(Jamaica Gleaner) Karisma Hotels & Resorts has announced that it is ready to break ground in January 2017 for construction of the first three hotels earmarked in a US$900 million multi-hotel development at Llandovery, St Ann.
Speaking after a brief meeting in Montego Bay, St James on Saturday, Karisma Hotels & Resorts’ chief of sales and marketing, Lubo Krstajic, said the requisite permits for construction of the hotels have been submitted for approval. He is anticipating the approval process to be completed by November, in time to facilitate the ground breaking in January 2017.
The three hotels, which represent a combined 1,800 new hotel rooms, forms part of what Karisma Hotels & Resorts dubs the ‘Sugar Cane Project’. Under the ‘Sugar Cane Project’, Karisma plans to build 10 hotels over 10 years, with a total of 5,000 rooms.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett welcomed the news that Karisma is now ready to get the project off the ground, pointing out that it represents the largest single investment in Jamaica’s tourism industry.
Bartlett said further that the Karisma investment aligned well with the tourism ministry’s goals of generating earnings of US$5 billion and securing five million visitors by 2021.
