By the Caribbean Journal staff
Jamaica has big plans for Kingston as a center for urban tourism, according to Jamaica Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett.
“City tourism is a very exciting area of development; that’s what makes New York what it is, London what it is and Paris what it is, and Kingston is now poised.”
The plans come as the city continues to add new hotel rooms, from the debut of the Courtyard in Kingston to another 300 rooms coming in the form of a new Wyndham property.
Sandals and Marriott have also partnered on a major $50 million new AC Hotel project in Kingston.
That property is slated for a winter 2019 debut.
“Kingston will become a centre where we have more than 1,000 good rooms and when you have more than 1,000 good rooms in a small city such as this, you are beginning to take the steps to be recognized as a centre for city tourism,” Bartlett said.
Kingston’s potential as an urban destination has not gone unnoticed in the aviation sector, either, as more and more carriers add new routes to Jamaica’s capital, including a planned launch by Delta and an expansion to Kingston by Spirit.