Ramotar gives new financing structure for Marriott

Mar 28, 2014 News

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“As I have said there is a consortium of people that have put money into it, so there is money there to continue it, apart from NICIL”

In a somewhat surprising twist of events, President Donald Ramotar yesterday provided an entirely different financing structure for the Marriott Hotel. The Head of State was at the time being pressed for answers on the progress of the hotel being constructed in Kingston, when he spoke of local investors.
According to Winston Brassington, the Chairman of the Special Purpose Company created to build and own the hotel, Atlantic Hotel Inc, its construction comes through debt and equity.

The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) is investing US$4M and lends the project US$15.5M; Republic Bank Trinidad was asked to syndicate US$27M while a still to be named investor was to invest US$8M.
Ramotar, during a press conference yesterday at Office of the President, told reporters that “there is a lot of interest in Marriott from local banks that are here; we have local banks involved, we have also foreign banks involved and we do have a foreign investor.”
Pressed on the financial closure that is still to be announced, the President said he was hoping that it should have been announced already but “there are still some small arrangements left to be made to tie things up…I don’t think you will have to wait much longer.”
When asked where the money is coming from to fund the current works ongoing at the Kingston site, Ramotar told reporters, “as I have said there is a consortium of people that have put money into it, so there is money there to continue it, apart from NICIL.”
To date, however, only the NICIL’s US$19.5M has been officially stated to be put into the project. There is yet to be financial closure on the money coming from the private investor after which the Republic Bank money is expected to be put in.
Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh, in presenting his 2014 Budget, spoke of the opening of the 197-room Marriott Hotel later this year.
Dr Singh at the time failed to make any mention of the required financial closure for the hotel, the private investor or the bids submitted for the operations of the entertainment complex and casino.
The Finance Minister in his presentation said that Guyana’s premium hotel room stock will be given a significant boost with the opening for commercial operation of the five-star Marriott Hotel.
“This 197-room full service hotel will include an entertainment complex along with conference and banqueting facilities and a promenade.”
According to Dr Singh, the Marriott is the first major international brand to come to Guyana in over 40 years and in terms of range of hotel products and quality of service, the Marriott brand will raise the bar in Guyana and serve as a source of attraction for international travellers.
“It is expected that the facility will create direct employment for over 300 Guyanese and indirect business opportunities for a wide cross-section of suppliers of goods and services.”
The Finance Minister was at the time reporting to the National Assembly on the developments in the tourism sector in Guyana.
According to Dr Singh, tourism remains one of the sectors in which Guyana has a strong comparative advantage “given our vast and diverse endowment of nature, our geographical location, and the advantage of a large diasporic market.”
He said that it is with those advantages in mind that Government continues to pursue initiatives to ensure the development of a vibrant and sustainable tourism industry, in collaboration with the private sector.
He noted that last year visitor arrivals totalled 200,122 which represented a 13.3 per cent increase over 2012.
According to Dr Singh, the local hotel and hospitality facilities recorded an occupancy rate of approximately 76 per cent which was on par with the previous year.
The Finance Minister in his report to the National Assembly said that last year work commenced on the development of a Hinterland Tourism Development Plan and focus continued to be placed on community-based tourism by rigorously continuing the processes of inspecting and registering interior lodges, resorts, and tour guides.
He said that in the area of marketing, Government continued to reach out to the international media through familiarisation trips and social media, and attracting prominent film and television producers to these shores.
He reported that the initiatives proved to be effective as a number of documentaries were filmed in 2013; these will be aired in this year.
“Further, in an effort to build capacity, a total of 442 industry personnel were trained in a number of areas including customer service, frontline, housekeeping, kitchen procedures, and community-based tourism.”
According to the Finance Minister, during the course of this year a number of related developments will see the foundation laid for accelerated growth in the tourism industry.
“As a direct result of Government’s ongoing efforts to increase airlift capacity and expand route options, two new Latin American airlines announced the introduction of flights to Guyana with effect from the current year.”
He reminded that the Venezuelan flag carrier, Conviasa, commenced flights between Puerto Ordaz and Georgetown in January of this year.
He noted too that the Panamanian flag carrier, Copa Airlines, announced the introduction of flights between Panama City and Georgetown from July of this year.
“These two new services will dramatically improve the ease of travelling between Guyana and Latin America and beyond including, in particular, through connections with destinations such as on the US west coast.”
According to Dr Singh, “These developments supplement the introduction, in July 2013, by LIAT, of a daily service between Barbados and Ogle, adding to that airport’s growing operations as a regional hub, with other airlines already offering daily services to Suriname and express courier flights to Trinidad.”
The Minister stated that all indications suggest that the tourism sector will be a key contributor to value added production as well as job creation in the near and medium term.
As a result, in an effort to improve the quality of the product offered, and at the same time so as to ensure that young people are better equipped to take advantage of the job opportunities that will abound, “the growing demand for skilled labour in the sector will need to be addressed.”
He announced that to this end, Government will commence making a US$4 million investment in the establishment of a hospitality institute “to ensure that we produce world class personnel for this important industry going forward.”

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