Guyana recorded a 22 per cent increase in visitor arrivals in 2025, achieving a record-breaking 453,489 arrivals. This was disclosed by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues, during an interview on the Starting Point Podcast aired on Sunday, January 11.
“The projection was that we will achieve 400,000 visitor arrivals…it is a massive 22% increase over 2024,” the Tourism Minister said.
Rodrigues acknowledged that while there are issues to be addressed, there are also positives that must be highlighted.
“We also have to look at all of the positives and everything that Guyana has to offer, and everything that is good about Guyana. We also have to highlight that, and as Guyanese, the patriotic thing to do is not to highlight the negative things; we can do that constructively, but not for the world to see. We can, you know, constructively criticise at home…,” the minister said.
Speaking about how the government plans to transform Guyana into a world-class tourism destination while navigating existing challenges, Minister Rodrigues acknowledged issues relating to costs, accessibility and infrastructure. She argued that criticisms of the government’s major infrastructure drive over the past five years stem from what she described as tunnel vision. “Our entire government programme is integrated, and so we didn’t build roads for cars to drive on, and that’s the end of the story,” she said.
The minister explained that the infrastructure programme is interconnected and aimed at improving the lives and livelihoods of citizens.
“When you build a new bridge, a fixed structure across the Demerara River, it’s about opening up access to trade. It’s about improving the livelihoods of those in Region Three and it’s about improving their overall quality of life when they can get home quickly and easily to their families after a hard day of work. People no longer have to leave home at ungodly hours to get to work on time and be miserable all day because you’re tired,” she added.
The minister also pointed to the Linden to Mabura Road project, noting that while it will improve trade, it will also open access to Region Nine, an attractive tourism hotspot in the country.
“A regular person who owns a car to drive to the rodeo and experience rodeo for the very first time in region nine. It’s about opening up that access, opening up new opportunities, opening up business opportunities and making people’s lives more convenient,” the minister said.
She explained that this is why the government continues to push back against narratives that portray infrastructure development as abstract and detached from broader benefits.
“The massive infrastructure programme has helped us also in the tourism sector and that road opening up…once that road is completed and goes all the way to Lethem, we don’t have to be running down private airline operators to lower their fees and to lower the cost of travel,” she noted.
She reminded that President Irfaan Ali has repeatedly called on airline operators to reduce travel costs, noting that government investments in roads and airstrips are lowering maintenance costs within the aviation sector.
Turning to the uniqueness of Guyana’s tourism offering, Minister Rodrigues said the country is naturally set apart from other Caribbean destinations, particularly island states where tourism products are often replicated.
“They may have white sand and beaches. But Guyana has rainforests, waterfalls, savannahs, and a rich cultural tourism. We also have great biodiversity here, which is something that all Guyanese should be extremely proud of, and this is what sets us apart from everybody else,” she said.
She described Guyana’s tourism product as multi-layered. “You can arrive in Georgetown, and you can have a city experience like you would experience in other major cities. You have internationally branded hotels. You can have a luxury vacation, a leisure stay or even for business travel. You can dine out at an exclusive restaurant, and then, if you are that traveller who is looking for a more eco or sustainable type of tourism, you can hop on a plane and visit Kaieteur waterfalls. You can walk on the canopy in the rainforest, or you can go to the savannahs in Region Nine and stay on a ranch and be part of rodeo and really immerse yourself in adventure tourism and sports tourism,” Rodrigues said.
She added that the government does not subscribe to mass tourism but instead promotes a niche, sustainable tourism model closely tied to conservation.
“Guyana’s tourism product is closely linked to conservation, and so that is something that we have been internationally recognised for and that automatically sets us apart from everybody else,” she said.