tourist arrivals to Jamaica to pass 5 million next year

[Jangle]

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is projecting that tourist arrivals to Jamaica will pass five million next year, even as the island's hotel room stock is poised to increase by some 7,000 in 10 years, based on new developments slated to come on stream.

“For the next budget. I will have to review the 5x5x5 objective. We are now 4.4 million arrivals… [and] by next year we would have passed the five (million mark). When the cruise development comes, which is a whole new game to talk about in terms of what Falmouth will look like in 2022 to 2023, we are expecting to double the arrivals for cruise. We are expecting to see two million arrivals in Falmouth alone,” Bartlett outlined at the just-concluded Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations (CHICOS) Summit at the Secrets Wild Orchid and St James Resorts in Montego Bay.

The minister said these engagements are projected to generate some 50,000 jobs, noting that this significant level of investment will serve to further boost Jamaica’s economy.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...-year-7000-new

[Jangle]

US$1-billion investment
After near 4-year wait, Karisma to break ground for new resort 2020

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Karisma Hotels and Resorts last week announced that it will be investing near US$1 billion to build its 4,800 room multi-resort development project in Llandovery, St Ann.

According to Karisma's Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Business Development Ruben Becerra, ground will be broken next year for the Sugarcane Bay project, the latest addition to the popular luxury chain which boasts 26 properties in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe under several brands, including El Dorado, Azul, Generations, Sensatori and Nickelodeon.

“This has been a long story. We started three-and-a-half years ago and the good news is that everything is ready. All the process that needs to be done is already done,” Becerra said last Thursday, the opening day of the two-day Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS), held at Secrets Wild Orchid in Montego Bay.

The 226-acre property is just 10 minutes outside of Ocho Rios.

“Jamaica is hot and the investment conference here is indicative of that. We have never had this aggregation of serious investment prospects congregated in one place for a long time in Jamaica. So we are comfortable that the investment opportunities are not only about hotel rooms. This is a good thing that now we are looking at people wanting to invest on the supply side,” Bartlett said.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...0?profile=1373

[Assasin]

gwaaan .....

[Assasin]

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...rst-preference

[HL]

Jangle and Assasin...how many times mihaffi tellunu say Tourism in Jamaica is a darn waste of time.

[Assasin]

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sunda...7?profile=1056