Jamaica Gets Its First CC

Jamaica's second-largest resort city, Montego Bay, will be the site of a new $51.7 million convention center.

The facility, to be called the Montego Bay Convention Center, is the first of its kind for the island nation, said Marcia Bullock, the Jamaica Tourist Board's regional director of groups and conventions.

The convention center, to be built on 23 acres in the Rose Hall section of the city, is planned to have about 215,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. It is a joint venture between the government of Jamaica and Export-Import Bank of China, which will be the majority shareholder. Ex-Im Bank will finance $45.4 million of the project.

"Up until now, we've lost a lot of opportunities," Bullock said, of the lack of exhibit and meeting space in Jamaica. "The convention center will give us the opportunity to attract group business."

Most groups going to Jamaica for meetings are held at hotels and, because of space restrictions, are typically limited to about 500 people, Bullock said. Jamaica has been unable to attract large groups that need the combination of meeting and exhibit space that the Montego Bay Convention Center would provide.

The facility is scheduled to open in December 2008, but Bullock said a firm ground-breaking date has not been set yet. "I'm anticipating it (to happen) at any time now," she added.

So far, no meetings or conventions have been booked into the space, but Bullock said marketing and sales efforts for the convention center will start immediately.

Several groups have expressed interest in 2009 dates, but at press time it was unknown whether the convention center would be scheduled for completion by then, she added.

"I'm sure we'll be going back to them pretty soon," Bullock said.

Jamaica does have a conference center in Kingston, the island's capital city. However, Bullock said, the facility doesn't accommodate the types of groups the tourist board is hoping to attract to the new convention center.