MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – With construction of Jamaica’s most elaborate resort development about to take off, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has hailed plans for the US$700 million, 1,200-room Moon Palace The Grand. He described it as “a partnership made in heaven.”
Features of the development were given at yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the 33-story ultra-modern hotel by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Palace Resorts, Gibran Chapur.
Upon completion, The Grand resort will employ 3,000 people to take care of 1,200 luxurious suites. These include overwater bungalows, with more than 13 speciality restaurants, a unique waterpark and the largest spa in the country.
Palace Resorts Sets New Benchmark
According to Mr. Chapur, “It will set a new benchmark for hospitality in the Caribbean, while honouring the culture and spirit of Jamaica.”
Mr. Chapur said the approximately J$112 billion “is not just an investment in hotels. It is an investment in the future of Jamaica, its people and its tourism industry.
The Mexican family investment will provide 500 staff apartments on 28 acres of land across from the resort. It will also develop the Success public beach for the community. Additionally, it will support Minister Bartlett’s legacy project for a new innovative town in Barrett Town.
Elaborating on plans for the new town, Minister Bartlett said the overall development of The Grand was in keeping with Government’s outlook “that tourism must not just be an economic activity that becomes extractive, but that tourism must become inclusive and must be embracing of the communities that are around.”
He said the tourism innovation township would be “a truly integrated development arrangement which allows for the circular economy to be realized in the space where the community around feeds into tourism and tourism feeds back into the community.”
The John Rollins Success Primary School will expand to include Jamaica’s first tourism early childhood incubator. The Barrett Town Clinic will be replaced by a new Comprehensive Health Centre. Also, the police station will move to a larger building in the new town. The current site will become a maintenance academy to train workers for the tourism industry.
The proposed new town will feature a commercial centre, fire-fighting services, and a modernized community park with upgraded sports facilities. Additionally, to build human capital, the Moon Palace Foundation is offering four scholarships for students pursuing a medical degree at the University of the West Indies.
Taking into account former cane lands stretching from Barrett Town to Cinnamon Hill, Minister Bartlett envisages an expansion of the tourism supply chain. This will impact the community. “So that we can have backyard gardens that are producing fresh fruits and vegetables to be sold across the sector.”
Transforming Tourism in Jamaica
Terming the plan, “An exciting piece of transformation that is changing the way tourism is going to be practiced in Jamaica,” Minister Bartlett said cottage industries would be established. The people of Lilliput, Barrett Town, Grange Pen, Rhyne Park, and Spot Valley would make sheets, pillowcases, blankets, towels, candles, and sundry other items. These will meet the needs of the industry.”
