Minister of Finance: Government’s Policy on Holiday Inn has not changed

Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves, has said that a statement about the sale of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel by the Director of Invest SVG, Glen Beache, was taken outof context. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, June 23, 2025, Minister Gonsalves said the director made the statement while on a global tour in which he was discussing investment opportunities in St Vincent and the Grenadines, both now and in the future. In May this year, Beache was participating in a global tour, when he made mention of the Holiday Inn Hotel at Diamond, which is partly owned by the state.

In parliament on Monday, Opposition Member, Fitz Bramble, raised a question about the sale of the hotel which was opened in November, 2024.

In answer to Bramble’s question, Minister Gonsalves reminded Members of the House about the government’s policy position regarding the Holiday Inn Express.

“It seems sometimes that people read headlines on Facebook, but don’t read articles,” Gonsalves remarked.

He spoke of what the government had said publicly, and in Parliament about the hotel which is located at Diamond.

He also accused the East Kingstown representative of trying to bring Facebook headlines into the Parliament.

Even before the hotel was built, Gonsalves said the government had indicated its plan to increase room stock in St Vincent and the Grenadines, to foster sustainable growth in the tourism sector.

The Holiday Inn at Diamond, and the Marriott Hotel on the Leeward coast, were two of government’s planned strategic interventions to increase room stock and “encourage viable investment in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” he pointed out.

“We have stated repeatedly that the government does not intend to become a hotel operator over the long term.

“Our principle objective is to catalyze private sector investment in room stock by demonstrating our own commitment to the development of the tourism industry,” Minister Gonsalves pointed out.

He said the government is now seeking the benefits of this policy decision to invest in hotels across St Vincent and the Grenadines.

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