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Sandals Resorts is the world’s most notable Caribbean brand. Go to the four corners of this earth and people have heard of Sandals.

Founded in 1981 by Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart with a small hotel in Montego Bay, Sandals extended its footprint across the Caribbean and now employs over 20,000 people.

It is a remarkable story of daring, herculean effort, teamwork, exceeding expectations, and chutzpah. For centuries, the Caribbean was an agrarian economy driven by sugar cane, bananas, and other crops.

Almost twenty years after Jamaica’s independence, Butch Stewart decided to turn to tourism and offer a product, the likes of which had never been seen before. He imbued it with customer service, and his mantra remained for decades—”exceed the customer’s expectation”.

He worked at it for years, learning from early mistakes. Some things did not work, a lot did, and as the brand grew, more people were employed.

After establishing three hotels in Jamaica, Sandals went to Antigua in 1994. Butch Stewart believed wholeheartedly in marketing and went to great lengths to place the brand in unique ways in both North American markets and in Europe. He sold the Caribbean as an attractive destination.

Other Caribbean countries were quick to take note. Tourism, with its economic linkages and foreign exchange earnings, would be a boon to island-states where manufacturing and commodities in notable quantities would not spur growth and provide meaningful employment.

The beauty of these countries, the culture, and the all-year-round summers were an antidote to the grim, grey, cloud-laden, industrial, fast-paced West. Butch Stewart grasped this and built an empire from the Caribbean, using it as his unique selling point.

Next year, Sandals will be 45 years old. It has, in 44 years, established itself as one of the world’s top brands. With his irrepressible personality, Butch Stewart always proclaimed, “Gold at half price means little if nobody knows about it.” He made the world know about it and was an ardent champion of the Caribbean.

Many corporate global hotel players are looking to come into the Caribbean and replicate what Sandals was able to accomplish. Many think they can scale and take a formulaic approach. Sandals is of the Caribbean. It is in its DNA. It has a visceral connection to the culture. It places a premium on service—Caribbean style.

It makes a concerted effort to work with Caribbean governments and to assist where it can, realising it is a symbiotic relationship where tourism provides employment, from the unskilled to highly skilled and qualified professionals. It is a covenant that both parties have honoured and watched from their respective positions as islands prosper.

Butch Stewart passed away in 2021, succeeded by his son Adam. There is something prophetic in Adam Stewart being born the same year Sandals was launched. He would have spent his life watching its development, seeing his father endure trials, tribulations and savouring the sweet smell of success.

He knows first-hand the legacy and what Sandals contributes to its home region. He takes pride that his staff can go up against any hotel brand coming into its arena. He is the caretaker of that legacy and wants to take it further

Any parent would be immensely proud to see a child build upon what took a lifetime to achieve and take it to an altogether higher level while keeping its essence.

For years, the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves has been beseeching Sandals to set up shop in his country. He saw what it would bring to the economy and that Sandals could make it an attractive destination. After all, Sandals is well established in neighbouring St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua and Grenada

In 2023, Sandals went to St Vincent, and now there is more airlift. The Jamaican-founded hotel operator has brought US$40 million a year into the  St Vincent national coffers while engaging that country’s agricultural, transportation, entertainment and other sectors. Foreign exchange earnings are growing.

Adam Stewart would know all too well the economic impact of Sandals on Caribbean economies. He has been a witness to it his entire life.

Buoyed by the impact of Sandals St Vincent, there are now plans to build a US$500 million Beaches resort on 51 acres of land at Mount Wynne in St Vincent. All this with St Vincent seeing a 420 per cent increase in visitor arrivals over the last two years.

Gonsalves proved to be St Vincent’s brother Moses.

On signing the deal for the new, larger family-oriented Beaches Resort in St Vincent, the MP Orando Brewster, in whose constituency Beaches will reside, said: “I wish your late father was still here today, to see this Beaches resort taking its true shape and form. But if he is looking down right now, I’m sure he will tell us: This is my son Adam, in whom I am well pleased.”

Anyone who knew Butch Stewart was aware that he loved the Caribbean and prided himself as a Caribbean man. He was a born leader who could rally teams and make you perform at levels you didn’t think you could attain. You did not want to let him down.

“There are three things the Caribbean is known for: Fidel Castro, the West Indies Cricket team and Sandals Resorts,” he would boast.

Fidel is no longer with us. The West Indies cricket team’s glory days are well and truly gone. But Sandals remains a world-beating brand, true to its code, run by Adam Stewart, who carries the torch.

Brewster is right; Butch Stewart would be proud, the brand is still going strong, employing people across the Caribbean, its fortunes inextricably linked to that of its people. 

