PROJECT momentum for new hotel room construction and refurbishment is building to an eight-year high, according to Michael McMorris, principal and CEO of Kronos Investment and Development Consultants.

Fresh on the heels of chairing the Caribbean Tourism Outlook Panel at last week’s Jamaica Investment Forum, McMorris says that a tabulation of projects suggests that approximately 860 new rooms are currently in the final planning, permitting or construction phases and will come on line between 2015 /2016.

“The number is over 1,000 if you include the Hyatt which completed 200 new rooms in December/January 2015,” he said in a news release yesterday.

McMorris, a former banker and Jampro executive, is chairman of the Victoria Mutual Group and chairman of the Enterprise Team for the privatisation of the operations of Norman Manley International Airport.

Additionally, refurbishing construction will upgrade, refresh and reintroduce a total of 1,170 rooms at some point in the same time period (1,600 if the Hyatt is included).

“Refurbishment should not be underestimated as a critical driver for attracting new consumers and maintaining the momentum,” McMorris said.

Kronos’s research, with the help of Jampro, while not an exact accounting, was consistent with the findings of the members of the Caribbean Outlook Panel, McMorris said.

The panel included senior representatives from Smith Travel Research, a leading global tourism analytics provider; Chukka Tours; Playa Hotels & Resorts, regional hotel owner/operators of Jamaica’s new Hyatt; and RLB, Baha Mar project managers.

“Hard statistics, as well as the on-the-ground experience of some of the most successful regional players across disciplines, indicate that the recent performance and outlook indicators for Jamaica’s hospitality aregreen across the board — with record levels being set for national average occupancy percentages and the rate of increase in the Average Daily Rate ( ADR ) in 2014.

“This translates into a further green light upstream for investment from industry players who are already in Jamaica or who have been eyeing Jamaica’s competitiveness against other destinations in the region,” McMorris said.

He urged tourism stakeholders to guard the success of these projects jealously, as outcomes will either accelerate or derail the momentum.

“As in the pre-recession years of the century we have a chance to resume serious growth in the hospitality sector,” McMorris said. That growth can be “massive driver” for the construction industry, employment within the hospitality industry as well as for expanding demand for housing and goods and services, he said.