Daily Black Immigrant News
Major development plans, including an additional 5,000 hotel rooms, are on the drawing board for Negril over the next five years.
In fact, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has hinted at giving the western city of Jamaica a status that would remove it from the dual management it now has between Hanover and Westmoreland.
High-level discussions have begun between multiple government ministries and Negril stakeholders on aspects of the development that will take place over time.
And with tourism being a critical component, Minister Bartlett spoke on Friday of some things to come as he delivered the keynote address at the unveiling of a colorful Negril ‘welcome sign’ on the eastern edge of the resort town known as the ‘Casual Capital’ “.
The $12 million sign features a walkway, retaining wall, landscaping and lettering in red, green and gold, reflecting Negril’s “vibe.” It also comes with solar lighting, which helps with its nighttime visibility and durability.
Tourism Product Development Company Ltd (TPDCo) CEO Wade Mars has called Negril’s “welcome sign” the JAM-ICONIC photo experience. And, like him, Bartlett predicts that, in addition to enhancing the aesthetics of the resort area, the sign will also act as a catalyst to attract more traffic to the area.
Tourism leaders said research has shown that accessible photography experiences within destinations provide visitors with an added incentive to travel longer and further to capture these scenic views as part of their vacation experience. Therefore, the existence of these sites is intended to provide the home destination with user-generated content for marketing, which has a multiplier effect in attracting audiences.
TPDCo has designed a program to promote tourism within rural communities and add aesthetic appeal to destination areas by using JAM-ICONIC photography experiences to highlight protected areas such as natural skylines, national parks and gardens, for example, Cockpit Country, Blue Mountain, as well as destinations like Negril, panoramic views of Jamaica’s historic fields, waterways and cities.
On the cards for development in Negril, according to the minister, are close to 5,000 new rooms, including a 1,000-room hotel at Rhodes Hall, a new property at Ocean Pointe and expansions of the Princess, Palladium, Sandals and Beaches properties. .
With a commitment to developing public spaces in Negril, Bartlett said, to begin with, Seven Miles Beach Park will be transformed, modeled after Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay, St James, though less elaborate.
He said the proposed plan has the support of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and is part of a larger plan to create attractive public parks in tourist areas “for the benefit of Jamaicans by inviting visitors to enjoy them.”
Negril has long enjoyed a special place in the hearts of visitors and with Jamaica making rapid strides in its recovery from the pandemic-related fallout, Minister Bartlett said the resort town has attracted about a third of the more than 3 billion dollars earned by the industry so far this year, leading to Jamaica’s strongest and best summer tourism season just concluded.
The plans for Negril have been welcomed by stakeholders in the area.
NewsAmericasNow.com
