Last week Sandals Executive Chairman Adam Stewart was interviewed by leading travel publication Caribbean Journal at the Caribbean Hotel and Resort Investment Summit in Miami, the premier Caribbean hotel investment conference. The theme of the discussion was ‘How one iconic company looks at balancing growth, development, and investment with caring for communities’.

Everyone will rise through connectivity

Stewart, who chairs Jamaica’s Tourism Linkages Council, began by addressing the key importance of linkages, describing tourism as a connected “ecosystem” that includes farmers, fishermen, and pastors. In his view, the strength of the ecosystem determines how much of the crucial tourism dollar is retained. He cited as an example a local organic farmer in Grenada who told him, “Sandals put me on the map.”

He noted that this “takes work”, as it is much easier to sit in an air-conditioned office and buy everything in Miami, but if “the orchestra can play as a symphony” then “all tides rise”.

Jamaica buys 80 per cent of its provisions, such as fruits and vegetables, locally. At one time it couldn’t get micro greens or cherry tomatoes, but these days the Jamaican ecosystem does a much better job of connecting supply.

While it may sometimes seem inconvenient or more expensive to source locally, with fresh food, if you, as he puts it, “tell the story properly” to the guests, you can justify it. Of the Jamaican Tourism Linkages Council he observed, “Every day they are trying to find a way to connect the dots,” often putting just two farms together.

He suggested that the biggest linkage opportunity for most islands in the Caribbean is agriculture, while for some destinations it would be manufacturing. In years gone by, the relationship between the latter sector and tourism in particular was more adversarial, but it is now more mature, especially since COVID-19.

The sandals effect

Curaçao had struggled to get American travel. Stewart observed that Sandals opened in Curaçao and helped bring in a number of American tourists. In St Vincent, since Sandals’ recent opening, American Airlines flights have increased from two days a week to four, then to six, and now seven.

However, Sandals doesn’t just bring airlift, it also helps to increase average daily room rates and local consumption as well as drive higher brand standards. Stewart says he has no problem with competition from other companies either, as what he calls the “competitive tension” of them entering a destination benefits both employees and the destination. It is very important to emphasise, however, that the Sandals effect is not independent of the destination. It requires a partnership with local tourist boards, local private sector, and many others.

The “poster child of turnaround” due to partnership

In Stewart’s view, there is no better example of the power of partnership than the Caribbean’s “poster child” tourism turnaround after COVID-19, which was the “fastest recovery” in all the world’s regions. This was, of course, no accident, and due to the public-private partnerships that were created to “shape policy”.

Stewart further observed that it is worth remembering that the media narrative during COVID-19 was that “the world will never travel again”. However, the industry “worked together” to reopen. As he noted at a keynote speech to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, even the cruise lines and the hotels came together for the first time, while regional banks supported the industry and the region’s civil service worked with the private sector in a way never seen before. He added that “the trick is not to forget” the lessons learnt about the power of partnership at that time.

He mentioned two other key Sandals initiatives
— the Sandals Foundation and Sandals Corporate University.

Stewart noted that March 18 was the 15th anniversary of Sandals Foundation, which, over the period, had contributed US$101 million in cash and kind to the Caribbean in areas such as education, community, and the environment.

Regarding Sandals Corporate University, he observed that a key part of the magic of the Caribbean, beyond its natural beauty, is its people, who become truly magical if you can unlock their potential. Often from a small town or village, they are not “global” because they haven’t had the opportunity. Sandals Corporate University takes the raw material and polishes it so they can go anywhere in the world.

Finally, he noted, as his father, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, used to say, in the Caribbean we live in the most beautiful part of the world, or “God’s country”, so it is “vital to us that everyone thrives”.