Guyana recorded 12.4% increase in visitors from Jan-April 2024

Guyana: The tourism authority of Guyana witnessed a significant milestone of 12.4% increase in visitors in first-four months of 2024. With the arrival of 112,751 travellers from January to April, the authorities are projecting to welcome 3,50,000 visitors to the nation.

As per the Guyana Tourism Authority’s statistical digest 2023, the tourism sector of the nation has successfully surpassed its pre-pandemic visitor numbers and has recovered all the loss which they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kamrul Baksh, the director of Guyana Tourism Authority mentioned in the reports that international tourism reached 88% of its pre-pandemic levels, with global visitors nearing 1.3 billion, remarked by the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer of 2023.

Baksh asserted that a full recovery of international visitors was driven by several factors undertaken by the tourism authority. He stated that factors include expanding air connectivity, strong resurgence in Asian markets, conferences, ongoing oil production, increased marketing efforts is a testament to the unwavering commitment and dedication of Guyana towards improving its tourism statistics.

While shedding light on the tourism figures of 2023, he stated that Guyana witnessed an 11% increase in comparison to 2022, with a total of 319,147 tourists. As per World Travel and Tourism Council, the tourism authority of Guyana provided jobs to over 18,000 individuals. It also revealed that 47% of visitors came from US, 27% from Caribbean, 9% from Canada, 6% from Europe and 6% from South and Central America.

Also, 45% of visitors were diaspora and on the other 55% of visitors were non-diaspora, from the Caribbean and the US. It was also mentioned that the large number of visitors accounting to 220,549 visitors arrived in Guyana for leisure purpose and 17% visitors came for business travel.

He further added that he is exceptionally confident that they are on the right path to achieving remarkable success. He noted that with the crucial support from stakeholders and the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, they are on an undeniable path to success.