MONTEGO BAY, St James

Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Dennis Morrison, says a US$1.8 billion resort development including “boutique hotels, luxury homes, condominum and a marina projected for construction in Rose Hall will be announced within weeks.

“… I am not at liberty to announce the names and the details,” Morrison said at the Montego Bay’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry monthly meeting on Tuesday.

“But what I can say is that I expect that that development will create a new experience. It will employ many, many more people and it will inject further high-end capacity into the Montego Bay area”.

Morrison noted that the Rose Hall corridor is now being dubbed the “Gold Coast” in tourism circles locally and internationally as a result of its numerous resort developments.

He said a major investment project is also scheduled for Negril.

“It is close to approval for environmental permits and so on. I don’t want to call the number of rooms but when you hear it you will recognise that it is a very significant change in Negril’s fortunes,” he declared.

“We were very careful to ensure that the investment in new rooms in Negril will not be out of character. Remember the song, “Little Cottage in Negril”? That is the attractiveness of Negril and so were very clear to our investors that whatever they were doing had to accord and to maintain Negril’s character.”

He added: “What is most impressive about that major investment is that it makes provisions for social amenities in a way that no other resort has done in the history of Jamaica.”