Jamaica Is Seeing a Tourism Development Boom

Jamaica is seeing a major increase in hotel development, according to Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett.

The island saw nearly 2,400 new hotel rooms added to its hotel stock last year, with an additional 1,035 rooms now under construction and slated to come on line this year, led by the Zoetry Montego Bay luxury all-inclusive.

The boom is also extending to one of Jamaica’s tourism frontiers: Kingston.

Indeed, 32 high-end hotel rooms and eight two-bedroom apartments are being built at the Renfrew in Kingston, while redevelopment work is also underway at the former Wyndham New Kingston, which was acquired by Jamaica’s Courtleigh Hotel Group.

That comes after the recent news that Sandals and Marriott were partnering on a new AC Hotel project in the capital as well.

That’s along with a landmark contract signed by Karisma Hotels and Resorts to add 5,000 new rooms in Jamaica in the coming years. That deal totaled nearly $1 billion.

“We require another 25,000 rooms to take us to somewhere in the region of 55,000 rooms, and so we are seeking investments,” Bartlett said, adding that for the past six months, several meetings and discussions have taken place with investment companies which  have an interest in Jamaica.”

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