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| Adam Stewart, Sandals Resorts International's CEO // Photo by Joe Pike |
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) presented the "Caribbean Hotelier of the Year" award to Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts International, during the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF), which recently took place at El Conquistador Resort, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico.
Stewart is the 35th recipient of the award, which is sponsored by MMGY Global. The award recognizes excellence in all areas of operations, as well as a commitment to the training and development of staff, contributions to the community and a demonstrated commitment to sound environmental practices. The award also acknowledges each recipient's active role in both national and regional issues affecting Caribbean tourism.
Stewart is at the helm of Sandals Resorts International and The ATL Group in Jamaica. He is also president of the Sandals Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the Caribbean community through investment in sustainable projects in education, community and environment to help improve people's lives and preserve the region's natural surroundings.
He was born in the same year that his father, Gordon "Butch" Stewart - who received the Hotelier of the Year in 1992 - purchased his first hotel and launched the Sandals Resorts chain.
In the nine years of Adam Stewart's stewardship, Sandals has experienced a period of unprecedented growth, innovation and development transforming the all-inclusive concept to Luxury Included resorts that offer guests levels of exclusivity never seen before.
With Stewart as the pioneer, the company has introduced "game-changing" developments such as the addition of the Italian and Key West Villages at the company's flagship Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa, the launch of Sandals Emerald Bay in The Bahamas, a 245-room resort with a 150-slip marina and Greg Norman golf course, and the company's first resorts in Grenada and Barbados, Sandals LaSource Grenada and, most recently, Sandals Barbados.
Stewart continued the company's expansion by launching Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts value brand in Jamaica and Antigua, as well as the introduction of boutique villa properties such as the 52-acre private island, Fowl Cay Resort, in the Bahamas.
In 2009, Stewart founded the Sandals Foundation with the aim of uniting the region under one common goal: to lift its people through education and protect its delicate ecosystem. The Sandals Foundation harnesses the resources, talents, partnerships and awareness behind the Sandals Resorts brand to tackle a myriad of issues affecting the Caribbean. Stewart also founded and sits as Chairman of the "We Care Foundation", a local non-profit organization that brings together Montego Bay-based individuals to raise funds and improve the facilities of the nearby Cornwall Regional Hospital.