More than 900,000 people a year travel to Sandals resorts. It’s hard to believe that Butch could comprehend this back when he ventured into the hotel business in 1981. Neither could he see that Adam would take the legacy to new heights, still building hotels across the Caribbean, still refreshing and revitalising the product.

Succession has its own pitfalls, and history is filled with examples of how it can go wrong with brands losing their way as time continues its inexorable march.

Adam Stewart has worked closely with his father on the resorts. As a youngster, he spearheaded the kids’ facility at Beaches Negril, back in the day when Sega ruled. He has been placed in different operations throughout the organisation to get a better understanding of how the enterprise works. He was appointed CEO at 25, his father later anointing him as his successor, and those who worked closely with Butch understood and acknowledged that. “Send a copy of your report to Adam,” rang in many an ear.

His father left a big footprint when he passed, but Adam was not overawed. He rolled up his sleeves and got on with it. Since 2021, Sandals has opened up in the Bahamas, Curacao, Dunn’s River and in St Vincent and the Grenadines. It has plans to place the Beaches brand in Exuma (Bahamas), Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Runaway Bay in Jamaica.

The brand and empire is continuing to grow. 

Away from the hotel business, Adam has not taken his foot off the pedal with ATL Automotive, adding the fastest-growing automobile brand in the world, BYD, to the Group’s roster. Looking east, he has also added MG, Foton, Omoda and Jaecoo.

When he announced that he was bringing a Porsche dealership to Jamaica, many were sceptical, reasoning that Jamaica was not ready for such a premier car brand. It celebrates its tenth anniversary in Jamaica this year and is going from strength to strength.

There are plans for more ATL Automotive showrooms and after-sales facilities in Ocho Rios and in St Catherine.

The AC Hotel in Kingston is registering increased bookings, and its events facility is seeing good business. Starbucks Coffee has done well in Jamaica.

Adam Stewart has accomplished a lot in the last five years. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. He hasn’t rested on his laurels and has set his own mark while still guarding the legacy.

Many big Caribbean brands have long sold out or have timid ambitions. Not Adam Stewart with Sandals.

Everyone knows Gucci. It was a family business, and its styling and quality stood out. Maurizio Gucci sold his stock in Gucci in 1993 for US$170 million to Investcorp. Kering went on to sell Gucci to L’Oreal for US$4.6 billion. There is no longer a Gucci family member running or involved in the business.

Versace was all the rage in the eighties and nineties. It was a global fashion house founded and built by Gianni Versace. The Maison de la Medusa was what you had to be seen in if you were to be considered stylish. Gianni was murdered in 1997, and his sister Donatella took over as creative director. Over the years, Versace lost its way, market share slipped. It was sold to Capri Holdings in 2018, which also owns Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors. Now, Prada Group will buy Versace from Capri for 1.25 billion euros, at a 180 million euro discount. There will no longer be a Versace in the business, and Dario Vitale will be its creative director. Versace will become part of a mega corporate brand, Gianni’s legacy gone.

Giorgio Armani built his fashion house from the ground up. It became a brand synonymous with high Italian fashion. Think Richard Gere in American Gigolo. Giorgio put his mark on his creations. He died this year at the age of 91, and Giuseppe Marscocci has been appointed as CEO of Armani. With sales of more than 2.3 billion, Giorgio Armani is likely to be sold to a behemoth like LVMH.

Steve Jobs founded Apple and built a world brand. The man was a genius. He gave the world the MacBook, the iPod and the iPhone. His inventions changed the world. He was a mercurial character. When a corporate approach was needed to maximise Apple’s financial potential, John Sculley was brought in from Pepsi, and the Board disapproved of Jobs’ visionary outlook and obstinacy. They voted him out. He returned to lead the company and brought it glory.

Since Jobs’ passing, Apple has not come out with game-changing products and services. More often than not, it is the latest iteration of the iPhone. Jobs was a maverick with the golden touch. Today, Apple has a market cap of US$3.89 trillion, but has lost the vision and creativity that Jobs brought.

The Busch family controlled the Budweiser beer brand for five generations.

Come a new century, a new millennium, the Anheuser-Busch company remained stuck in its ways, unwilling to innovate and move with the times. It became ripe for the picking, and in 2008, Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev acquired it for US$52 billion, and the Busch family was forced out of the business.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sandals is valued at between US$6 and US$7 billion and is the subject of a sale acquisition. This is interesting given that Playa was sold to the Hyatt Group for US$2.6 billion.

Adam Stewart has made it clear that he wants to continue the Sandals legacy, and there is still so much to be done. Sandals represents all that’s good about the Caribbean and stands as a proud icon in the region. We place great value IN our Caribbean heroes.