WESTERN BUREAU — The US $8 million expansion of the upscale Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay is now 80 per cent complete, and should be finished in time for the 2003/2004 winter tourist season, the management has said.

According to Richard Whitfield, the resort’s managing director, the expansion which began in June this year would increase the resort’s competitive edge and prepare it for the expected recovery in the tourist industry.

The expansion works at the 400-acre luxury resort, Whitfield said, include;

* the demolition of the hotel’s Hibiscus Wing to make way for the 68 new rooms and suites that will feature modern bathrooms, large verandahs and balconies and data port internet access;

* the construction of a new Club House and Pro Shop at the Robert Trent Jones Snr Golf Course and a custom-designed teaching facility for the David Leadbetter Golf Academy; and

* the construction of a large wedding gazebo, set in a beautiful seaside lake.

The expanison work forms part of a four-year upgrading programme at the resort and Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba, who toured the facility on Thursday, has lauded the hotel for the investment.

“I am very impressed that Half Moon has the confidence in Jamaica to do the expansion work at this time,” the minister said.