The transformed Appleton Estate has
reopened for visitors after a $7.2 million renovation and rebranding project. The new Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum
Experience in Siloah, Jamaica, is the brainchild of parent company Gruppo - Campari. It’s named after the rum’s legendary master blender, Joy Spence. Already the biggest attraction on the south coast of Jamaica, the rebranded experience aims to welcome more than 200,000 visitors each year. “Attractions like the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience contribute significantly to our efforts to develop Jamaica into a gastronomy center of excellence, as visitors are taken on a journey through the history of rum and view first-hand the development of the spirits from cane to cup.”
All agree
that Gruppo Campari's US$7.2-million investment in expanding the popular
tourist attraction Appleton Estate Rum Tour, now renamed Joy Spence Appleton
Estate Rum Experience, will boost earnings from tourism. But it's not just about tourism.
Listen to Clement 'Jimmy' Lawrence, chairman of J Wray & Nephew Limited —
parent company of Appleton Estate and subsidiary of Gruppo Campari and it soon
becomes clear that the investment is also about further imaging of the prized
Appleton rum.
Even the very practical desire to restore
rail service between Montego Bay and Appleton, to get visitors to the rum
attraction quicker and more efficiently, is influenced by the immediate
spin-offs in the promotion of Appleton products. “The
train would halve travel time of the three-hour bus ride and allow visitors to
start the rum experience while travelling to their destination. So that is the
hype and interest and how the railway will fit our business well,” Lawrence
said.
“I am a little disappointed we have not
got further ahead with the re-establishment of the rail between Montego Bay and
Appleton,” Samuda said. He pledged to be
an “emissary” on behalf of Appleton for the rail project. The rail link was discontinued in the 1990s. Recognizing that the rail service won't be
ready prior to the opening of the new-look Appleton tour, attention to the
potholed and bumpy roads from Montego Bay to the south coast, in order to make
the journey more comfortable for all involved.
