One of the two Bahia Principe hotels in St. Ann is scheduled for reopening on April 1.

The hotel has announced that the Bahia Principe Luxury Runaway Bay will resume operations in just over a month, while the second property – the Bahia Principe Grande Jamaica is expected to be opened December 1.

The hotels closed last November to facilitate extensive renovation, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

The closure resulted in a redundancy exercise affecting hundreds of workers.

President of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, Kavan Gayle, says the planned reopening of the hotel is a timely boost for Jamaica’s tourism sector and an important step to restore stability for hundreds of workers.

Some 800 workers were employed at the property.

In the meantime, Mr. Gayle says the trade union anticipates that the workers will be re-employed  under similar or better terms of engagement and stands ready to work with the Bahia management for a smooth resumption of operations.