do wildlife activities. Several UK conservation societies such as BTO, BAS, RSPB and Bird Life International, just to name a few are always here also. It’s the ‘Olympics’ of all Birding Expos held in Britain’s smallest county. It is held over a weekend in the middle of August annually, and it is attended on average by more than 30,000 persons. To put this in perspective, Guyana only receives 3,000 tourists a year. The fair ground is near Rutland Water lake area and its about 15 minutes’ drive from Oakham train station. Oakham is an old English town, which seems rich in history, judging from its collection of very old style buildings and architecture dating back to 1700s and older. I like to wander around the fair when I can get a breather from promoting destination Guyana at our booth. By observing what other countries are doing, it helps me to understand what we in Guyana need to do to encourage more bird/nature tourism to Guyana. It is essential for Guyana to attend Bird Fair as an exhibitor because: • Its an ideal forum and platform to ‘launch’ new products in tourism for Guyana • Networking with companies selling and can sell ‘Destination Guyana’ • The ability to check and evaluate the regional competition • Quality market research opportunities • Opportunity to improve the promotion of Guyana’s brand via technology and contemporary marketing tools • The warmth of face-to-face discussions on why ‘Guyana’ with the customers to the Guyana booth • Opportunity for the patrons to see and inquire about Guyana • A means of exhibiting Guyana’s tourism potential & products via presentations and the Happy Hour for El Dorado Rum, is always a highlight! One of my fondest memories of being in the countryside of England is seeing the Wood Pigeon for the first time. It’s as big as our Chacalaca (Hanaqua) bird. I learned so much from meeting and working along with Carl Browne who lives in London and works at the Guyana High Commission. He’s a cornerstone of Guyana’s booth at both Bird Fair and the World Trade Market. I
remember we had just missed a bus, so I asked Carl, when will be the next bus, and he pulled out his smart-phone, did a few taps and said; ‘it will be here in 6 minutes. I laughed, and then looked down the road, and lo and behold, there was another bus a few hundred meters down the road, and at precisely 5 minutes 50 seconds, the bus door opened in front of us. I was not used to this coming from Guyana. We are not very punctual, as we have too much of “just now, just now” in our culture. And just for fun, I checked out the timings with trains too. From my experience, things do run ‘like clockwork’ in London. It’s THE place to be during August for the UK’s Outdoors folks. You can find from bat boxes and bird-nesting boxes to gadgets, gizmos, books, paintings, sculptures, cameras and clothing, and of course every kind of binoculars and scopes. In the words of Nick Baker (one of UK’s top Naturalist); “I don’t know why they call it a Bird Fair anymore, it’s about Wildlife, it’s about everything to do with wildlife, of course there’s a slight bias towards feathery things, but generally speaking its everyone who is everything or anything in the world of wildlife and its growing. I love it”. I have attended Bird Fair, as local bird guide promoting destination Guyana for the last 3 years. I hope to be able to continue coming in the years ahead, as I have introduced my country to many new friends. Carl Browne Abrams at Bird Fair
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