PM Commends Palace Resorts for US$200M Investment in Jamaica’s Tourism Sector

Prime Minister Portia Simpson is commending Palace Resorts for its US$200 million investment in Jamaica’s tourism industry, with the refurbishing and rebranding of the former Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel property, into a 5-star resort renamed Moon Palace Jamaica Grande. Speaking at the Official Opening and Ribbon Cutting on Wednesday, December 2, the Prime Minister noted that the investment is “an indication of the improving business environment, and the growing attraction of the tourism market in Jamaica.”

The Prime Minister welcomed Palace Resorts to the island, noting that the investment in Jamaica is its first outside of Mexico. “On behalf of the people of Jamaica, I want to welcome the Palace Resorts to the family of tourism stakeholders in our beautiful island. Welcome to Jamaica, which is rated by the World Bank and Forbes Magazine, as the best place in the Caribbean in which to do business,” Mrs. Simpson Miller said. She told Palace Resorts owners that “By your investment in this state-of-the-art resort, you are demonstrating your confidence that Jamaica will continue to be one of the premier destinations, both in the Caribbean region and globally.”

The Moon Palace property employs some 1000 employees, 600 of whom were staff at the former Sunset Jamaica Grande. In this regard, the Prime Minister noted that the Palace Resorts“is a company with a heart that is investing in Jamaica as well as in the people of Jamaica.” She said that Government’s goal “is to facilitate win-win investments that bring investors a good rate of return and also create good jobs for our people.”

The Prime Minister added that her Government is committed to creating the nurturing environment for investments to succeed.  “That is why we are ensuring that the fundamentals of our economy are sound, as we encourage greater levels of foreign direct investments,” she explained.

Tourism represents an area of substantial growth for the Jamaican economy. Some 180,000 persons are directly or indirectly employed to the industry. Provisional gross foreign exchange earnings from the industry are estimated at US$2.2 billion for the period January to December 2014. With a record wave of investments in recent times, there has been approximately $64 billion worth of investments in new and refurbished properties since 2012.