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New hotels viable post oil and gas – Tourism Minister
Kaieteur News- hotels in Guyana will remain viable even after the country’s oil and gas resource has been exhausted, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond said on Wednesday.
The minister made the disclosure during the question-and-answer segment of a press briefing hosted by her ministry and held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
She said that there have been significant achievements in the expansion of quality room stock that is critical for a thriving tourism industry.
“The government’s call for expressions of interest in internationally branded hotels has yielded remarkable results. Recently, two hotels namely Aiden and Royal opened their doors, adding close to 400 high-quality rooms. In addition, several other hotels are nearing completion, which will contribute approximately 1,000 rooms,” the minister noted.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond on Wednesday alongside staff from her ministry.
She added that this expanded capacity nationally enables the country to host major international events and positions Guyana as a competitive player in the regional tourism market.
Asked whether she believes that post oil internationally branded hotels will remain viable, the minister said “absolutely yes”.
“You’re talking in another 40 or 50 years. I would say absolutely yes, the focus right now is to build out tourism as an alternative to the oil and gas. The services sectors have seen double digit growth outside of the oil and gas,” Minister Walrond told reporters.
The minister said records show that the number of visitors arriving in the country does not include the business travelers who are usually those in the oil and gas sector.
“Those visitors, who are coming, are from the Diaspora, the non-resident Guyanese they are the ones that are really filling up these hotels. The oil and gas, the business travelers not so much and we will see more and more people coming to Guyana to experience all of the things of our tourism product,” Minister related.
Further, the minister said that the ministry is not looking to the oil and gas sector to fill hotel rooms. In fact, she said that the hotels are for persons who visit Guyana to explore and experience the culture.
According to the minister to keep up the occupancy of these hotels the government has put in place a strategy which she noted is a diverse tourism product. “The idea is to keep our hotel rooms filled and so every month you will find that there is an activity,” she said.
“So yes, by the time 50 years, 40 years oil and gas is gone we would have had 50 years of this kind of strategy investment in the tourism sector and we will see Guyana becoming a major power house that is the vision of our President that we become a powerhouse for tourism worldwide,” she told the media.
(New hotels viable post oil and gas – Tourism Minister)
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