Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo says seven hotels are under construction and are expected to open their doors by next year in the South American country. The government expects the expansion in the hospitality sector to employ approximately 3,000 people, he said.
The hospitality sector is among the biggest growth poles in Guyana, an offshoot of the oil boom unfolding offshore. Thus far, one local hotelier, Robert Badal, already expanded his accommodations with the commissioning of the Pegasus Hotel Suites and Corporate Centre. Jagdeo credited the number of hotel projects to the government’s work to create an accommodating environment for visitors and investors.
In 2020, the government made a request for proposals to build hotels.
Jagdeo said, “We had over 20 [proposals]… we said here would be the new incentive regime, a tax holiday for the hotels because this represented massive investment, and we will work with you to try to find the land to build the hotels. And because of that policy, we got seven new international hotels now under construction that would start working next year that would employ some 3,000 Guyanese.”
Some of the hotels and similar projects that were announced over the years are:
- Four Points by Sheraton Hotel at Houston, East Bank Demerara.
- Hyatt Place Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
- AC Marriot Hotel at Ogle, East Coast Demerara near the Eugene F Correia International Airport.
- Pasha Global Hotel at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
- Ocean View Best Western Hotel at Liliendaal Seafront, East Coast Demerara.
- Courtyard by Marriot at Timehri, near the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
- Radisson Blu Hotel next to the Giftland Mall at Liliendaal.
- Georgetown Seafront Resort and Convention Centre at Carifesta Avenue.
- Aiden by Best Western Midtown Hotel in Georgetown.
Guyana’s Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, said in January, “Despite the extraordinarily rapid growth in productive output across all sectors in Guyana, there is demand for more: we can’t build out fast enough the hotel rooms and restaurant square-footage that is needed right now…”
Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, had said in 2023 that the government expects 2,000 hotel rooms to be added by 2025.
To prepare Guyanese nationals for this expansion, the government is working with multiple partners on the construction of a Hospitality and Tourism Institute at Port Mourant, Berbice. It is part of a larger facility, which includes an Oil and Gas Training College.
