Sandals receives special award for hospitality and tourism
Published:Sunday | September 4, 2022 | 12:07 AMJanet Silvera - Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With six thousand rooms, 18,000 team members, and over one million visitors annually, global brand leader Sandals Resort International (SRI) has been duly recognised for its outstanding contribution to the hospitality and tourism industry.
On Wednesday, the Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart-founded resort group, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, was rewarded with the Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality and Tourism Industry 2022 award by the World Travel Awards (WTA). The presentation was done at the 29th Annual World Travel Awards, held at the brand’s flagship Sandals Montego Bay resort.
Shortly after accepting the accolades, the chairman of the group, Adam Stewart, told The Sunday Gleaner that the magic of the company is the opportunity it gives people to rise.
“We are a growing company, and with the new hotels in the pipeline such as Sandals Dunn’s River, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Curaçao just being opened, a new Beaches Runaway Bay, plus a new Beaches in Turks and Caicos. Opportunities are rising,” Stewart revealed.
The chain, he says, has well in excess of 250 to 300 managerial positions that the company is looking at right now. Recruitment, he says, has started.
While carrying on the legacy his late father created, Stewart said his team loosely refers to the thrust as Sandals 2.0.
Looking into the future, the group is introducing more features and amenities, more luxury, but never forgetting who they are as a Caribbean brand, “the only super brand to come out of the Caribbean in hospitality”, he stated.
Bolstering these facts, WTA’s master of ceremonies for the evening, Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, read a citation that spoke of SRI’s tireless effort at elevating the visitor experience.
Innovations such as swim-up pool bars, butler service, and à la carte gourmet restaurants that are standard today, coupled with their world-class Red Lane Spa; partnerships with iconic brands such as Mondavi wines, Xbox, Beaches Resorts Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street, and their most recent over-the-water suites have set them apart, she read.
“Pushing the boundaries of what vacationers ought to expect from a luxury all-inclusive experience makes Sandals the brand to watch, and their latest inclusions, including dining at local island restaurants and convertible MINI Coopers to explore on their own, literally has the company paving new roads for travellers,” says the WTA.
The European-based organisation credits the Jamaican-owned group for creating demand for the all-inclusive concept, having set the benchmark in class.
Sandals’ strength was evidenced throughout the industry’s most recent challenges. The group was one of the first to return to the market, paving the way for others and helping to build trust with a public yearning to return to travel.
In the Caribbean alone, the company developed solutions, from its Sandals Platinum Protocols of Cleanliness, which were shared with the greater hospitality and tourism community, including competing hotels, tour and transportation companies, educational institutions, and local governments, to the Sandals Vacation Assurance Programme – a vacation-protection programme that called people back to the Caribbean and mitigated fears of international testing – unifying the industry while championing the magnificent Caribbean comeback.
“It’s not surprising. For more than forty years, Sandals Resorts International – which is the largest private employer in the Caribbean, with 95 per cent of its business run by Caribbean nationals - has put the Caribbean first, making the well-being of its home region, from the environment, economic opportunity, education, and healthcare a priority and part and parcel of its operation,” commended the WTA.
Since its inception, Sandals has taken an unparalleled approach to supporting the communities where it operates and firmly believes in the power of tourism to transform lives, empower people, and make a difference, said the citation.
Sandals and its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation, operate with an island-first mentality through its core pillars of community, education, and environment. Brand-wide, they have invested in environmental education and advocacy programmes, established marine sanctuaries, planted more than 12,000 coral, added over 10,000 trees across the Caribbean, and engaged over 55,000 people in conservation efforts, and more.