Above: a rendering of the refurbished resort

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Spanish hotel giant Melia is coming to Jamaica.

The company is slated to debut its new branded resort at the former Braco Village Resort in Trelawny at the end of this year.

The resort had a “groundbreaking” event for the relaunch and refurbishment project this week.

It is slated to debut in December as the Melia Braco Village resort.

Melia is currently undertaking a refurbishment project of the existing 225 rooms at the property, with the addition of 250 new rooms planned.

That would mean a total of 475 rooms when the project is completed.

“At this point in time, tourism in Jamaica is very positive,” Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill said. “Arrivals are up, the hotels are full, and the airports are bursting at the seams. When your occupancies are up, it drives demand and when you drive demand, you drive investments and we are now seeing the fruits of that investment.”