Prime Minister Andrew Holness

IT is with deep sadness that I learnt of the passing of one of Jamaica’s most brilliant, innovative and transformative business minds, the Honourable Gordon “Butch” Stewart OJ, CD, Hon. LLD.

Butch Stewart is a Jamaican icon and businessman of the highest order. He was a nationalist who truly and deeply loved his country. He is known for his strong business acumen and legendary philanthropy.

Indeed, he was a towering figure in Jamaica. He created the globally recognised Sandals brand, impacted local and regional tourism, contributed significantly to Brand Jamaica through his involvement in tourism, his leadership of Air Jamaica, and his contribution to business and the economy.

Butch was a man way ahead of his time – he had an eye for detail and his ability to market and deliver world-class service in any endeavour was tremendously distinctive. He was an extraordinary human being with an unwavering commitment to the social good. He has left his unmistakeable mark across the region and the world and we shall miss him dearly.

This loss is not just Jamaica’s, it is the Caribbean’s.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding,

Butch Stewart was a remarkable business leader, a tourism mogul extraordinaire, and a patriot. Jamaica salutes his memory for his path finding work in tourism marketing, and for the contribution he made to the growth of regional tourism.

Throughout his long and illustrious career he always pioneered initiatives that have achieved stellar success.

This is the case with the all-inclusive tourism product or the Butch Stewart initiative in the early 1990s that led to a revaluation of the Jamaican dollar against the United States dollar. His development and investment in the Jamaica Observer newspaper is also an outstanding contribution to national development.

Butch Stewart remained affable and gregarious throughout his life, and the news of his passing has come as a shock to many.

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of St Lucia

Gordon “Butch” Stewart was never an ordinary man. He dreamed big, he thought big, he acted big. He was a visionary, a pioneer and a trailblazer.

His son Adam described him as a “superhero”, and I concur because what he did for this region as a whole and for the islands in which he invested was transformative.

As a young director of tourism in the 1990s I convinced him to take a chance on Saint Lucia, and he did.

Three hotels and 2,000 jobs later, the legacy and impact of Sandals is indisputable. No one individual has left such an indelible footprint on the Caribbean region, or been more responsible for the development of the ‘Caribbean’ brand.

Butch Stewart was a marketing and branding genius, creating the first world-class Caribbean brand with his Sandals product. His quest for bigger and better led to the unprecedented growth of his hotel chain and global recognition of the Sandals brand. I have lost a former boss from my airline days, a mentor and more importantly, a close friend – but the Caribbean has lost an irreplaceable icon.

Thousands of persons in this region have jobs and careers because of Butch Stewart, the world knows more about the Caribbean and Saint Lucia because of Butch Stewart, our tourism product is surviving in spite of COVID in large measure because of Butch Stewart, and the Caribbean tourism industry is as strong as it is today because of Butch Stewart.

In spite of all his successes and recognition on the global stage, he remained a Jamaican boy at heart, a family man, a lover of all things Caribbean and a tireless advocate for Caribbean people.

I am forever grateful for the time we had together and I will forever cherish all that I learnt from him.

Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding

Jamaica has lost someone who was, without doubt, the most outstanding, creative and successful businessman and private sector leader of my generation.

The passing of Gordon “Butch” Stewart has come as a real shock and Jamaica has lost someone who was, without doubt, the most outstanding, creative and successful businessman and private sector leader of my time.

Butch Stewart was emblematic of Jamaica’s capacity for greatness. The Sandals empire that he built over the last 40 years etched its brand in the leisure market of the world and made him a global icon. Our resounding success in tourism owes much to his imagination, marketing genius and his relentless pursuit of perfection.

Butch Stewart’s legacy is monumental and will undergird our efforts at nation building for many years to come.

Dr Peter Phillips, MP

Mr Stewart was one of the great entrepreneurs of this era, having started as a small operator to build a multi-billion-dollar world-class brand that is recognised globally.

We had an association dating back more than 40 years or more, mainly through my various ministerial portfolios. He was an outstanding Jamaican and a fine example for our youth of hard work, commitment and excellence.

Mr Stewart was an expert at marketing and a giant in the tourism sector. His name and brand are recognised in North America, Europe, across the region and elsewhere.

He was a visionary and genius marketer. In fact, he was the most significant and celebrated figure in Caribbean tourism.

Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ)

Mr Stewart was a bold and innovative entrepreneur who was tenacious in his approach to business. The hallmark of Mr Stewart’s rise to veritable Caribbean business mogul, from humble beginnings, was his gregarious nature and infectious charm.

He was a people person who understood the power of delivering world-class service and experiences which underscored his first foray into business, Appliance Traders Limited that has evolved from a small appliance company to one of the country’s leading groups, spanning the retail and automotive industries.

He was a true Jamaican patriot whose proclivity for innovation inspired the birth and expansion of, arguably, Mr Stewart’s greatest legacy, Sandals Resorts. The powerful, global hotel brand is one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the region and has forever reshaped the Caribbean hospitality industry.

Mr Stewart expanded his business interests into the media and airline industries with the founding of the Jamaica Observer and acquisition of the now-defunct Air Jamaica in the 1990s.

His visionary and incisive leadership extended to numerous diverse private sector entities, including the PSOJ where he served as president from 1989-1990.

Mr Stewart’s patriotism and love for his country saw his unparalleled willingness to harness public and private sector partnerships towards the development of Jamaica. He was a trailblazing businessman, humanitarian and philanthropist. His exceptional legacy will be forever woven into the story of Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA)

The Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) mourns the loss of a true tourism pioneer, Gordon “ Butch” Stewart.

