Guyana Government Re-examining Role In Marriot Hotel

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government says it is undertaking a review of the operations and financial stability of the multi-million dollar Marriott Hotel with a view to determining its future role with the entity.

“At this point in time, the government is in the process of having a couple of individuals look at the Marriott, its operations and how it is performing financially, so that we can get a sense of what the Government will want to do eventually with the hotel,” said Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes.

She said that the David Granger, while in opposition, had raised concerns about several projects being undertaken by the then Donald Ramotar administration arguing that it was felt then that these projects were best suited to the interest of the private sector.

“We didn’t feel that tax payers’ money, should pay for the construction of a hotel that is the job of the private sector. We felt that hotels are ventures that the private sectors are involved in, so that was the main concern,” she said.

Hughes said that the government’s concerns regarding the Marriott should not be misunderstood.

“I don’t want people to think that we (government) didn’t think that it was important to have a hotel that raised the bar and standards in the industry,” Hughes said, noting that the US$58 million hotel sets a standard for others operating here to emulate.

Hughes said that she has held talks with the manager of the Marriott and was assured that the hotel is getting a lot of business, hosting various functions and other events.

“Whether the government will make a final decision on whether it is something it would want to sell to a potential investor, whether local or international, or whether we would want to hold on to the Marriott, we are not sure as yet,” Hughes said.

She said the government has more important functions to undertake and running a hotel is not one of those.

The hotel opened here on April 17 with the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) investing US$36 million into the project and the Republic Bank Ltd. of Trinidad putting in an estimated US$15.25 million out of its US$27 million total financing.