ST JAMES, Jamaica – There are big changes coming for the western parish of Hanover, as it is on track to claim its place among the bustling tourism areas on the island.

This was announced by Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett during a destination assurance meeting held at the Boardwalk Village in Negril, Westmoreland, on March 23.

Before the start of the meeting, the Minister toured the Grand Palladium Resort, Fort Charlotte and the site of Princess Resort in Hanover.

“A new corridor is now emerging, from Point, located a little outside of Lucea (in Hanover), all the way to Salmon Point (in Westmoreland). It is going to define some new (tourism) products. I visited two of these new products – Grand Palladium, where they are doing a 950-room expansion to put in a Convention Centre, an area for entertainment and golf, and 650 houses for the workers of the tourism industry,” Bartlett informed.

“Over the next five years, we are going to have a total of 5,000 new rooms on that corridor. Then there is the continued growth of our villa market. There are more villas emerging and we are seeing them; the designs are coming to us,” he added.

Among the number of new rooms will be the Princess Resort located at Green Island in the parish, which will boast more than 2,000 rooms when completed.

The Minister also mentioned plans for a bypass to be put in place for Lucea, Hopewell, and Sandy Bay in the parish.

As it relates to Fort Charlotte, the Minister said that rehabilitation work will be taking place at the historic site in short order and that more details on the project will be given during his upcoming Sectoral presentation.

He added that Negril will also be rehabilitated and made into a “Centre of Excellence”.

“(We) are looking at repositioning Norman Manley Boulevard to ensure that more space can be provided for the development along this corridor,” he said.

– JIS