Georgetown, GINA, February 18, 2004

Over 2000 visitors, mainly overseas-based Guyanese, are expected in Guyana for the upcoming Mashramani celebrations to mark Guyana’s 34th Republic Anniversary.
During an exclusive interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir, said during a recent visit to the United States, he was actively engaged in marketing Guyana’s tourism product.
The Minister said while there, many Guyanese signalled their intention to return for Mash, which has resulted in fully booked flights to Guyana for the festivity.
He pointed out that many persons made bookings as early as one month ago, and this has resulted in airlines increasing their fares to Guyana.
Like the Christmas holidays, Mash attracts many home, conceded Minster Nadir. He said that in promoting tourism in Guyana, his Ministry categorises Mash as festival tourism.
Against this backdrop, the Tourism Ministry intends to capitalise on arrivals comprising overseas-based Guyanese, Caribbean nationals, and first-time visitors to Guyana.
In terms of planning for this year’s mash celebrations, the Tourism Ministry was part of the broad-based committee set up by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
He observed that the stage has been set through the staging of a number of activities leading up to Republic Day celebrations. In light of this, the Minister congratulated the organisers for staging this year’s Miss Mash International competition billed for February 22, 2004.
He anticipates that Guyana’s Mash celebrations will evolve into an annual carnival event.
Meanwhile, Guyana is slated to attend the largest annual international trade fair and exhibition billed for Berlin March 3 to 15, 2004. At that event, which is expected to attract over 1800 exhibitors, Guyana will use the opportunity to promote its nature tourism.
According to Minister Nadir, 60 percent of the exhibitors will travel from outside of Europe. With Guyana positioned in the Southern Hemisphere as part of the global village, efforts are in train to attract a significant portion of the world’s tourists.
To this end, the Tourism Ministry will continue to take the message about Guyana’s tropical paradise to every part of the globe, said Nadir.
He described his Ministry’s performance for 2003 as satisfactory, and divulged that the work programme for 2004 is proceeding well.