$52 million contract signed for the construction of Holiday Inn Express hotel

AN EC$52 million contract was signed this week between the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), and contracting firm, NH International (Caribbean) for the construction of the 92-room Holiday Inn Express in Diamond.

This activity marks another step in the government’s continued thrust to increase room stock on mainland St Vincent, in light of increasing air traffic due to the opening of the Argyle International Airport five years ago.

“We had small hotels and boutique hotels and mom and pop hotels, which play an important part in our tourism mix, but they cannot be the be all and end all of our tourism mix.We have to have different layers and different levels of hotels,” finance minister, Camillo Gonsalves said at Tuesday afternoon’s signing ceremony held at Cabinet Room.

Gonsalves said funding for the construction of the hotel comes partly through a grant from the Caribbean Development Fund; financing from the National Insurance Services; and some other local funds.

The projected timeline for the completion of the 92-room facility, which will include a large conference room and pool, is 18 months — in time for the start of the 2023 tourist season.

Work is also expected to begin immediately with more than 100 Vincentians likely to be employed through the project.

The finance minister noted that the entire Diamond area will experience a transformation, with the hotel playing a significant role through the benefits of its various facilities, and close proximity to the airport and Sir Vincent Beache stadium.

“It’s an important part of the renaissance of the Diamond area. It’s an important part of our tourism mix, it’s an important part to the track, and very importantly, it’s a very important part of building capacity within the tourism sector,” Gonsalves said, adding that it was no accident that the decision was made to place the Holiday Inn Express next to the Hospitality Training Institute.

“We envisage the Holiday Inn Express at Diamond to be a teaching hotel so that students in hospitality who are going to school within footsteps of that hotel will have an opportunity to come and earn credit at the Holiday Inn Express, build their own experiences, so that when they graduate, they’ll be more marketable. It’s very important that we not just build a building but build something that can teach and build capacity in St Vincent and the Grenadines among the young people,” he said.

NH International (Caribbean) is headquartered in Trinidad and recently completed a private contract with Coreas to construct a US$10-million warehouse in the same area.

Gonsalves expressed delight in having this company sign onto the project which, “has a track record of complex construction across the Caribbean, that has a track record of delivering projects on time and on budget, that has a track record of building hotels in the Caribbean… and that has knowledge of working in the Eastern Caribbean and indeed, in the very neighbourhood in which we’re operating”.

Managing director of NH International, Kit Kennedy thanked the government for the opportunity to work on the project.

And he urged stakeholders to contact him or the company’s senior project manager and person on the ground, Mikey Thackoor with any concerns that may arise during the 18-month project duration.

“If there is a problem, we will react. We don’t want it to become a problem so don’t wait until it festers. If you have an issue, you have a concern, let us know.We will fix it.We build communities and, hopefully, one day you will say, NH contributed to the building of St Vincent and the Grenadines, not physically, but also through our resources and what we’ve been able to contribute professionally,” he said.

The Trinidad-based company has a track record of providing training to young engineers, architects and quality surveyors throughout the region by offering internship opportunities on major projects like this one.

Some of these young professionals in SVG will likely benefit from this Holiday Inn project.

“…We think based on what we’re seeing, we need to make sure that there’s continuity between this generation and the next generation in terms of how we develop skillsets.What we have found in a lot of instances is that the resources that we have, we have to buy them.When I say buy them, I mean import them from overseas,” the managing director said.

“We have to take a stance on making sure we provide opportunities through learning first and foremost so that in another three to five years, we can say that we are fully and totally a Caribbean outfit employing Caribbean people, across the Caribbean.”

NH International will establish its operation at a government building in Diamond, which they will retrofit for use for the duration of the project, after which it will be handed back to the government.

Gonsalves expressed intentions to have the renovated building used as a police station in Diamond once the project is completed.