MONTEGO BAY, St James — Sandals Resorts has been recognised with the Healthier, Safer, Tourism (HST) award by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), for its rigorous health monitoring standards and is the first hotel chain to earn CARPHA’s prestigious Healthier, Safer, Destination (HSD) designation.

Established under an agreement signed by Caricom member states in July 2011, CARPHA is the umbrella group for regional public health issues.

According to CARPHA Executive Director Dr Lisa Indar, Sandals received the HSD designation because all its properties across the region have been awarded the HST in recognition of the hotel chain’s “proactive health measures in tourism”.

There are 17 Sandals Resorts across the Caribbean: seven in Jamaica, three in St Lucia, two in Barbados, and one each in The Bahamas, Antigua, Grenada, Curacao, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The CARPHA executive director explained that the HST awards are based on data from a confidential electronic monitoring system used by hotel properties. The system quickly detects illness trends among staff or guests, allowing hotels to act before issues spread widely. To qualify for the award, hotels must have used the system for a few months, have at least 10 per cent of staff trained, and follow CARPHA’s operational standards.

“We have about 1,200 persons using the system. We have trained almost 10,000 people in all of our countries. But what distinguishes Sandals is the entire chain, all their resorts are awarded. And when you have the entire chain awarded, you are also awarded the Healthier, Safer, Destination. It’s the first time,” Dr Indar explained during an interview with the Jamaica Observer, following the CARPHA awards presentation to Sandals properties.

The ceremony took place at Sandals Montego Bay in St James, Wednesday afternoon. Dr Indar explained the significance of the HSD designation, noting that it is recognised by major tourism bodies such as Caribbean Tourism Organization, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, United Nations World Tourism Organization as well as health agencies beyond the region.

She noted that while Sandals has always supported healthy and safe tourism, the award adds empirical evidence, giving travellers greater confidence.

It gives them an added layer of assurance, she said, that if needed “Sandals now have a system that’s going to pick it up very quickly and respond quickly. It’s not going to be weeks down the line or dates down the line”.

She also noted the competitive advantage that the HSD designation gives Sandals.

“It means they have something that nobody else has in the world, because they’re the first with the entire destination [awarded]. So they have that, and it means they have the backing of the Caribbean Public Health Agency that has given them this auspicious award. It’s amazing! It’s really something that’s novel and innovative that we are doing together,” Dr Indar added.

For his part, regional managing director, Jamaica, Sandals and Beaches Resorts Jeremy Jones, said the award acts as a “healthy housekeeping stamp of approval” ensuring rapid detection and response to health issues at resorts, with CARPHA’s support to find solutions, which is crucial for the tourism-dependent Caribbean.

“What gets rewarded is what gets repeated. And for us to be able to be awarded and rewarded by CARPHA — because we’ve been continuously able to maintain the high quality, the high standards of reporting at not only a national or regional, but international level — it’s really a sense of pride, but very humbling, because there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make this happen,” Jones told the Observer.

“The Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world. So when a natural disaster hits, like hurricanes, you know what you need to do to get back on track. But if it’s a health issue, how do you track it? How do you find the source, and then how are you able to find the cure as a result of that? This has been able to put us in a position where, through the reporting processes — God forbid that something ever happens on one of our resorts — we’re able to detect it immediately through the reporting process. And where we need external sources to come in and assist us in finding the solutions to the problems, CARPHA is able to help us to facilitate that,” he added.

According to Gavin Palmer, corporate manager for environment, health and safety at Sandals Resorts International, their strong partnership with CARPHA has enhanced health, safety, and well-being across all resorts by strengthening systems, empowering staff, and setting high standards to protect guests, staff, and communities, fostering a more resilient tourism industry.