MovieTowne may challenge Palace Amusement monopoly of local cinema market
Trinidad – based cinema giant, MovieTowne is eyeing the Jamaican market and seems set to make its foray in a matter of months.
MovieTowne chairman and founder Derek Chin has identified Jamaica and St Lucia as the next territories for his multimillion dollar cineplex, in his Caribbean expansion push. MovieTowne’s first cineplex outside of Trinidad and Tobago was in Guyana and is said to be the most significant, recent private sector investment in that South American Caribbean country.
The Guyana facility is set to open between November and December this year. Referring to Jamaica, Chin disclosed that his company has received an invitation to enter the local market as well as invitations to enter the markets of St Vincent, Antigua, St Lucia.
MovieTowne’s planned entry in the Jamaican market would disturb Palace Amusement’s long-held monopoly of the local cinema market, which is coming out a period of recession, that saw the closures of many cinemas owing to cheaper options of entertainment such as the advent of pirated videos, satellite dish and cable television.
Palace Amusement operates Carib 5 in Cross Roads, Palace Cineplex in Liguanea, Palace Multiplex in Montego Bay, and the recently opened Sunshine Palace in Portmore, St Catherine.
In recent times there has been a resurgence of moviegoers and MovieTowne intends to benefit from this resurgence with its planned entry into Jamaica and other Caribbean islands.
According to Chin, “The brand and MovieTowne and what we have done with it in the last 15 years has really created a brand that many countries are interested in us coming to. Offers of land or concessions to come and invest in their island or country is something I am working with.”
He plans to set up operations in St Lucia before coming to Jamaica, while building out his presence in Toronto, Canada, where MovieTowne is looking to open its first cinema operations in that part of the world.
Regarding the Guyana operations Chin reported that construction of MovieTowne Guyana was close to completion. The US$45-million cineplex is located at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.
