Continued additions to island’s tourist infrastructure to start paying off

Jamaica is eyeing a bumper summer holiday season, with tourism officials optimistic that the sector will do very well.

According to Director of Tourism Donovan White, “continued additions to our tourist infrastructure leave us well-positioned to handle the huge influx of travelers that we are expecting with the loosening of travel restrictions”.

He explained that 90 per cent of the planned tourism investments are expected to be completed on time with at least 4,800 additional rooms to be created by the end of 2023. Upcoming additions to room stock include Sandals Negril, Sandals Whitehouse, Sandals Royal Caribbean, and Princess Hotels in Negril.

In addition, Hard Rock in Montego Bay will add 1,700 to the inventory over the next two years. The tourism officials pointed to these investments as a vote of confidence in the country while making reference to the long-awaited Harmony Cove project in Trelawny, which is set to continue during this year and into next.

Long-awaited Harmony Cove project

The $7.5-billion development, which has been planned for more than 10 years, will include several luxury hotels, world-class golf courses, a luxury spa, marina facilities, commercial developments, and private residences. In addition, billions of dollars have been invested in updating the country’s infrastructure, including improvements to the island’s two major airports and the development of beach facilities, refreshing of heritage sites, and the upgrading of cruise piers.

“The future of tourism in Jamaica is very bright, and our goal to dramatically increase the number of hotel rooms in the destination is still on track, despite the challenges we’ve been facing,” declared Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

According to the minister: “We continue to create an enabling environment to foster investment in tourism as we build forward stronger, and investor confidence remains extremely high.”

Jamaica is projecting to welcome 1.4 million visitors in 2021, comprising approximately 900,000 stay over arrivals and 500,000 cruise passengers. In 2019 Jamaica welcomed 4.3 million visitors for a record year, with 2.7 million stay overs and 1.6 million cruise passengers.

Cruise ship home-porting in Jamaica to boost visitor numbers

As Jamaica looks to revitalise the industry to these previous numbers, the country will be welcoming over 500,000 cruise ship visitors thanks to a first time home-porting arrangement with a major American cruise line.

Norwegian Cruise Line will homeport its vessels in Montego Bay, starting August 7 with two itineraries, one stopping in Ocho Rios before heading on to Cozumel in Mexico and Honduras, then returning to Montego Bay. The other schedule also includes Ocho Rios, but from there passengers will sail to the ABC Islands, namely, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

The Viking, with capacity for 950 passengers, is also slated to homeport in Montego Bay, beginning in August.