Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaican hotel brand, Sandals Resorts is launching its most ambitious brand campaign to date, investing millions to reposition the luxury all-inclusive brand, as the authentic voice of Caribbean hospitality.

The ‘Made of Caribbean’ campaign, developed by Sandals’ newly appointed agency, Leo Burnett, will debut on December 26.

The multi-million-dollar campaign will run across television, digital, print, and out-of-home advertising, including prominent placements in New York’s Times Square and during major events like the 2025 Super Bowl and Golden Globes awards.

Non-traditional efforts will include having Sandals-branded ride-share cars “come together in swarms at key moments” in New York City and Chicago.

The initiative represents the all-inclusive chain’s first major brand overhaul since the passing of its founder, Gordon “Butch” Stewart in January 2021. 

The company is now led by his son, Adam Stewart, who serves as executive chairman after previously holding the CEO and deputy chairman roles. Privately owned, Sandals operates luxury all-inclusive resorts across multiple Caribbean islands but now its aiming to shed lingering misconceptions about its all-inclusive properties.

Biggest decision since becoming chairman

The campaign arrives as major hotel chains like Hyatt, Accor, and Marriott increasingly expand their all-inclusive offerings in the region. The younger Stewart executive admitted in an interview with Skift, “This is probably the biggest decision I’ve made since becoming chairman.”

According to him, “nothing was broken. There were just things we felt we were leaving on the table and weren’t telling a deep enough story. We’ve probably spent about $30 million to rebrand the company for all the relevant research, marketing, work on ads and a visual identity, so far.” 

Two launch ads have been developed one for Sandals, which puts the Caribbean front and centre and suggests its all-inclusive resorts are about more than weddings and buffets, and one for the Beaches brand, ‘Memories’, which focuses on family vacations.

Sandals helped to pioneer the modern version of all-inclusive in the 1980s. 

The ‘Made in Caribbean’ theme highlights the Jamaican hotel chain’s regional roots with Stewart noting that 97 per cent of Sandals’ 20,000 employees are Caribbean nationals.

“The authenticity can really only come at that level,” Stewart told Swift, explaining how the campaign will showcase not just the resorts but the broader Caribbean ecosystem, including “the mountains and the rivers and the street food, the craft vendors and our taxi drivers and our farmers and fishermen.”

The rebranding effort follows 18 months of research involving thousands of current and potential customers. While Sandals maintains strong brand awareness with prompted recognition above 81 per cent, Stewart emphasises that customer feedback revealed opportunities to better communicate the brand’s comprehensive offerings beyond its reputation for honeymoons and destination weddings.

Expansion plans

The company is also plotting significant expansion with the executive chairman announcing plans to create over 5,000 new positions and 300 new managerial roles in the next three years. Recent land acquisitions could enable Sandals to “more than double” its current portfolio, though some purchases are being held for future development up to a decade out.