Spirit Airlines is turning 2020 into the Year of Cancun.

The low-cost carrier announced plans to add yet another new route to the ultra-popular destination on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, this time with service from New Orleans.

It’s part of a wider Caribbean expansion out of the Louisiana city, with a pair of new routes set to launch later this spring. 

That will include new flights from New Orleans to both Cancun, Mexico and San Pedro Sula near the Caribbean coast of Honduras. 

The new Cancun flights will launch June 10, with the new flights to San Pedro Sula launching June 11. 

The Honduras flights will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with the company’s new Cancun flights running four times each week, with service on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 

The latter is part of a much broader growth by Spirit to the popular Cancun market, one that included newly-launched routes to Cancun out of five other U.S. cities.

“We are very proud to announce our direct flights from New Orleans to two international destinations,” said Ted Christie, president and CEO of Spirit Airlines. “These new routes are part of our commitment to invest in our passengers. Whether traveling to Cancun for pleasure or to San Pedro Sula to see family and friends, we will continue to connect our passengers with the communities and destinations they are looking for the most.”

Spirit is the third-largest airline operating at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport. 

— CJ

The post Spirit Airlines Keeps Up Cancun Expansion in New Orleans appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

A massive new destination hotel complex by Karisma Hotels and Resorts has officially broken ground in Jamaica. 

The estimated $1 billion USD multi-hotel Sugarcane Bay Jamaica project is set on 226 acres in Llandovery in Jamaica’s “garden parish” of St Ann. 

The project will have approximately 4,700 hotel rooms, according to Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony this week. 

It’s a significant step for Jamaica and its growing pipeline of new hotels, one that is among the largest in the wider Caribbean region according to hotel benchmarking firm STR. 

“Significant investments have been made in the industry and these investments have been able to generate significant returns,” said Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Investors know that investing in Jamaica is a profitable business.”

Bartlett said the new project was a “new chapter” in the tourism identity of St Ann. 

It also could create as many as 10,000 jobs, according to Jamaican officials.

“We are very excited about the partnership and I want to say to you that this is a very important moment that you are showing confidence in destination Jamaica,” Bartlett told the Karisma team. “It’s an important moment too, when you are saying to the world, given the current situation that we are facing, tourism is still the energizer of economic activities globally.”

The massive new project is part of Jamaica’s stated plan to add some 15,000 new hotel rooms to the destination’s stock over the next three to five years, according to Bartlett. 

Karisma is in the midst of its own growth push, with plans to debut a major new Caribbean resort in Cancun later this month in partnership with Margaritaville. 

Armando Chomat, the top sales officer at Karisma, said the hotel would become a “new landmark for luxury travel in Jamaica.”

“The dream of Sugarcane Bay is becoming a reality,” he said. 

For more, visit Karisma. 

— CJ

The post New $1 Billion Karisma Hotel Project Breaks Ground in Jamaica appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Sales of the Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman Residences project are surging, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The new project on Seven Mile Beach has sold more than 49 condominiums, bringing the sales total to more than $100 million, according to real estate firm Waypoint Real Estate.

That means more than 60 percent of all units have been sold at the real estate component of the property, which launched construction in December 2019. 

The units are part of the wider Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman residential resort development, which is targeting a completion date of 2022 on the island’s renowned Seven Mile Beach. 

Amenities at the Grand Hyatt will range from six dining concepts to a 12,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor spa to three swimming pools. 

It’s part of a hotel development boom in the Cayman Islands, a number of new properties in the pipeline from brands like Mandarin Oriental and Hilton, among others.

And it’s another new project for Hyatt, which is continuing to expand its footprint in the wider Caribbean, including its most recent launch, the Hyatt Regency in Puerto Rico.

For more, visit the Grand Hyatt Residences in Grand Cayman.

— CJ

The post Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman Real Estate Sales Top $100 Million appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

The highly-anticipated new all-inclusive Royalton Grenada has officially opened its doors on the island’s Magazine Beach. 

The new Royalton, set at the former Grenadian by Rex Resorts property, is a major infusion of energy into Grenada’s tourism sector. 

The 261-room, family-friendly property, divided into a traditional wing and a Diamond Club, has five dining concepts, including Gourmet Marche, Grazie Trattoria, Taj Indian Cuisine, Ma Maison and Caffe Lounge. 

That’s along with six bars and lounges: a lobby bar, Mix Martini, DIPS Pool Bar, Chill Pool Bar, Nibbles, Sands Beach Bar and a pair of Diamond Club options, with a club lounge and an exclusive pool bar. 

There’s also a wellness destination, The Royal Spa, with a wide range of treatments.

Of course, Magazine Beach is arguably the greatest amenity, with the resort in a plum perch on what is one of the best beaches in Grenada.

It’s the latest Royalton to debut in the Caribbean since last year’s launch of the Royalton Antigua, another new opening for the fast-expanding Canadian all-inclusive resort brand. 

Last year, 17,911 Canadians visited the tri-island destination, an increase of more 3.2 percent compared to the previous year, according to newly-released data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization. 

Overall, Grenada reported 162,901 stayover visitor arrivals to the destination last year, an improvement of 1.2 percent from 2018. 

The brand now has 16 properties in the wider Caribbean-Mexico region, including locations in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Antigua, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Mexico and now Grenada. 

Its entry to Grenada comes as a result of a wider expansion by parent company Sunwing that included a strategic alliance with Rex Resorts in the region. 

The Royalton Grenada is now the largest resort in Grenada, followed by the Sandals Grenada, the property that almost single-handedly turned around the island’s tourism fortunes when it opened back in 2014. 

Grenada will also soon see the debut of another top resort, the Kimpton Kawana Bay hotel, which is slated to open its first phase later this year on Grand Anse Beach. 

For more, visit The Royalton Grenada Resort and Spa. 

— CJ

The post Royalton Opens New All-Inclusive Hotel in Grenada appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico