THE Urban Development Corporation (UDC) is seeking investors to establish a natural juice business at Dunn’s River Falls.

The addition of non-alcoholic, natural juices, “inclusive of coconut water,” is a part of “the continued expansion of the product offering” at the popular tourist attraction, according to the UDC’s latest request for proposals (RFP).

Investors have the option of making “a specific monetary offer for the right to operate” at the location or they can enter into “a revenue-sharing agreement” with the UDC.

Interested applicants must also be able to demonstrate the ability to finance the future expansion of this business.

At least two natural juice bars contacted by the Jamaica Observer have expressed an interest in the offering, citing it as a possibly “lucrative opportunity”.

Having recognised that “the service offerings to patrons at the site are limited”, this represents the third in a series of recent moves made by the government agency to improve the visitor experience at the attraction.

Last month, the corporation issued a 14-page RFP inviting the private sector to set up new attractions that will have a “minimal impact on the ecology of the area” and is compatible with the “natural ecosystem” of the falls and current offerings.

Visitors to the attraction are currently limited to climbing the falls, which extend some 600 metres, swimming in the beach and walking through the gardens.

The two nature trails, which were added just a year ago, are aimed at providing visitors an alternative to climbing the falls.

There are also two restaurants, two snack counters, a craft market, one hair braider licencees, four video licences, a Dunn’s River logo shop and two water shoes shops on-site.

The Ocho Rios-based attraction also changed the way that visitors exit the facility by redirecting the flow through the craft market.

The tourist town is also home to a number of other activity-based attractions that target the same market.

Thrill-seekers can take the Chukka tour, which offers quad bike and horse-back riding, in addition to zip, tube and slide combos at the Good Hope Estate.

Swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Cove and zip-lining through the hills at Mystic Mountain are also highly sought-after activities that are in relatively close proximity to Dunn’s River Falls.

Notably, these attractions are more capital-intensive, but they also fetch ticket prices that are several times that of the falls.

Admission to the falls costs adult residents $600 and US$20 for non-residents.

Comparatively, an all inclusive Chukka tour package costs US$125, and admission to Mystic Mountain via the skyline tour costs US$46 a head, while a three-ride package there costs US$137.

The UDC’s regional subsidiary, the St Ann Development Company (SADCO), manages the falls within a portfolio of eight smaller attractions in the parish. SADCO made a net surplus of $87 million in 2010 and $69 million in 2009, according to the latest disaggregated financials on the UDC’s website.

In 1972, the Government acquired the falls which were part of the 276-acre Belmont property.