MINISTER of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad, on Monday refuted claims by Kit Nascimento, a member of the chairing committee of the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) who stated that Guyana’s tourism industry is in a crisis.

Nascimento’s criticism on the tourism industry was made at the annual tourism award ceremony of (THAG) last Friday.

Prashad said Nascimento’s comments on the arrival figures for this year were nothing but blatant lies on the industry. He said Nascimento stated that the number of tourists has been significantly reduced due to violence that has beset the nation.

The minister compared last year’s arrival figures with that of this year and noted that there was not much of a decline.

“We had no rapid decline in the arrival of visitors, last year during the period of March. We had 18,649 visitors last March and during March this year we had 18,626. We also have new airlines coming to Guyana, which will be a boost for the tourism industry. Of course there is crime, but Nascimento’s negativity on the tourism industry is not doing good,” Prashad asserted.

During the annual awards ceremony, Nascimento criticised the tourism industry and did not give the minister an opportunity to respond.

According to the minister, Nascimento’s criticisms were totally unnecessary, especially during a tourism award ceremony and in the presence of internationally known Guyanese artiste and raconteur, Dave Martins who was the guest speaker at the dinner.
However, the minister said Martins speech was a rebuttal to what Nascimento said.