Guyana’s Tourism Association Welcomes Marriott Hotel

The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) endorsed the construction of a Marriott-branded hotel in Guyana, saying it is a good move to upscale the fledgling tourism industry still beset by a dirty environment and poor infrastructure.

THAG Executive Member, Kit Nascimento acknowledged that the jury was still out on whether taxpayers’ money should be spent on building the 160-room hotel. The cost is pegged at US$55 million.

The Managing Director and owner of the Pegasus Hotel, Robert Badal and the political opposition have long questioned the viability of pumping money from the national treasury into the Marriott-branded hotel being built by Atlantic Hotel Inc. when the occupancy rate of existing hotels is just about 30 percent. Government says there is an occupancy rate of 80 percent at peak periods.

Another plus for the tourism industry, said Nascimento, is an increase in the number of visiting yachts to the Essequibo River. Ten yachts have visited that waterway within the last three weeks, with the majority of them leaving very satisfied with the Customs clearance on arrival and departure.

THAG also expects that the increase in commercial flights to the Ogle International Airport from the Caribbean, Suriname, Brazil and possibly Venezuela will be a major boost for the industry.

In his feature address, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said of the garbage situation: "We must do something about this negative behavior of ours. It doesn't say anything good about us and it detracts greatly from efforts to promote tourism. The sooner we could change the better."

Other desirables on THAG’s ‘shopping list’ include improving the docking facilities at the heritage site of Fort Island, producing a quality destination video,  advertising on at least one United States television network, increasing the number of international flights and making the tourism  a line-item in Guyana’s national budget.

GTA Board member, Gerry Gouveia expressed concern that Guyana was spending too little—less than US$500,000 annually- on marketing itself compared to crime-ridden Jamaica that was doling out an estimated GUY$100 million. Gouveia said Guyana’s image is locked in a past-time and the country continues to be a victim of bad journalism that focuses only on the negatives.

Government has recently launched ‘Rediscover Home, Discover Guyana’ that targets the Guyana Diaspora and foreigners to come to the South American country to participate in activities such as camping, safari, commemorative events, rodeos, regattas, mountain-biking, swimming, fishing and visiting waterfalls.