The official opening of Princess Grand Jamaica and Princess Senses The Mangrove this week revealed another dimension to Jamaica’s tourism industry. The $400 million resorts, with 1,005 rooms and several overwater suites, will feature another attraction for travelers and gamblers alike. This comes along with the development of the island’s first casino after licensing legislation was approved in June 2010, along with the enactment of the Casino Gaming Act in the country in March of that year.

Princess Resorts introducing Jamaica’s first casino

At the official opening of Princess Grand Jamaica and Princess Senses The Mangrove this week, Princess Resorts’ Managing Director, Enrico Pezzoli said in a statement:

These two resorts promise to elevate Jamaica’s all-inclusive experience and draw more tourists to our shores than ever before.

Princess is proud to be the first in Jamaica to offer a full-service style casino where guests can enjoy a state-of-the-art gaming lounge and at the same time world class food and beverage. Construction has already started, and we are planning to open our casino by the fourth quarter of 2025.

According to Pezzoli, in the first week of operation, Tripadvisor has positioned Princess Grand Jamaica at number two spot in Jamaica. He said the current staff complement of 1,400 is to increase to 1,700 as the resort reaches full capacity in a few weeks’ time.

 ‘One of the most beautiful hotels’

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Dr. Andrew Holness and the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlet led the ribbon cutting to signify the official opening. Speaking of the new resorts, Holness praised the resort as “one of the most beautiful hotels that I have seen,” adding that the fact that each room has a sea view offers a major selling point while praising the architects for an amazing job. The prime minister added:

I also want to commend the workmen who have put their labor into this; many of them are from this parish, and all over Jamaica, and I want to acknowledge their work in this achievement.

Meanwhile, Bartlett welcomed the announcement of the upcoming first casino, praising Princess Hotels & Resorts owner, Roberto Cabrera Plana and his family for the “great investment that they have made here in Jamaica.”

Moreover, Jamaica’s prime minister attributed this and other tourism developments to the fact that the island has achieved stability. Furthermore, he underscored the fact that Jamaica needs to pivot with “speed and efficiency” in improving infrastructure to support the amazing investment. More importantly, the new development must ensure that the people of Jamaica benefit from this stability.

Holness also reaffirmed his commitment to completing the Hopewell Bypass and Lucea Bypass, which invested in fixing the town of Lucea as a potential tourist attraction.

We have already started the plans; we already have the alignment for the bypass and in the next budget we will be making allocations to begin.

We are going to create the best tourism corridor in the Caribbean when we have completed that bypass from Montego Bay straight through to Negril.

We have some excellent plans for Negril, including a new airport, including two parks; one will be a beach park and one will be an echo park.

Moreover, the prime minister announced the intention to declare Negril a special investment area to “recreate the whole energy in Negril, to get back Negril as the pulse of tourism.”

All these new tourism projects will certainly make the Caribbean island a major attraction for travelers.