His exploits and accomplishments are well known as founder of Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts and their parent company Sandals Resorts International, and founder of the ATL Group. His peers in the JHTA also know well his personal contributions, intellectually, and financially, to the development of Brand Jamaica and the Caribbean tourism industry.

Butch was highly respected as the conceptualiser of the most innovative and creative tourism products which endeared his iconic Sandals and Beaches hotels to millions of visitors from all over the world, including Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora.

As a former president of the JHTA and an “elder head” of the association over four decades, Butch helped to mould the organisation, guiding and mentoring our members and his employees.

He was a generous contributor to the building of the Jamaican economy, to recovery efforts following disasters here and in the region, and to the development of young tourism and business professionals who aspired to mirror his success.

He was the consummate marketer and salesman whose attention to detail and insistence on perfection ensured that what was promised was always delivered, beyond expectation.

The JHTA, Jamaica, the Caribbean, the world, will be the poorer without the infectious smile and humor and the outstanding acumen of Gordon “Butch” Stewart OJ.

Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)

Our industry will forever be indebted to “Butch” for his continued passion for excellence and legendary Caribbean hospitality.

His vision has bestowed to the global industry a Caribbean organisation that adheres to the highest standards of excellence, celebrates and promotes the region’s uniqueness, and invests in the development of our people and communities.

Mr Stewart, one of the first recipients of the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year distinction, was a great supporter of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and an inspiration to so many of us in the region.

Let us preserve and build upon his legacy by continuing to support the development of our industry.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett

“Butch” was truly an icon and innovator, philanthropist and perhaps the greatest marketer tourism has ever seen.

Sandals is indeed the largest and most enduring brand created by a Caribbean entrepreneur in tourism, and arguably the world, today and the standard by which “luxury all-inclusive” is judged.

I hail him as a father, leader, benefactor, and the greatest tourism entrepreneur of our time. His passing is truly devastating.

Gordon “Butch” Stewart has made an indelible mark. He has established himself as not just the standard by which entrepreneurship can be judged, but he has established a brand that has become global and is also the strongest statement that small island states such as Jamaica can make on global scenes, irrespective of their areas of involvement.

I think that we can look back on his life and times and draw inspiration from the success that he has had but I think, most importantly, we can be inspired by his resilience and the fact that he has started from nowhere and has ended up as being one of the most celebrated human beings that Jamaica has produced in the last century.

On behalf of the entire Ministry of Tourism, I want to pay our very deep respect and regards to him and say to his family, your gift to us is going to be what will inspire us, particularly through this difficult period of COVID-19.

Senator Janice Allen, Opposition spokesperson on tourism

Four decades ago, the award-winning Sandals brand was created and the genius that was Gordon “Butch” Stewart since then led the way in the growth of Jamaica’s tourism product through constant innovation and by giving tourists their dream, and then some.

His luxury all-inclusive brand reshaped tourism, not only in the Caribbean but worldwide – and for that Jamaica owes him a debt of gratitude.

Many Jamaicans who have been involved in the tourist industry, if not employed at some point in time by Sandals, has had a family member or close friend who has worked there.

So many in the industry today can give credit to their growth in the tourism business to Gordon “Butch” Stewart. He had an uncanny ability to see potential in individuals and pushed them beyond the ordinary. The man was a true legend and pioneer who was pivotal in the development of the all-inclusive concept.

He was a true patriot, a maverick entrepreneur, and an unapologetic believer in Jamaica and Jamaica’s tourism. We know that his dreams and vision will live on as his son, Sandals Deputy Chairman Adam Stewart steers the brand into the 21st century and beyond.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice chancellor, The University of the West Indies

There is an indomitable spirit that resides in the bosom of Jamaica, and when liberated with focus, discipline, and purpose rises and takes the world along with its imagination and energy.

Our “Butch”, like Bob and Bolt, represents this cultural spirit of the ages.

It is born to be brash, brave and brilliant, constituting a cascading commitment to nation building and regional renaissance. Our Butch was the ‘stewart’ of this spirit and gave to Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world a performance of sheer class with ‘cool runnings-a sandalization’ of awe and amazement.

We experienced in his innovative entrepreneurship the eruptive excellence of a son produced and nurtured by a soil rich in history and fertile for the future.

He integrated and domesticated his Caribbean like no entrepreneurial other and demanded ownership everywhere the ‘Sandals sea’ swept upon our shores. And so the indomitable spirit is called back to source, to rest, to wheel and to come again. From The University of the West Indies we wish our brother and honorary alumnus well until next we meet.

Bill Johnson, pollster

The dictionary defines superlative as “the highest quality or degree, surpassing all else or others”. In my opinion there is no more appropriate description of Gordon “Butch” Stewart.

He was such a dominant personality that when he walked into a room – whether it had three persons in it or 300 – he took all of the oxygen out of the room.

I cannot think of anybody anywhere who was such an important figure in so many seemingly disparate businesses – appliances, automobiles, airlines, media, and of course tourism – but each with a common thread of helping to make people’s lives better.

I had the privilege of meeting and exchanging ideas with him about half a dozen times; each of these left an indelible impression upon me.

He obviously loved and was proud of Adam and the rest of his family. He was a patriot. A man of his word and a true Jamaican in that he was loyal, respectful, tenacious and at times deeply opinionated. He will be missed – but his legacy will live on as long as there is a Jamaica.