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The purpose of this paper is to outline the policy directives in Guyana as it relates to community-based tourism and to argue that the development of this niche can only be driven by clear policies which speak to community empowerment and institutional strengthening.

The paper is exploratory in nature and used document analysis as the primary means of data collection.

Community-based tourism presents an opportunity to advance the goals of government to include communities into the economic growth and development agenda. The vision for community-based tourism is community empowerment that develops the industry in line with the needs and aspirations of host communities. However, this cannot be fully realized without the supporting role of government via effective policy development and implementation.

It is anticipated that this research will serve as a valuable reference tool for researchers, policy makers and other relevant bodies with an interest in community-based tourism and the policy implications.

This paper aims to outline the key realities which need to be under consideration as Guyana crafts a vision for sustainable tourism development – 2025. These key realities are borne out of the current vision statement, strategic objectives and actions in the National Draft Tourism Policy 2016-2020.

The paper is exploratory in nature and uses document analysis as primary means of data collection.

The achievement of sustainable tourism development is an ideal fit with the tabling of strategic policy documents that seek to guide its implementation. However, these objectives and actions need to be structured and measurable to ensure that monitoring and evaluation can occur.

It is anticipated that this research will serve as a valuable reference tool for researchers, policymakers and other relevant bodies with an interest in strategic action for the achievement of sustainable tourism development.

Profiles the WHATT theme issue ‘ What innovative strategies are needed to develop tourism in Guyana for 2025?’ with reference to the experiences of the theme theme editors and writing team.

Uses structured questions to enable the theme editors to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.

Examines the past and current state of tourism from the standpoint of a number of sector components – community-based tourism, policy, human resources, entrepreneurship among others; assesses the local and global environment impacting upon the development of the industry and explores what the theme editors regard as viable paths to a tourism sector in the year 2025.

This theme issue has a number of practical implications. Scholars and researchers may be inspired to undertake comparative studies of the trajectories of tourism development observed in emergent tourism destinations like Guyana. Those who work in tourism planning and administration will find the retrospections and proposals made of considerable value, even as those, in some cases, provoke lively debate.

This theme issue adds to the growing corpus of research and writing that focuses upon the Caribbean. While the Caribbean as a whole, or individual States, may have been the subject of research, there has been comparatively little written about Guyana as a tourism destination. This gradual increase in scholarly interest may indeed parallel the growth of the tourism industry in Guyana itself. The raft of consultants’ reports is now enriched and diversified in this theme issue that asks the hard questions and makes bold proposals.