JAMAICA: 20,000 New Rooms for Tourism Sector

#Kingston, April 21, 2023 – Approximately 20,000 new rooms are set to come on stream over the next five to 10 years, says Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.

Mr. Bartlett provided an update on the investment projects while opening the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in House of Representatives, on April 18.

The Minister pointed out that these additional rooms will be located in all the parishes.

The projects for the parish of St. Ann include Palm Beach Villas, more than 100 rooms; Secrets Resorts, 700 rooms; Bahia Principe, 2,500 rooms as well as more than 900 rooms from the Sandals brand.

For the parish of Trelawny: Harmony Cove, 1,000 rooms; Planet Hollywood, 650 rooms; RIU Aquarelle, 753 rooms and Excellence Oyster Bay, 50 rooms.

The Minister reported that RIU Aquarelle is scheduled for completion early next year.

He informed that the projects for the parish of St. James include Unico, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and associated resort developments, 2,000 rooms; Vista Ambassadors, 433 and Dreams Resort, 280 rooms.

Mr. Bartlett informed that the parish of Hanover will see 4,000 new rooms in the next three years. These include Princess Resort, more than 2,000 rooms; Grand Palladium, Negril, 950 rooms; Viva Wyndham, Negril, 1,000 rooms. He said the figure has not been finalised for Sandals Negril.

The Minister argued that the Paradise Park facility will be a “game changer” for the parish of Westmoreland.

“It’s not just about hotels here now, it’s about creating a whole ecosystem in Paradise, in Westmoreland,” he said.

The Minister said the projects for the Kingston Metropolitan Area will include Hilton New Kingston, 300 rooms. He informed that the ROK Hotel, with 168 rooms, has already been opened.

Mr. Bartlett noted that 200 rooms will be built at Dragon Bay in Portland and that a local investor has committed to building 1,000 rooms in St. Thomas.

“In addition, I am talking with some investors from the Dominican Republic. They were here some weeks ago and they want to come now and look at creating a whole village, a tourism village, like the one they have in the Dominican Republic,” he said.

Contact: Chris Patterson

Release: JIS