With the announcement of a casino license to the developer of Solís The Palmyra, the Gold Coast has firmly established itself at the heart of the action.
Casino Gambling on the Gold Coast
With the announcement of a casino license to the developer of Solís The Palmyra for the new US$1.8B resort casino project named Celebration Jamaica, the Gold Coast has firmly established itself at the heart of the action. Already home to several of the island's premier resort properties, including the The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon and the soon to be open Solís The Palmyra, the pioneering project is set to propel the Gold Coast into a class of its own, luring high-end tourists to its shores with the promise of Las Vegas style casino gambling, championship golf courses, restaurants, water park, shopping, conference center, beaches and world-class entertainment.
The Government's decision to allow full-blown casino gambling gives Jamaica yet another competitive edge on the global tourist scene, adding the glamour of casino gambling to the island's allure of stunning beaches, turquoise waters, welcoming people and laid back lifestyle. Made official by Prime Minister Bruce Golding in his annual 2008 speech to the nation, the PM announced that revenues from casino operations will be placed in a special fund to finance much needed capital developments in health, education and security.
While the two mega resorts Celebration Jamaica and Harmony Cove have been green-lighted by the Government for casino licences, legislation has yet to be passed by the Jamaican Parliament. Said Robert T. Trotta, developer of Solís The Palmyra and Celebration Jamaica; "Celebration Jamaica is moving ahead and we expect casino legislation to be passed by Parliament in the last quarter of 2008."
The island's first casino hotel will form the cornerstone of the US$1.8B master plan development set to be rolled out on 65 acres of Gold Coast oceanfront adjacent to Solís The Palmyra. The main building, a sixteen story 5star hotel containing 1,500 rooms will house a 75,000 square foot casino, basing its entertainment offer around the introduction of sports book and table games such as Roulette, Craps, Blackjack and Baccarat. Catering to a high-end clientele, the casino hotel will offer a state-of-the-art discotheque, conference meeting space, including a ballroom, an outdoor function area, retail space, front desk lobby, a spectacular lobby lounge overlooking the Caribbean Sea, bars, restaurants, kid's club, health club, spa and an array of additional facilities.
The largest private investment ever to be made in Jamaica, Celebration Jamaica signifies a new epoch in the island's tourism chronicle. With the extraordinary feature of being less than a 15 minute drive from Montego Bay's Sangster International Airport on the new 4 lane highway, the multi-layered resort will tempt visitors with an array of premier attractions which include a water and entertainment complex, a dolphin bay marine attraction, a water amphitheater, a world class marina, a variety of restaurants, nightclubs, entertainment and shopping experiences throughout. Anticipated to become a significant competitor to the world's most popular destination resorts, a total of 2,000 rooms and luxury real estate components are planned throughout the development.
Four secluded white sand beaches and a boardwalk will connect the entire coastline from The Ritz-Carlton to the Rose Hall Resort & Spa, a Hilton resort. The connecting of the areas hotels will turn the area into an integrated resort community in which visitors can roam around freely to enjoy the many entertainment options available, thus enhancing the overall experience. The resort will also be connected to a 2,500 person capacity convention center that the Government of Jamaica has committed to building in Rose Hall, by way of a pedestrian overpass spanning across the highway. Said Trotta; "We believe that the addition of high-end casino gambling and all the other entertainment options will increase the occupancy of all the area hotels, as well as bring significant benefits in the form of much needed after-dark entertainment."
Over the last 8 years, the area of Rose Hall at the heart of Jamaica's Gold Coast has experienced explosive growth, turning the elite enclave into a veritable tourist mecca. Now, the promise of high-end casino gambling has turned the Gold Coast into a hotspot of development. Said Trotta; "The Gold Coast has another 8 years of strong growth ahead."
It is widely believed that the project will help catapult the island into the big leagues in a boost that can only be a winning hand for Jamaica. Describing the casino resort as a tipping point for Jamaica, the Celebration Jamaica developer said that the project will be financed through its first year of construction by its equity partners. Commented Trotta about the effects of the current U.S. credit crunch; "The current crisis has primarily been brought on by a lack of confidence in the economic markets. We expect that the credit crisis will ease up from the beginning of 2009, following the U.S. Government's bailout and the post-election euphoria, which should restore confidence in the financial market."
In comparison to Harmony Cove, the only other project in the country to be granted a casino license, Celebration Jamaica has a key advantage. Whereas the Gold Coast project benefits from Rose Hall's existing US$1B infrastructure, invested over the course of the last two decades, Harmony Cove is facing huge infrastructure investments in addition to construction costs. A private/public partnership between Tavistock Group and the Jamaican Government, the 8,000 room project which includes several hotels, full-service casinos, championship golf courses, tennis & racquet center, an equestrian center, a water and adventure park, conference facilities, retail shops, restaurants and local attractions. The project is reported to be on track for a 2010 construction start.
The introduction of casino gambling marks the culmination of an unprecedented in-flow of foreign direct investment and international expertise to the island. Since 2000, Jamaica has attracted close to US$6B* in foreign direct investment and unlike the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, the island has managed to attract private-sector investments to support a rapid transformation of its infrastructure. A veritable change has taken place in every industry corner; tourism, banking, telecom, real estate, energy and transportation. In 2007, Jamaica was ranked 26th by the World Investment Report for foreign direct investment, a remarkable feat for a nation of 2.7 million.
It is estimated that between 25,000 - 40,000 permanent jobs will be created through the two new casino projects, as well as an equal amount of construction jobs during the building period. The massive expansion of rooms will also create growth in the area of peripheral, smaller businesses, including tourism transportation services, restaurants and additional tourist attractions.
* Planning Institute of Jamaica
