Stewarts aren’t racists, says JHTA’s Robinson

Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association President Omar Robinson has lambasted critics who have launched a social-media campaign targeting Sandals hotel moguls Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and his son Adam.

Butch is chairman of Sandals Resorts International, while Adam is deputy chairman.

Robinson drew on his personal and professional experience with the Stewarts, saying that opportunities he received enabled him to grow from “a young entertainment coordinator through to a hotel manager”.

“The accusations made of racism being associated with the Stewart family and, by extension, their organisations in no way resemble the individuals and businesses the JHTA has been associated with for almost 40 years,” Robinson said in a press statement yesterday evening.

“The Stewart family has and continues to be at the forefront of providing employment opportunities and, in fact, does so with almost 15,000 Jamaican and Caribbean nationals in their employ in a very inclusive manner.”

The backlash may have been linked to a social-media like that many viewed as an approval of Washington’s policies.

Meanwhile, businesswoman Jean Lowrie-Chin, who sought to come to the Stewarts’ defence, also came under fire.

Yesterday, she appeared to have closed her Twitter account.