Holness hails RIU's 25-year Jamaica partnership at Montego Bay anniversary gala

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told a Montego Bay gala that Jamaica must position itself as a global destination of choice as RIU Hotels and Resorts marked 25 years of operating in the country.

Holness was keynote speaker at the anniversary celebration, alongside Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, Spanish Ambassador to Jamaica Audemarie Fernandez de Torrezo, Custos of St. James Bishop Conrad Pitkin, and members of the Riu family, including Managing Director Joan Trian Riu.

RIU opened its first Jamaican hotel, Riu Tropical Bay in Negril, in 2001 as the first Spanish hotel chain to make the island a principal Caribbean destination. The company now operates seven properties with more than 4,200 rooms and welcomes roughly half a million guests annually.

Bartlett said RIU has invested more than US$750 million, or J$118 billion, over the past quarter century, calling it one of Jamaica's most significant and enduring tourism partnerships. Joan Trian Riu reported that in the last five years alone, the chain paid more than J$14.3 billion in social security contributions and taxes, J$12 billion in salaries, and J$66 billion to Jamaican suppliers. Ninety-nine per cent of RIU's team members are local Jamaicans.

Both government and company officials highlighted RIU's response to Hurricane Melissa in October, which Bartlett said damaged or destroyed nearly a quarter of the island. RIU sheltered workers, distributed care packages, and made a US$1 million reconstruction fund available to staff. The company partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide more than 100,000 hot meals and reopened every hotel before the end of the year.

The Spanish ambassador noted that Spanish companies have followed RIU's lead in Jamaica over 25 years, and described tourism as central to both nations' economies.

In his address, Holness commended RIU workers who stayed with guests during the hurricane while their own homes were at risk. He framed RIU's continued investment as proof that Jamaica can compete globally for visitors, capital, and talent—not only as a tourism market but as a place where people choose to live, work, and build businesses.

Twenty-five staff members with 25 years of service were recognised during the programme.