‘Marriott should not be seen as competition’ – Gouveia

…lauds the brand’s marketing pull
Private Sector leader and hotelier Gerry Gouveia said he sees the coming of Marriott Hotel not as competition, but as a development that will bode well for Guyana since the marketing drive of such a brand will help the local tourism sector.
Marriott International Inc. in a press release on Tuesday, announced that it will open its first Marriott branded hotel in Guyana in 2013.

Speaking in an interview with this newspaper, Gouveia, immediate past Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said: “This is a big plus for Guyana.” He added that brands like Marriott and Delta Airlines coming to Guyana will have their own following in terms of passengers and clients who know the brands and are faithful to them. All Marriott hotels also participate in the award winning Marriott Rewards frequent travel programme that allows members to earn hotel points or airline miles for every dollar spent during each stay.
Marriott has nearly 500 locations in 60 countries and provides “genuine care, coupled with fresh, classic design, making it the leading choice for travellers and meeting planners.”
Gouveia, whose group of companies includes Roraima Residence Inn and Duke Lodge, said too that brands such as those do their own marketing and this will be a boost for Guyana and supplement the country’s own efforts at attracting large number of visitors to the country with its blossoming tourism industry.
The hotel, which is to operate under partnership with Government and the private sector, will feature an integrated entertainment complex ideally located at the corner of the Atlantic Ocean and Demerara River, with a casino, night club, restaurant and boardwalk.
The Marriott Hotel in Guyana will be the first ever in the Caribbean and Latin America with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
The 160-room hotel will operate under a management agreement with Atlantic Hotel Inc. (AHI) which is currently owned by the Government of Guyana as part of a public-private partnership between Government and private sector investors.
Contacted by this newspaper yesterday, Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington remained tight-lipped on who the private sector parties in the arrangement were.
This public-private partnership project is envisaged to transform the hospitality landscape and can be expected to encourage more travel and tourism development for Guyana.

Chief Development Officer for Marriott International in the Caribbean & Latin America, Laurent de Kousemaeker, stated that the company is thrilled to partner with AHI and the Government of Guyana to open its first Marriott Hotel in the country, representing Marriott’s presence in another capital city in South America.
According to Kousemaeker, the Guyana Marriott will play an instrumental role in the continued and commercial development of Guyana.
Government had ensured that the way was cleared for the project by putting in place a new sewage system, with 42-inch pipes at Kingston. It was foreseen that the new system would greatly enhance waste discharge in Georgetown. The Food and Drug Department complex and Luckhoo Swimming Pool were both dismantled to make way for the hotel.

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