TRIDENT Hotel and Trident Castle are set to officially open in March.

The Portland-based resorts are expected to hold a soft opening on Boxing Day as part of the training process for staff members currently being recruited.

Geejam Collections, which manages the Michael Lee-Chin-owned hotels, recruited Portlanders to fill new management and line level job positions last weekend. By Christmas, 125 persons will be employed, said Jon Baker, Geejam’s chief executive officer.

The aim is to “create one workforce”, said Baker, adding that joining the staff will be critical to controlling overhead costs. Depending on the occupancy level of either hotel, workers will be circulated, and there will be one central management, said the Geejam CEO.

Both hotels are expected to be fully equipped for the opening in 2013.

“There are still some loose ends that need to be tied. Our staff will be in training,” Baker said.

The project has not been hampered too much by the passage of Hurricane Sandy, which inflicted extensive damage on Portland, said Baker. The damage caused by the Category One storm propelled West Portland’s Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz to call for the area to be declared a national disaster zone. But Baker said, from a tourism perspective, there was no need to call it a disaster area, despite acknowledging that “Portlanders who live in the interior were badly damaged”.

“We (Geejam Collection) were lucky; it could have been worse,” Baker said, revealing that the hotels suffered some landscape and roof damage.

Trident Hotel has 13 villas and 14 rooms while Trident Castle has eight rooms, all on one property.

Once a high-end jewel for tourists, Portland has largely been ushered under the radar. However, Lee-Chin, along with other successful Jamaican businessmen, are attempting to restore the parish through heavy investments, while pressuring the government to play its part in developing the infrastructure to complement the billions of dollars being pumped in.

A number of projects have been initiated in a bid to redevelop Portland into a premier restort town. Among them is the renovation of the Blue Lagoon attraction, which is also owned by Lee-Chin’s Portland Holdings and managed by Geejam.

Unlike Trident Castle and Trident Hotel, Blue Lagoon will not be completed this year. “Blue Lagoon will be the primary focus of Geejam and Portland Holdings for 2013,” Baker said.

Instead, phase one of that hotel project will begin in 2013. The area will be cleaned and public bathrooms will be put in place for the project. And when completed, the attraction will feature a restaurant, a botanical garden and a museum, said Baker.

“We believe that Blue Lagoon will be key to attract tourists to Portland,” he said.

“Port Antonio Renaissance is the objective and project of Lee-Chin and I to develop Portland’s tourism,” he said. “Michael Lee-Chin’s vision for the area is the creation of a sustainable local economy for tourism.”

Already, the Trident Castle furniture restoration workshop has been put in place, where antique furniture will be renovated by local crafters. An organic farm, the Trident Organic Farm is set up to supply the hotel with vegetables, Baker said. Geejam plant nursery, which will grow seedlings and plants, is also a part of the project.

A very strong part of Geejam’s business model is the promotion of Port Antonio. As such, a website, which will act as central point for tourists to obtain information on Portland will be launched in mid-December, said Baker.

“Guests will be able to browse all of Portland’s attractions,” the Gee-Jam boss said, noting that the site will feature an e-mail enquiry section and a toll-free number in the US and Europe.

Baker added that the site will direct guests to other tourism attractions.

“Even if Geejam or Trident is out of their price range, we will point them elsewhere,” he said.