WITH their continuous efforts to make Bartica the tourism destination of the nation, the Bartica Town Council, through its Social Development Committee (SDC), has designed and transformed one of the stalls on the Beachfront Boulevard to be a tourism shop.

The stall, branded “Bartica Shop,” is set to be commissioned before the end of this month and according to the town’s Mayor, Gifford Marshall, the shop will aid in boosting the tourism package and will embrace the green agenda.

He explained that the idea of opening a shop of that nature was an initiative of the Bartica Regatta Committee. However, given that the council’s SDC works in collaboration with the Regatta Committee, they adopted the project.

Marshall said that over the past three years or so, there has been a significant increase in persons coming to Bartica; and it is within the council’s mandate to boost the tourism package and improve its services. The “Bartica Shop”, he said, will help in that regard.
“This is yet another way of boosting our tourism package and making things available to persons that will help them remember our beautiful town,” Marshall said.

In addition to that, he said that it will also be used to educate people about the “green” agenda.
“We are going to embrace the “green” agenda in every possible way. We are going to have items that are bio-degradable, items that positively impact the environment and push the “green” initiative. This, we hope, will give persons the understanding of the agenda and hope that other shops emulate,” Marshall stressed.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Social Development Committee, Dwight Beaton, told the Guyana Chronicle that this shop will help put Bartica on the map, through the products that they will make available there.

“We are going to have items such as hats, bags, umbrellas, bottles t-shirts, key-rings and many other souvenir items, branded with different images of Bartica. Images of things and places that will continue to attract people to visit our town,” Beaton said.

In addition to souvenir items and the “green” display, he said that there will also be items and products that were made by people in Bartica. Food items from the indigenous peoples, art and craft pieces and other fashion items, are but a few of the additional products they will have.

He also shared that this is the first economic project of the new council, so the council is putting its best foot forward in ensuring that the enterprise is nothing short of successful and beneficial to the municipality and its people.

The revenue gained from the shop, Beaton said, will be injected into developmental projects in the town.

“We are going to ensure that we have the best quality items available, so that persons will continue to buy from the shop, because the more sales we get, the more money we will have and the more projects we can embark on. So, in addition to this being an addition to our tourism package that will benefit Bartica itself, the people will also benefit because we will be able to do more for them,” he opined.

Source: Guyana Chronicle