Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, says ground is to be broken for 3,000 hotel rooms over the next few months.

Speaking at a virtual ground-breaking ceremony for the new Sandals Dunn’s River Resort in St. Ann, on May 26, the Minister also noted that he recently concluded, in Spain, arrangements for another 1,000 rooms.

            He said that of the 1,000 rooms, 700 will be constructed in Richmond and another 280 rooms in Montego Bay.

“I am excited about the prospect of where we are going with the industry in this round. Already for the year, we have welcomed just a little over 400,000 visitors and we have earned some US$500 million of foreign exchange for Jamaica,” Mr Bartlett explained.

“The workers are coming back, the sense of hope is returning and the Prime Minister who drives the process, is continuously giving us the energy and the vitality to keep the process going,” he added. 

In the meantime,  Bartlett indicated that Jamaica’s tourism sector is undergoing a renewal process, and that this new tourism is going to drive a greater level of “inclusiveness” that will further benefit the local economy.

He said there will be more indigenous Jamaican programmes, experiences and entrepreneurships to strengthen and build the new tourism product.

“We are looking at how to bring more players into the mix, but more importantly, how to drive greater inclusion in the supply side of the tourism innovation,” Mr. Bartlett pointed out.

 “So often we build hotels, we build rooms, we bring lots of visitors here, but the local ingredient is critical to ensure that the value of tourism stays in our country and the impact of it flows through the economy in a strong way,” he added.