Guyana defends the decision to sell the hotel.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana government has defended its decision to sell the 197-room Marriott Hotel, saying it makes economic sense as the country prepares for more investments over the next year in its tourism and hospitality industry.

Speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the government had received several expressions of interest due to its decision to sell the hotel, where the Demerara River flows into the Atlantic, about 4 km from the center of Georgetown.

“There is no particular supreme benefit to government owning it. It’s better to maximize the money, invest it in something else, back in health care, or maybe in another facility…. It’s a pure business decision,” Jagdeo told reporters.

He said the intent was to trigger investment when the Marriott was built.

“Marriott has emerged as a profitable venture today. It is making a profit. Secondly, the government didn’t need to own a hotel at that time. We had to trigger the investment. So now, it would be best to sell the Marriott off. You could probably maximize the price that you will get when it’s profitable and before the seven new hotels that are privately built that are international brands come on the market,” Jagdeo said.

He told reporters that the funds gained from the hotel sale could offset more projects and add to Guyana’s capital stock.

Jagdeo defended the government’s involvement In the construction of several significant projects, including the Berbice Bridge, the Hope Canal, The Guyana National Stadium, and the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

“I’m glad today that the people who maligned us…for a long period that is now coming around to the point that the Marriott was a good decision, and it’s a profitable venture… and without it, frankly speaking, I don’t know what we would have done in the last few years, in terms of hosting people in this country,” he told reporters.

The Marriott employs an estimated 500 workers directly or indirectly, and Jagdeo made it clear that the hotel has always been 100 percent owned by the Guyana government.