Small Hotels in Jamaica Benefit from New Fund

The Jamaica government has launched a $1.4 million fund to provide technical assistance and financing for owners of small hotels and attractions.

The “Spruce Up Jamaica Entrepreneurial Fund”, the latest initiative by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the JN Small Business Loans Limited, is to undertake product enhancement and upgrading of small entities, marketing, operational and administrative improvement, such as accounting systems and development of management techniques.

Under the program, a maximum of $14,035 will be allocated to each small property and is repayable over a 60-month period at an interest rate of three percent a year.

“This initiative is to ensure that communities as well as small and medium enterprises within the tourism industry are given an opportunity for development and for them to play their part in driving job creation as well as providing the income flows for communities and the economy,” said Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett at the recent launch of the Fund.

He said a unique feature of the program is that property owners can use up to one third of the loan available for paying off tax arrears.

The overall program, he noted, is about providing loan support for the development of the creative talents of the people in the communities –the small hoteliers, small attractions’ proprietors and those with ideas- to convert them into material value that can provide earning and income for them.