KINGSTON, Jamaica--The year 2017 is set to open on a grand high for Jamaica’s booming tourism sector.
Five new hotels are set to break ground in January, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has revealed.
While keeping the details close to his chest, he disclosed that the new properties would be set up on Jamaica’s north coast, from St. Ann to Montego Bay.
Bartlett also hinted that discussions were already at an advanced stage for the construction of additional new properties.
“We have had not just enquires, but proposals for the purchase of a number of properties, and that, we hope, will be concluded also within the first quarter of next year so that construction can begin in those areas,” Bartlett was quoted as saying in the Jamaica Gleaner.
The upbeat Tourism Minister said all this would drive Jamaica to meet substantial growth targets for the sector within the next five years.
Jamaica is aiming to boost its room stock to 50,000 in five years and to grow its market to five million visitors annually in five years.
This year has been a lucrative year for Jamaican tourism. According to Bartlett, more than 1.8 million tourists visited Jamaica. He disclosed that visitor arrivals had increased by 5.2 per cent between January and October this year, compared with the same period in 2015, while stopover arrivals also rose by 2.4 per cent over the same period last year.
“We are seeing robust performance out of the United States, Jamaica’s primary source market, which saw a 4.6 per cent increase,” Bartlett said, adding that the European market grew by 5.3 per cent.
Hotels also significantly improved their operations. Over 2,000 rooms were added by properties including Royalton Blue Water, Zoetry on Montego Bay, Gran Bahia Principe and Moon Palace.
The Tourism Minister is expecting this growth to continue in the coming months.
“The outlook for 2017 is also quite positive, as more than 1,000 new rooms are expected to be added to our room stock,” he said.
Bartlett said this included just over 300 from the former Wyndham Hotel, The Royalton Negril Resort and Spa, the Renfrew in Kingston and the Hideaway at Royalton. ~ Caribbean360 ~
