Jamaica is aiming to attract more upmarket developers as part of a drive to reposition the island as a luxury destination.
Jamaica Tourist Board tourism director Basil Smith said the country has offered five-star product for some time but infrastructure developments mean it is now well placed to move tourism upmarket.
Developments include improvements to the country’s international airports, and the opening of a new highway linking Negril and Montego Bay, to be extended to Port Antonia next year.
A second highway, linking the north and south of the islands, is due to open in early 2009.
Smith said there is already an “elegant corridor” of upmarket properties, including the four-star Wyndham Hotel, which reopens in December as a five-star, Half Moon and the Ritz Carlton, which is also being expanded.
He said: “Spanish investment since 2003 will add about 10,000 more rooms by 2010. We welcome that, but we want more boutique-style properties and mixed-use residential and hotel resorts that will give the well-heeled investor a stake in Jamaica.”
Harmony Cove, due to open in 2011, will have 4,000 rooms split between a hotel, villas and apartments.
Smith said: “We are keen to attract people who want to dine out in our local restaurants. All-inclusives haven’t stimulated that business. I’m not knocking them but we want a balance.”
Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.
The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.