By the Caribbean Journal staff

Is Trelawny the next Montego Bay?

The parish of Trelawny, the next parish east of the tourism hub of St James (home to Montego Bay), is seeing significant hotel development growth.

“Trelawny can no longer be ignored,” Jamaica Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett said this week.

Indeed, Trelawny has some 6,000 new hotel rooms in the pipeline in the corridor between Rio Bueno and Falmouth, Bartlett said.

While it’s sometimes, wrongly, called greater Montego Bay, the fact is that Trelawny is a distinct parish — and is forming its own tourism identity.

Trelawny has seen massive growth in recent years from brands like Royalton. (Above, the Royalton White Sands).

“Trelawny is now forging with its transformation from a parish that has been dominated by agriculture, more so sugar cane, to what is now a very vibrant tourism sector,” Bartlett said.

The Minister was speaking at the official debut of the new Excellence Oyster Bay, a new all-inclusive property in Trelawny.

The $110 million project held its soft opening over the summer.

“In a few years, when you combine the inventory of Trelawny with that of Montego Bay, you are looking at two-thirds of the hotel room stock on the island,” Bartlett said.