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THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
PHOTO BY CARL GILCHRIST
A section of the Moon
Palace Resort in St Ann.
TOURISM POWER MEETING
From left: Pablo Pinero, owner of
Bahia Principe; Minister of Finance
and Planning, Dr Peter Phillips;
Tourism and Entertainment
Minister, Dr Wykeham McNeill;
and Miguel Fluxa, owner of
Iberostar Hotels and Resorts.
MORE
ROOMS,
MORE
M
J
AMAICA’S HOSPITALITY sector is poised for an
injection of thousands of rooms, as new and exist-
ing investors expand the country’s thriving tourist
industry.
More than 1,600 new rooms are to be added over
the next year in at least three resort towns – Montego
Bay, Negril and Ocho Rios.
St Ann/Ocho Rios
Bahia Principe has commenced construction of an
additional 112 rooms at its Runaway Bay location,
while Moon Palace’s US$150-million investment in
more than 700 rooms at the former Sunset Jamaica
Grande is expected to be complete by the end of June.
“We are embracing the Jamaican culture,” Palace
Resorts’ vice-president of sales and marketing, Kathy
Halpern, told journalists at a press conference in March.
She said the chain’s focus of being “awe-inclusive”,
will see it offering the highest quality in cuisine and
entertainment at the Ocho Rios resort, which is
expected to breathe life into the sluggish St Ann town.
Negril
Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill told
The
Gleaner
last week that the demolition of the 250-
room Grand Lido Negril will commence shortly and
they will have 580 rooms in 24 months.
The construction of the hotel, owned and operated
by Blue Diamond, is projected to cost US$115 mil-
lion, employing some 1,200 people during the building
works. On completion, it will create 900 permanent
jobs – an increase of 600.
“The ratio of room to employees is going to increase
to 2.5 per room, because they will become a five-star
property,” said McNeill.
Karisma Sensatori Azul, in Negril, will also com-
mence construction of 150 rooms. They are currently
in the tender process to select the building contrac-
tors and are expected to open in June 2016. This will
be Sensatori’s second hotel in Jamaica.
The Sandals Group, one of the longest Jamaican-
owned resort chains, is as actively involved in the
facelift project the tourism product is now undergoing,
and will add 70 family suites to its Beaches Negril prop-
erty. Beaches is also refurbishing the entire property.
Montego Bay
The country’s largest hotelier, RIU Resorts, will add
500 rooms – a new 450-room hotel, next door to Riu
Jamaica Palace, and 50 to the current Palace inventory.
The group will be adding restaurants and other
public amenities to the Palace.
Sandals will be refurbishing all the
rooms at its Montego Bay plant,
adding 33 over-water suites. This follows the refur-
bishing of the Grand Riviera, which has been rebranded
as Sandals Ocho Rios Beach Resort.
Another Jamaican group, Sagicor, recently acquired
the former Hilton Rose Hall, bringing its investment
in the sector to four hotels. Sagicor currently operates
Jewel Dunn’s River, Jewel Paradise Cove and Jewel
Runaway.
Rounding out the investments in Jamaica’s “tourism
capital”, is the Hyatt with its recently opened 620-
room Hyatt Ziva and Zilara.
Falmouth
Trelawny, which is fast becoming a popular destina-
tion for land-based visitors, is having a renaissance
with the opening of the Royalton White Sands,
approval for an additional 186 rooms to the Blue Dia-
mond Resort property and the groundbreaking for
Melia Braco Village, which will have an inventory of
225 rooms by the upcoming winter tourist season.
more jobs!