MONTEGO BAY, St James — Sandals Resorts International Executive Chairman Adam Stewart has underscored the resort company’s commitment to advancing its team members through education and professional development, revealing that nearly 15,000 people across the Caribbean are currently enrolled in Sandals Corporate University (SCU), the first and only corporate educational institution of its kind in the region.

According to Stewart, the enrolment figure reflects the company’s conviction that employment should provide team members with opportunities to grow professionally, improve their economic prospects, and achieve their personal and family aspirations.

“I don’t know of another organisation that invests more in their communities, in the advancement of the human capital that is our business, through all various training programmes, [than] our Sandals Corporate University,” Stewart argued as he addressed the recent Unique Vacations Limited (UVL) 2025 MVP Awards at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

“We love to see everybody rise. At the same time we are a growing organisation. But this company, so long as you’re here, will continue to provide you with all the resources that we can afford to,” Stewart added.

Established by Sandals founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart on March 21, 2012, SCU was designed as an internal higher education and professional development system for Sandals and Beaches team members.

Sandals Resorts International Executive Chairman Adam Stewart addressing the recent Unique Vacations Limited 2025 MVP Awards at Montego Bay Convention Centre. (Photo: Philp Lemonte)

The programme provides opportunities for formal education, professional certification, and career advancement, with areas of training spanning hospitality, customer service, leadership, communications, and other professional disciplines. Its educational pathways extend from associate and bachelor’s degrees to master’s and doctoral-level programmes through partnerships with recognised universities, professional organisations, and educational institutions in the Caribbean.

Since its official launch, SCU has developed more than 2,000 programmes aimed at enhancing the skills of Sandals and Beaches team members, business partners, and communities.

“Sandals in Jamaica is a big machine, and Sandals in the Caribbean is a big machine… We’re 20,000 team members, of which 97 per cent of that 20,000 are Caribbean nationals,” said Stewart.

“This business is run from top to bottom and bottom to top with the best of the talent of what is the Caribbean,” he added.

For Stewart, the investment in people remains central to the company’s continued growth, with education and career development positioned not simply as employee benefits but as a core part of building the human capital on which Sandals depends.