Sandals Resorts, the Caribbean’s leading luxury all-inclusive resort company, will add three new hotels to its already considerable Jamaican holdings.
A May 26 groundbreaking ceremony on their Sandals Dunn’s River project represents the start of what is promised to be a more than a $230 million injection (for just this one area) and shows Sandal’s Resorts’ confidence that tourism will rebound post the pandemic’s travel shutdown.
Sandals has now begun the re-development of the Sandals Dunn’s River Hotel property which will receive a top-to-bottom renovation and will soon begin construction on an adjacent ocean-front land parcel, transforming it into Sandals Royal Dunn’s River Resort.
This new, 250 lavish-roomed resort will operate with its sister hotel similarly to Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados. Guests will be able to take advantage of exchange privileges between the two all-inclusives, providing double the dining and amenity options.
A further $250 million renovation of Sandals’ Beaches Runaway Bay Resort in Ocho Rios is the next in line. The third family-friendly Beaches Resort in Jamaica, at its completion the newly-renovated hotel will feature an estimated 400 expansive suites with up to four bedrooms, designed with extended families in mind.
Jamaica’s tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett is beyond pleased with Sandal’s new initiatives and what it means for the tourism infrastructure in the tropical island destination.
He is also exceedingly happy about the job opportunities that will be presented to Jamaicans both during construction (around 2100 jobs just at the Dunn’s River location alone) and once the properties become fully operational- an approximate1,300 permanent hotel positions in Ocho Rios.
Jamaica will soon (June 3) be lifting the ban that is currently stopping many country’s nationals from entering the island by air. As it stands, any tourist who is allowed to enter the country must present a negative Covid test taken no more that 72 hours prior to arriving.
Further testing may be done by the Jamaican government on random tourists entering at the airport, also.
Unless tested positive, tourists do not need to quarantine but must stay at a property within the “resilient corridor”: designated for tourism purposes.
Visitors are required to remain at their hotel/resort within the corridor for the duration of their stay. They may, however, leave the hotel/resort to visit any tourist attraction that is certified by the Jamaica Tourist Board. All travel to and from the attraction must be on transportation licensed under the same board.
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