The above words of Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, the 15th century Italian political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright are proving to be immortal.

Last Thursday the upper echelons of western hemisphere tourism chose Jamaica’s Gordon “Butch” Stewart to honour with their Lifetime Achievement Award — the first to receive the prestigious title and henceforth the standard-bearer.Burba Hotel Network (BHN), a world leader in developing and producing conferences for the hotel investment community, and organisers of the usually well attended annual Caribbean Hotel and Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) in Miami, United States, said Stewart had set the standard for the investment community, and his achievements would be used as the benchmark for future recipients of the accolade.“I acknowledge that we have set the bar high, but there is no one more suitable than Butch Stewart to launch this programme. He is someone we are proud to own,” BHN President Jim Burba said before presenting the award to the Sandals Resorts International and Jamaica Observer chairman.It is true that the tourism industry was saluting Mr Stewart’s 50 years in business and for building a Caribbean empire that is funneling countless millions of dollars in foreign exchange to several regional islands where he is the largest single earner and employer of labour, responsible for 14,500 pay packets of direct employees and innumerable indirect beneficiaries.But BHN is also aware that his many trophy cabinets have long run out of space with accolades from all the most significant players in regional tourism, governments and academic institutions, including three honorary doctorates and his country’s fourth highest honour, the Order of Jamaica.In choosing Mr Stewart to launch its Lifetime Achievement Award, BHN stressed that he had revolutionised the all-inclusive concept, taking it far and beyond the original programme started by Club Med. The all-inclusive concept was adapted and brought to Jamaica by SuperClubs.Sandals “Ultra-inclusive” and now “Luxury-included” programmes have deepened the all-inclusive market, winning it the World Travel Awards trophy “World’s Best All-inclusive Resorts” for more than a dozen consecutive years and causing many to think that Stewart himself invented the concept.“Stewart’s innovations changed the face of the all-inclusive format and established Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts as one of the most successful brands in the category — boasting year-round occupancy levels of more than 85 per cent, an unequalled repeat guest factor of 40 per cent and demand that has led to unprecedented expansion,” BHN said in its magazine for the 2017 CHRIS held over Wednesday to Friday last week at the JW Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami.“By steadfastly adhering to the ‘We can do better’ principle of pleasing guests, Stewart has fostered a company free to imagine and free to consistently raise the bar. His continued expansion has brought a total of 10 resorts and three private villas in Jamaica, three in St Lucia, three in The Bahamas, two in Antigua, one in Grenada, one in Barbados, and one in the Turks and Caicos,” BHN said.Butch Stewart honours Jamaica as much as she honours him.