MONTEGO BAY, St James — The St James Municipal Corporation is finalising a proposal for a business improvement district (BID) that is expected to transform Jimmy Cliff Boulevard, also referred to as the hip strip, in Montego Bay.

“We have to finalise that BID proposal and send it off to the [local government] ministry for final approval, but we have to put the legal components into it. That is what we’re working on now,” mayor of Montego Bay and chairman of the SJMC Richard Vernon said Wednesday night at an event to celebrate S Hotel Montego Bay being voted in the top 10 best all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean by USA Today readers.

“The operators here [on the hip strip] will be the persons, the stakeholders, the managers around the BID to ensure that visitors have the best experience when they visit Montego Bay and enjoy the best strip in the Caribbean,” Vernon added.

The core goals of the BID are: economic enhancement, infrastructure improvement, improved waste management and enhanced security.

The mayor explained that 80 per cent of the operators within the proposed zone have already agreed to be included in the BID and are willing to pay a fee to achieve these goals.

“This was verified through consultation,” he assured the Jamaica Observer.

S Hotel Montego Bay is among the properties located on Jimmy Cliff Boulevard and Vernon wants the strip to be aligned with the standards of the award-winning hotel.

“There is some work that has started, but it continues to be a work in progress. However, I know that we will get there. Infrastructurally, we will get there. Aesthetically, we will get there,” he said.

S Hotel Montego Bay was voted the second-best all-inclusive Caribbean resort and the best all inclusive hotel in Jamaica “on USA Toady’s 10Best list compiled by the newspaper’s editors and readers with the help of a panel of travel experts,

Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which opened in 2024, was voted the number one resort by the newspaper.

On Wednesday, S Hotel Jamaica Chief Executive Officer Christopher Issa attributed the property’s performance to the staff.

“This function tonight is to recognise our very hard-working team, which has been able to offer a level of service in a very special property,” he said.

“We are an all-Jamaican managed and staffed hotel… We are so pleased that we can celebrate our team here tonight and that’s what this is all about, celebrating our multi-award- winning hotel management and staff that have really helped to put this hotel on the map in the last few years, and to them, we say congratulations, thank you, well done, and keep going,” he said.