Durrant Pate/Contributor

Prominent Spanish hotel chain, Pinero Group is progressing with its multifaceted resort development in St Ann, which will be one of the largest resort and real estate projects ever executed in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The group, which owns the Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, one of the island’s largest hotel with 1,350 rooms briefed Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett,  who met with its executives during a meeting on Wednesday (January 24). 

Bartlett is now in Spain’s capital, Madrid, leading a small Jamaican delegation of tourism officials at FITUR 2024, a major tourism fair with 8,000 exhibitors, 130 countries represented and over 300,000 attendees. 

The fair represents one of the largest gatherings of tourism professionals globally and is the leading fair for Latin America’s receptive and issuing markets. During the meeting with the principals of Pinero Group, discussions centered on the status of its multifaceted resort development in St. Ann. 

The meeting involved Encarna Pinero, CEO of the Pinero Group, chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), John Lynch; senior tourism ministry technocrat Delano Seiveright; and Fiona Fennell, public relations and communications manager at the JTB.

Project details

The meeting follows a formal presentation in Jamaica by Pinero Group of its development plans to Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The project represents a massive expansion of their existing Bahia Principe product in St. Ann to include new hotels, villas, a PGA-certified 18-hole golf course, state-of-the-art fisherman’s village, farms, modern employee residences, educational facilities, among other amenities.   

The project will be a great mixture of hotel rooms and Villas that will create over 14,000 short-term and long-term jobs, which will mean more economic and social benefits for the country and at the community level. 

Minister Bartlett explains, “the expansion will be a game changer for Jamaica’s tourism and help us be prepared for the influx of visitors expected to the island. It also shows the confidence that our hotel partners have in the destination.” 

Marketing Jamaica at FITUR 2024

In the meantime, Minister Bartlett is marketing Jamaica’s tourism project at the fair, where is participating and engaging with his global tourism partners. He also conducted radio interviews and meetings with stakeholders in a bid to get more tourists coming to Jamaica.