Spanish hotel projects for groundbreaking later this year

Three new Spanish hotel projects are apace for groundbreaking later this year. The projects are expected to pump US$2.2 billion into the Jamaican economy, and create some 20,000 new jobs in construction and tourism services.

They are a 1,000-room luxury hotel to be constructed in Lucea, Hanover, by Grand Palladium; a 1,000-room facility to be built in Runaway Bay, St Ann, by Bahia Principe and a 700-room project to be built in Richmond, St Ann, developed by Secrets resorts.

Under the Grand Palladium project, 600 housing units for hotel workers will be constructed in addition to the 1,000 luxury rooms. A convention centre, entertainment facilities and a golf course are also to be built.

The Runaway Bay project calls for the construction of 1,000 new rooms, as well as the development of a fishing village, a PGA (standard) golf course, schools and entertainment facilities. Under the Richmond, St. Ann project, Secrets Resorts will construct 700 rooms, employing some 2000 persons.

DIASPORA OUTREACH

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett signed agreements with the three Spanish investors while his team was in Madrid, Spain, recently. Bartlett told The Gleaner that environmental impact studies are currently being done after which the investors will host town hall meetings with residents of all three communities in which the projects are to be constructed to elicit feedback as well as outline to residents how the projects will impact them.

“We are expecting that ground will be broken later this year on all three projects,” he told The Gleaner.

The minister said that the expectations is that all three projects will be ready for occupancy by the 2026/2027 tourism season.

Meanwhile, he is expected to kick off Jamaica’s winter marketing campaign while in New York later this month for Caribbean Tourism Organisation meetings. The programme is expected to cost around US$5 million, with a portion of this budget earmarked for diaspora outreach.

The diaspora market account for some 10 per cent of visitors to Jamaica with the majority coming from the United States.

“The diaspora is an important part of our overall marketing strategy and we will definitely be spending in the community,” he said.

Bartlett says his team will be working around the Level 3 travel advisory recently imposed on Jamaica by the US State Department as they focus on increasing the number of visitors to Jamaica for the upcoming winter tourism season.