14,000 jobs from planned resort development
MORE THAN 14,000 temporary and long-term jobs are expected to be generated from the planned multifaceted resort development in St Ann by Spanish hotel chain, Pinero Group, which owns the Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica.
Tourism Minister Edmund Barlett, who met with the group’s principals in Madrid, Spain, on January 24 to discuss the project, said “it will mean more economic and social benefits for the country and at the community level”.
Details of the development were formally presented to Prime Minister Andrew Holness last year.
It will provide a mix of hotel rooms and villas, a Professional Golf Association (PGA)-certified 18-hole golf course, a state-ofthe-art fisherman’s village, farms, modern employee residences, educational facilities, among other facilities and amenities.
“It will be a game changer for Jamaica’s tourism and help us to be prepared for the influx of visitors expected to the island. It also shows the confidence that our hotel partners have in the destination, and is very much in line with our plans for an additional 10,000 hotel rooms over the course of the next five years,” Bartlett said.
He commended the Pinero Group for its long-standing commitment to Jamaica, noting that the Bahia Principe, located in Discovery Bay, St Ann, is Jamaica’s largest hotel, with 1,350 rooms.
He said that the group is always seeking to expand and to invest in the communities in which they operate.
The meeting included Chief Executive Officer of the Pinero Group, Encarna Pinero; Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), John Lynch; senior adviser and strategist in the tourism ministry, Delano Seiveright; and Public Relations and Communications Manager, JTB, Fiona Fennell.
Bartlett was in Madrid for the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) from January 24 to 28.
He said that the event, with 8,000 exhibitors, 130 countries represented and more than 300,000 attendees, represents one of the largest gatherings of tourism professionals globally and is the leading fair for Latin America’s receptive and issuing markets.
“FITUR 2024, organised by IFEMA MADRID, from all indications, has been growing in all dimensions, most notably in its international presence, with the official representation of 20 more countries than in 2023,” Bartlett noted.
“What we are seeing here is an electric atmosphere, which is pretty much in line with the organisers’ assessment that it reflects the growth experienced in recent months by the national and international tourism industry, and lays the foundation for the consolidation of the sector during 2024,” he said further.