Sandals Chairman: Economics Behind Temporary Closing of Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages and Spa

caribbean beachThe Turks & Caicos SUN is reporting that Gordon “Butch” Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts International, parent company of Beaches Resorts, pointed to ‘”economics” as the driving force behind the decision to close Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages and Spa on Providenciales from September 1 to October 19.

In an exclusive interview with The SUN, Stewart dismissed reports that he was playing hardball with the Turks or Caicos Islands government or trying to hold the country to ransom as “rubbish.”

“The closure is economics,” Stewart told The SUN. “If I wanted to close Beaches to serve lessons (to the Turks and Caicos Islands government), I have the reputation for saying I’m going to do it.”

Travel Agent was one of the first media outlets to break the news in early May that the resort would be closing. At that time, Stewart, said the decision to close Beaches Turks & Caicos was based on the level of guest interruption during the improvement work which will include construction of a new "Sky Slide" waterpark feature and back-of-house operational developments that will directly impact service standards.
 


“Every year that we’ve been here we lose a fortune in the months of September and we lose half a fortune in the month of October, but because of the partnership that I believe we’ve had with the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, we’ve absorbed the costs every year,” Stewart told The SUN. “But in the last year we’ve had so many unusual costs, for example, we’ve had the Veranda from last December and we could have had it opened but we ended up having to close it. Can you imagine how much money it cost us over the past five months?” 

All bookings for the affected time period are protected. Clients may relocate to any available resort of their choice within the Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts portfolio.

If clients rebook at another Sandals Resort or Beaches Resort after May 20, Sandals Resorts International will cover airline change fees only and guests will receive a credit for the original value of their Beaches Turks & Caicos vacation applicable towards their new booking.

If clients wish to rebook their vacation at Beaches Turks & Caicos, the original rate booked will be protected for whenever they choose to travel. All guests wishing to rebook or relocate may use their resort credit for travel now through December 20, 2014. Blackout dates and restrictions apply.

For The Sun’s story, click here. And keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com/Caribbean for any future updates on this story.