GSTI representatives attended educational seminars and networked with the nearly 700 industry professionals that were in attendance. Judy Karwacki of Small Planet Consulting, Tourism Director for the GSTI, also spoke on a panel discussion about Indigenous tourism.
At ATWS, Kirk Smock, GSTI Senior Writer, and Ms. Karwacki held meetings with top adventure travel media, including Everett Potter's Travel Report, National Geographic Adventure, Men's Journal, Green Living Project and Away.com, and the leading tour operators Myths and Mountains, Intrepid Travel, and Wildlife Trails.
Ms. Karwacki also visited the Pantanal to investigate nature and wildlife viewing product development in the region. The Pantanal has many similarities to Guyana's savannahs, including its position as a cattle-raising area rich in wildlife and birds that is turning to tourism due to a decline in cattle-related revenues.
GSTI representatives were joined by Wilderness Explorers in Orlando, Florida from September 7-9 at THE TRADESHOW, which is billed as the leading North American travel trade show where destinations, travel companies and travel retailers from around the world connect. Guyana was featured at a booth where travel agents, tour operators and media could learn more about South America's emerging ecotourism destination. GSTI and Wilderness Explorers representatives made connections with tour operators and media, including Adventures Around the World, Kensington Tours, and Collette Vacations that will help Guyana to become better known in the North American market.
We think books are great, especially when they cover the beauty, natural history, and people of Guyana. We also enjoy traveling, even if it can sometimes only be enjoyed through the words of others. That's why for this issue's Pick of the Flock, we're recommending a few books of travel literature that tromp through Guyana.
Travels in British Guiana, 1840-1844 by Robert Schomburgk is a hard to find book, but worth the search. It is the seminal account of the famed explorer's travels in British Guiana on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. Use it to plot your course through Guyana, and see how little has changed. Charles Waterton's, Wanderings in South America includes the observations and travels of this early 19th century naturalist in Guyana. Waugh Abroad, Collected Travel Writing by Evelyn Waugh, is 30 years of travel writing by the peripatetic Waugh, including 92 Days, the account of a comically miserable stint in British Guiana in the 1930s. Stan Brock's, All the Cowboys Were Indians, is a personal and sometimes comedic account of his many years spent at Dadanawa Ranch, including stints as an Amazonian bush pilot, vaquero and ranch manager.
