Lightly edited address by Charles Washington Misick, premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, at Beaches Turks and Caicos general managers’ retreat on September 28, 2026.

There are moments in the life of an industry when you know you are witnessing more than another commercial transaction. You are witnessing the beginning of a new chapter in the evolution of the Beaches Turks and Caicos story.

The history is particularly powerful because Beaches Turks & Caicos did not arrive on a blank canvas; it grew out of an earlier hotel project whose survival depended in part on decisions taken during your 1991–1995 administration.

Contemporary records show that the unfinished property went through several names — North Bay Hotel, Crown Bay and later Royal Bay — before Sandals acquired it and transformed it into Beaches.

When I became chief minister in April 1991, the Turks and Caicos Islands was still a small and economically fragile territory, dependent on external assistance, with limited infrastructure and air access, a tourism industry still in its infancy, and Providenciales only beginning its transformation into an international destination.

In 1991, Providenciales had only two major operating hotel properties, limited scheduled airlift from Miami and roughly 50,000 annual visitors; the change began gathering pace with new investment and, importantly, the commencement of American Airlines’ Miami service in December 1992. And that is what makes the Beaches story especially meaningful to me.

Long before the name Beaches Turks & Caicos appeared on Grace Bay, there was an ambitious hotel development generally remembered as the North Bay Hotel, associated at different stages with the Sheraton project and subsequently known as Crown Bay and Royal Bay. Construction of the large resort had begun years earlier, but the project ran into serious difficulty and remained incomplete.

When my Government came to office, we were determined that such an important beachfront development should not simply become another abandoned project on the shores of Providenciales. We insisted upon the protection provided by a performance bond, a decision that proved crucial when the original development faltered. The bond was ultimately called, and Zurich Indemnity Company elected to complete the unfinished Crown Bay project, forming The Bay Hotel and Resort Limited and entering into a US$17-million construction arrangement in August 1993.

Sandals and Beaches resorts Executive Chairman Adam Stewart. he and the Sandals and Beaches team are carrying, into another gerenation, his father’s vision that a company conceived in the Caribbean, owned and driven from the Caribbean, employing Caribbean people and expressing Caribbean warmth could stand confidently among the finest hospitality brands anywhere in the world

That unfinished hotel therefore became part of the bridge between the Turks and Caicos of the early 1990s and the tourism destination we know today.

I first met Butch [Stewart] at a restaurant in Miami — Coconut Grove in 1995 — and between 1995 and 96, Gordon “Butch” Stewart saw in that property what he was so gifted at seeing throughout the Caribbean, not simply a troubled hotel, but possibility.

Sandals acquired the property, invested in it and transformed it; and in 1997 Beaches Turks & Caicos opened its doors, initially with around 150 rooms, as part of the birth of the Beaches family resort concept.

For me, therefore, Beaches is more than a great resort. It is part of the story of the transformation of the Turks and Caicos Islands itself. I remember the difficult beginnings. I remember when attracting investment required us to convince people of what these islands could become rather than show them what they had already become. I remember the determination to protect the public interest and to ensure that a failed project did not leave a permanent scar on one of our finest beaches. And I have had the privilege of watching that same site grow from an uncertain development into one of the Caribbean’s most successful family resorts and one of the great anchors of the Turks and Caicos tourism industry.

So, when I stand here today to witness this new partnership between Sandals/Beaches and Royal Caribbean, I see not only where we are, I remember where we started. And today, here in the Turks and Caicos Islands, we celebrate the coming together of three great Caribbean brands: Sandals and Beaches Resorts, Royal Caribbean Group, and the Turks and Caicos Islands: Three names known around the world, three brands associated with exceptional vacations, and, most importantly, three brands whose stories are deeply connected to the Caribbean.

Gordon “Butch” Stewart, the late chairman of Sandals and Beaches resorts. More than 45 years ago he looked at the Caribbean and saw something greater than what others saw.

For me, there is something particularly fitting about this partnership being celebrated here. Because the story of Sandals is, in many ways, the story of Caribbean ambition.

More than 45 years ago, Gordon “Butch” Stewart looked at our Caribbean and saw something greater than what others saw. In 1981, he took a hotel in Montego Bay and began building what would become Sandals Resorts. Later came Beaches, taking that same distinctly Caribbean philosophy of hospitality and creating an extraordinary family experience.

But Butch Stewart did more than build hotels. He proved a point. He proved that a company conceived in the Caribbean, owned and driven from the Caribbean, employing Caribbean people and expressing Caribbean warmth could stand confidently among the finest hospitality brands anywhere in the world. That is a legacy worthy of celebration. And today, Adam Stewart and the Sandals and Beaches team are carrying that vision into another generation.

Royal Caribbean has a remarkable Caribbean story of its own. The company was created in 1969 with a very specific purpose: to sail the Caribbean. Its first ship began sailing from Miami in 1970, and from those beginnings Royal Caribbean grew into one of the most recognised vacation companies in the world.

So today, two organisations with the Caribbean woven deeply into their histories are coming together. The recently announced partnership brings Royal Caribbean Group into the Sandals and Beaches business through a 50 per cent investment, combining the strength of one of the Caribbean’s great resort companies with the reach and vacation platform of one of the world’s great cruise companies.

And then there is the third brand in the room: The Turks and Caicos Islands. We, too, have built something special. From Grace Bay to Grand Turk, from North and Middle Caicos to South Caicos and Salt Cay, we have built an international reputation around extraordinary natural beauty, quality, exclusivity and an authentic island experience.

And Beaches Turks and Caicos has been an important part of that journey. It has brought families from across the world to our shores. It has employed and trained our people. And it has helped introduce generations of visitors to the warmth, beauty, and hospitality of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

That is why, as premier, I feel both pride and genuine pleasure in welcoming the leadership teams of Sandals and Beaches and Royal Caribbean to our shores at this historic moment. But I am also excited about what comes next. Because when great brands come together, the opportunity should be greater than the sum of their individual parts.

Royal Caribbean brings extraordinary global reach, distribution, innovation and millions of relationships with travellers.

Sandals and Beaches bring more than four decades of Caribbean hospitality experience and one of the strongest resort identities our region has ever produced.

And the Turks and Caicos Islands bring one of the world’s most desirable destinations. Imagine what those three strengths can accomplish together.

There is an opportunity to introduce even more people to these islands; to broaden our global reach; to create new experiences; to deepen linkages with our communities; to create opportunities for our people and businesses; and to take the Turks and Caicos tourism brand to an even higher level.

But as we grow, we must always remember what made each of these brands successful in the first place:

Quality.

Innovation.

Authenticity.

And an uncompromising commitment to the guest experience.

Those are values that Sandals understands. Those are values that Royal Caribbean understands. And those are values that the Turks and Caicos Islands must continue to protect.

Butch Stewart dreamed big because he believed that the Caribbean deserved to compete with the very best in the world. Today, that dream takes another step forward.

So let this occasion be remembered not simply as the announcement of a partnership, but as the beginning of a new Caribbean tourism story.

Three great brands:

Sandals and Beaches.

Royal Caribbean.

And the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Three brands with proud histories. Three brands with global ambitions. And now, an extraordinary opportunity to help shape the next chapter of Caribbean tourism together.

Welcome to the Turks and Caicos Islands. We are proud to share this moment with you. And we look forward with great confidence to everything that comes next.

Thank you, and congratulations