Sandals Resorts recognised as a key sustainable tourism partner

Barely two months after opening its newest resort in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Sandals Resorts hosted some 361 travel advisors here for its annual Sandals Travel Advisor Recognition or STAR Awards function. This is a staple event where Sandals awards the top performing travel advisors from all over the world.

It also allowed these travel advisors, many of whom have never been to St Vincent and the Grenadines before, the opportunity to experience the beauty of this previously unexplored destination.

Minister of Tourism, Carlos James commended the investment made by Sandals to promote the destination, and the economic benefits that will accrue to SVG as a result. At the same time the Minister said his government was also committed to maintaining the pristine beauty of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, “It’s one of the last Caribbean destinations which hasn’t really fully developed into a mass tourism island, and I want to tell you, we don’t intend to go that route. We are big on environmental sustainability, we are big on conservation, and we are big on preserving our nature and what we have, and we want to ensure that we protect it.”

In helping to achieve this goal, Minister James said the island has found the perfect sustainable tourism partner in Sandals Resorts. “This relationship is not one that is built on solely economic terms, it is one that is built on partnership. It is one that we value as a development partner, it’s not a business relationship, and it’s a relationship we believe in. We are building this together. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now moving into a different era of its tourism and we depend on the relationship we have forged with Sandals,” a release from the Resorts quotes the Minister as saying.

Sandals executive chairman, Adam Stewart, said sustainable tourism is exactly what the company values and is seeking to develop. “The government is taking a view of development here in this country of sustainability, of world class, of boutique, of luxury and of quality that makes it a destination that gets Sandals attention. Sandals 2.0 means a lot of things, but you’re feeling it right here; 50 acres, the path less travelled…a tourism destination that is difficult to develop to this level but we have never been afraid of it. Any one of our competitors would have put a 1000 rooms or more on this property …but Sandals 2.0 will never take you there. It’s going to continue to be an elevated experience.”

It was welcome news to the hundreds of travel advisors who attended the Star Awards, with Heather Tate of Whimsical Destinations declaring that this is just what her clients are looking for.

“I want them to experience destinations that have not been overly commercialized, and I want them to go somewhere that is not just a destination they forgot because it was just another beach, there are so many places like that. But I think people want to go where they can have unique experiences, ones that they will remember, and that’s what they will find at Sandals in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”