JAPEX 2026: Jamaica Maps Out a Reimagined Future with New Hotels, Ports, and Casino

When you live on a small island in the middle of a big sea, you learn to take advantage of every opportunity. So when the winds blow your hotels away you look at the blank canvas and think big.  

It’s no surprise that a year after Hurricane Melissa swept swaths of Jamaica’s hotel inventory into the Caribbean, a reimagined destination is preparing to launch into high season.  

Under the tagline “Jamaica Reimagined,” this year’s Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) paid tribute once again to an amazing lineup of new offerings for 2027: one new cruise line (Disney), 11,000 hotel rooms, the island’s first casino, updated luxury, new highways and new ports. 

And everywhere, guests will be embraced by that uniquely Jamaican warmth and rhythm. “Hurricane Melissa tested our businesses and our people,” said O’Brian Heron, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association and senior corporate director of operations at Sandals Resorts International. “But the conversation today is about what will come next.” 

Here’s what’s on the drawing board: 

Reopening of the remaining 11,000 hotel rooms, 30% of the total inventory, by early 2027.  

Opening of the nine Hyatt properties has been pushed back from Q1 to the second half of 2027. Badly damaged across the board, the Hyatts–including Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall, Dreams Rose Hall, Breathless, Secrets St. James and Wild Orchid, Jewel Grand Montego Bay, and Bahia Principe Escape Runwaway Bay and Explore Jamaica—are undergoing “a complete renovation and reimagining throughout. We know everyone is waiting with baited breath—and we definitely plan to do fams. We want to get the word out that our properties are ready and show you the rooms. We’ll be reaching out through webinars and trainings so you can hear about the products.” In the works are new décor, “very Caribbean but still capturing the authentic Jamaican culture,” and new F&B concepts. Ruined carpets have been replaced with new flooring; Hyatt Zilara has two new F&B outlets including a food truck (so now five instead of three). Rooms are on sale now for dates starting July but earlier dates will be will added as they open.  

Sandals is “definitely on target,” with its Sandals 2.0 reopening program, says Melissa Sangster, VP of tour operator sales and marketing. Sandals South Coast will open 11/18, and Sandals Montego Bay and Caribbean Cay will follow on 12/18. Caribbean Cay will have “new energy and atmosphere,” including a new lobby with a linear pool and views out to the ocean and enhanced rooms; Montego Bay has added swim-up suites and a new pool area and beach club. Travel advisors can reach out to their local BDMs for training opportunities—and “we’ll be doing a welcome-back fam focused on Jamaica as a whole,” she told TMR.  

The Cliff: Aiming to become Jamaica’s first five-diamond resort, The Cliff has bought the two properties on either side and envisions almost doubling in size, from the current 33 keys to 60. To accommodate them, “they’ve promised a new airport in Negril,” just eight miles away, says managing director George Fisette. 

Royalton: This month opened two properties, for a total of 1,000 refreshed rooms, with new earthy and natural color schemes and special reopening rates. 

Moon Palace: The new $700- million Moon Palace The Grand – Montego Bay has broken ground, with an opening scheduled for 2028-2029. It will have 1,200 guest rooms and exclusive overwater bungalows, 13 world-class restaurants and bars, Jamaica’s largest spa experience, a water park and an iconic third-level infinity pool. 

Princess: The side-by-side Princess Senses and Princess Grand this winter will be joined by the ADAMAS Grand Casino, a groundbreaking step on this deeply religious island.  

Half Moon Jamaica Montego Bay, Jamaica’s highest-rated resort, is reopening in three phases, says director of sales and marketing Sharon Logan. Phase 1 is open now. Founders Cove will reopen October 1, and Phase 3 will be complete by Thanksgiving. Every room and villa will be fully refreshed, along with the beach and meeting spaces, and the pool will be completely gutted and redone.  

Unico Montego Bay — AIC Hotel Group will bring its luxury adults-only Unico brand to Mobay on March 1, says VP of global marketing Oscar Serrano. Guests in its 451 beachfront rooms will feel that unique Jamaican rhythm and sense of place through farm-to-table local cuisine and guest artists and musicians—and travel advisors can expect fam trips in December and January. 

Grand Palladium will be adding adults-only Royal Suites and Family Selection sections for January 2028.  

Ocean Signature Resorts will add a new property with concierge service in 2027. 

RIU hotels will all reopen by December. RIU Negril and Palace Jamaica now will offer swim-up rooms.  

Infrastructure: “A very big plan to make Jamaica even better” includes new ports designed “to bring the hidden gems of the interior to cruise passengers,” and redefined highways to shorten the trip from the airport. Jamaica is in discussions with Qatar and Emirates Airlines, and looking at ways to position itself as a hub to the Caribbean and South America.   

A Montego Bay waterfront improvement plan includes a new bypass road that will make it easier to get to Negril, and the entire highway network is being expanded so people can zip around the island.   

Disney Destiny will bring Mickey and 2,800 of his closest friends to Falmouth for the first time on October 13.  

Travel advisors on the scene 

Attendees at JAPEX this year included media and top-selling travel advisors, many of whom also attended the Jamaica Bridal Expo.  

“Jamaica is my favorite island hands-down; it’s so easy to sell and share the beauty, not only of the land but also of the people,” Sara Smith of Sara on the Sand told TMR at the over-the-top JAPEX reception at Sandals.  

Despite record-high airfares and a level three warning about safety, 85% of her sales have been to Jamaica since she went out on her own and started a romance-travel-focused agency a year ago. So why are they coming?  

“Because I sold it,” she says. “I love the people here and the selection of hotels. So even though so many options are still closed, interest hasn’t declined.”