Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

Vice-president of Grupo Iberostar, Sabina Fluxa.

Spanish investors Grupo Iberostar said it will invest US$300 million this year and open six hotels in Jamaica, Brazil, Morocco and the Dominican Republic.

Of the six resorts, the company will unveil two five-star hotels in Jamaica - Iberostar Rose Hall Suites and Iberostar Rose Hall Grande - adding 650 rooms to its current 350-room Iberostar Rose Hall, vice-president of the chain, Sabina Fluxa, told The Financial Gleaner.

Iberostar Rose Hall, which forms the first of three phases, opened in May 2007, beefing up the tourism capital's inventory.

3,000 additional rooms

When the other Grupo Iberostar resorts come on stream, they will, combined, represent an addition of 3,000 rooms to the stock, the single largest block by any one company within a short time span.

Fluxa, speaking from her office in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Monday, also revealed that Grupo Iberostar was launching out into a new area of business, with the addition of a real-estate division tagged 'Iberostate', whose job will be to hunt down property for the company.

"Our main focus has been hotel business, but in the last two years, we have been buying large hectares of land in the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico and Morocco," said Fluxa, adding that the organisation had already built 1,000 residential units.