Spain's Iberostar temporarily shuts Jamaica resort

Spain-based Iberostar Hotels and Resorts says it will indefinitely close one of its three hotels in northern Jamaica next week amid weak projections for the peak winter season on the Caribbean island.

About 330 employees will be laid off as the Rose Hall Beach Hotel closes, project consultant Adrian Bailey-Haye said Thursday. Iberostar, which did not say when the hotel would reopen, said guests with reservations will be shifted to an adjacent company property, the Rose Hall Suites.

The Rose Hall Hotel, part of a complex of three Iberostar resorts on the northern coast near Montego Bay, opened two years ago but has not met projected occupancy levels, Bailey-Haye said. He said the forecast for the winter prompted the shutdown.

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Philipp Hofer, Iberostar's managing director for the resort complex, told The Gleaner newspaper that the Rose Hall Hotel's occupancy is at just 16 percent and shows no immediate signs of improvement.

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Jamaica typically draws about 2 million visitors per year and tourism is a mainstay of the economy.

But Wayne Cummings, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, said his members are suffering from the global recession. "Our industry is going through the throes of something we've never seen before," he said.