Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Tourism (September
30,
2004)
Sandals begins to re-open hotels closed by Ivan
Sandals Resorts
International will tomorrow reopen its 200-room Beaches Negril,
which will be followed on October 28 with the re-opening of
Beaches Sandy Bay - both hotels having been closed for repairs in
the wake of Hurricane Ivan which hit Jamaica on September 10 and
11.
A third hotel, Sandals Negril,
will re-open on November 18.
Sandals said yesterday that though
structural damage to its properties was minimal, there was need
for moderate repairs to some guest facilities, as well as
landscaping which suffered significant dislocation.
At the same time, Sandals
Resorts says it has begun promotions within the international
tourism marketplace to reassure the industry that Jamaica was open
for business.
Last week, the principal and
chairman of the hotel chain, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, hosted a
group of 30 travel industry leaders from around the world. They
were in Jamaica to get a post Ivan first-hand view of Jamaica's
tourism product. The group included travel agents, tour operators
and members of the international media.
Among them were representatives
from Travel Impressions, Classic Customs Vacations, Air Jamaica
Vacations, Travel Agent Magazine, Recommended Magazine, Travel Age
West, Jax Fax Magazine, Bride's Magazine and the Sunday Times.
The group stayed at the Royal
Plantation Ocho Rios, which recently became the first Jamaican
resort to be named among the "leading small hotels of the
world".
The group toured Sandals and
Beaches resorts as well as some attractions in Montego Bay and
Ocho Rios. Among the resorts toured were Sandals Grande Ocho Rios
Beach and Villa Resort, which is currently undergoing a US$10
million refurbishing. The new resort, which will combine the
former Beaches Grande Sport and Sandals Ocho Rios resorts, is
still on target to open in December. It will feature 529 rooms and
suites, 90 pools and 11 gourmet specialty restaurants and will be
the largest resort in the Sandals chain.
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