Some $13.6B in revenue generated from hospitality industry in 2024 – Walrond tells National Assembly

…22,000 persons employed in sector

In 2024, Guyana’s hospitality sector was projected to generate a remarkable $13.6 billion in revenue, according to Oneidge Walrond, Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce.

In her address to the National Assembly on Monday, Walrond disclosed that the industry has also proven to be a major driver of employment, with nearly 22,000 people employed directly or indirectly in the sector across the country.
She noted that the revenue generated by the sector reflects a combination of factors, including increased hotel occupancy rates and growing international and domestic tourism.
“We were criticised for facilitating investment in hotels when no one was traveling and the criticism then was that we were building hotels that no one would stay in. Predictably, Mr Speaker, the naysayers were proven wrong because in 2023, occupancy in the business segment was 85 per cent and 2024 the occupancy level in that segment was 88 per cent. In the smallest segment of the sector, occupancy levels also increased. At these occupancy levels and average room rates reported for 2024, estimates of the sector revenues approached 65 million US dollars in 2024. That’s over 13.6 billion Guyanese dollars,” Walrond revealed.
The Minister told the House that the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) continues to monitor the performance of the nation’s hospitality establishments, with 95 hotels being surveyed across nearly every region.
On this point, she highlighted that while some critics focus on the larger hotels and establishments in more business-centric areas, the smaller businesses—many with fewer than 25 rooms—also play a significant role in the industry.
“They talk about comparing oil and non-oil, but they don’t find it utterly ridiculous to select the top three of almost 100 and hold them out as characterising the sector. Mr Speaker, of the 92 hotels that were surveyed in our monitoring programme for 2024, 14 were in Region Two, four were in Region Three, 31 in Region Four, 11 in Region Six, 13 of them are in Region Seven, where the Honourable Member hails from, eight were in Region Nine, and another eight in Region 10”.
“So, Mr Speaker, the hospitality sector is much more diverse than the Honourable Member imagines, and for good measure I would say that the average rates of hotels outside of the business sector are as low as $15 per night in region One, and with a national average in 2024 of $25,000 per night, a fraction of the rates that the Honourable Member chooses to use to drive her narrative. And for the Honourable Member’s information, Guyanese can and do patronise these establishments,” she explained.
According to Walrond, the Government’s decision to invest in the hospitality industry even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a key factor in the sector’s growth. Back in 2020, the Government invited expressions of interest for the construction of hotels, including globally recognised brands. Despite criticism at the time, the decision proved successful as it facilitated the growth of the sector and laid the foundation for the economic boom in the tourism industry.
The continued growth of the hospitality sector has been fueled by significant private sector investments, with more than $50 billion injected into hotels, resorts, local airlines, and malls between 2020 and 2024. The private sector has responded with confidence, adding four new hotels and 561 new rooms to the national stock. Notably, 81 of those rooms came from smaller hotels.
Minister Walrond also pointed to the Government’s commitment to small business growth, citing over 2,000 small contractors awarded $27 billion in contracts in 2024 for community infrastructure projects.
“Mr Speaker, just over three months ago, on the 11th of October, on these very premises, I was here when we awarded 673 contracts to small contractors with a total value of $11.5 billion for building community roads and other infrastructure in Region Four. That exercise was preceded by one in October 8, 2024 in Berbice, where we awarded just about $7 billion for community works to 389 small contractors in Region Six. In Region Five, 108 small contractors were awarded $1.5 billion in contracts for upgrade of community roads. In April 2024, we awarded $1 billion in contracts in Sophia, right here in Georgetown, to persons from the community to upgrade roads and infrastructure”.
“In Linden, 325 contracts totaling $4.2 billion were issued on November 23, 2024 to small contractors for the upgrade of community roads in that municipality. We followed up on December 3 with an additional 94 contracts in Linden, again issued to small contractors for road works and another 46 contracts for drainage works. In total, Mr Speaker, in 2024, well over 2,000 small contractors—ordinary people all over this country—were awarded over $27 billion in contracts to upgrade and enhance infrastructure in the communities,” the Minister said. (G1)