Sandals Jamaica Love showcase draws 1,000+ in Montego Bay
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Sandals Resorts International welcomed approximately 1,000 key industry partners, dignitaries, brand executives, travel agent partners and local media to the 2024 Sandals Jamaica Love Tour, held this year in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The event, which officially opened on Oct. 13 and runs through Oct. 20, aims to showcase the Sandals brand portfolio in Jamaica, while highlighting the company’s newest brand refresh, “Sandals 2.0”, which focuses on an elevated level of service that promises to go above and beyond for its clientele, with gorgeous renovations, a greater focus on sustainability and more inclusive perks.
A proudly Jamaican company, Sandals Resorts International was founded in 1981 by Gordon “Butch” Stewart, with the opening of Sandals Montego Bay, and has since grown to encompass 18 all-inclusive luxury resorts across the Caribbean, with seven in Jamaica, and 11 in sought-after destinations including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Curaçao and Barbados. Adam Stewart, Butch’s son and a sixth-generation Jamaican, now oversees the company’s operations as executive chairman.
“Butch started Sandals as one person, and he believed that whatever he wanted to achieve would happen through people,” said Stewart in reference to his late father, who passed away in January 2021. “Butch Stewart saw something in this country that not many could see; he saw what this country could become,” Stewart continued. “Today, Sandals is the biggest, most recognized brand to come out of the Caribbean archipelago, employing more than 20,000 Caribbean nationals who run the company from top to bottom.”
A Jamaican welcome
At the Montego Bay Convention Centre, attendees started the morning with a marketplace, where local craft vendors were on display.
Afternoon panel discussions and presentations followed, with an impressive speaker lineup that included Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Edmund Bartlett; Dr. The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica; Scott Laurence, senior vice-president of partnership strategy, American Airlines; and Nino Montagnese, vice-president, Air Canada Vacations.
A group of Canadian travel agents were also in attendance, as were agents from Sandals’ Chairman’s Royal Club, who collectively presented a cheque of $81,000 to the Sandals Foundation.
Entertainment included performances from some of Jamaica’s top reggae and dancehall artists, including Christopher Martin, winner of Digicel’s Rising Stars in 2005, and known for hits like “I’m a Big Deal”.
“I have been a part of the Sandals family for more than three decades,” Montagnese told a cheering crowd. “The travel industry is built on partnerships, and in a lot of cases, these partnerships become friendships…I’m proud to stand here and say that the partnership between Jamaica and ACV is a solid one. Air Canada has been flying to this island for 75 years. Jamaica and the entire Caribbean mean the world to us at Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations.”
Currently, ACV offers year-round service from Toronto to Montego Bay and Kingston, Toronto being the largest Canadian airport. In the winter months, seasonal service is added from Montreal. “Within the AC network we connect clients from more than 60 Canadian cities into the hubs and then out to Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean,” Montagnese added.
Next year, Air Canada Vacations turns 50. “We’ve been enjoying a robust relationship [as partners] that is built on common strengths and a robust clientele,” Montagnese continued. “These are Canadians who want a high quality product with exceptional service, and they know that’s exactly what they’re going to get when they book Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts with Air Canada, because they’re putting their trust into very strong brands.”
Air Canada Vacations continues to be the only tour operator and airline that offers flights to every single Sandals and Beaches destination, having recently introduced three connectors from Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton back in September, as well as from Halifax into Toronto and into Jamaica.
“Our motto has always been ‘build them, and we will fly the passengers to you,'” Montagnese said, addressing Adam Stewart in the crowd. “So keep building, keep growing, and we will continue to add the seats where needed.”
The power of tourism
Based on preliminary figures, the Hon. Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett shared that Jamaica has welcomed just over two million stopover visitors and some three million total visitors, including cruise arrivals, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 14 this year.
“Sandals represents the best example of Jamaica fulfilling its potential,” Bartlett said. “We still have far more to accomplish, and our friends in the tourism and travel industry….play an important part in us achieving our goals.”
“Jamaica is having a moment,” Stewart said. “I grew up in this country and everybody knows that Jamaica is hard. But unemployment is at 4.5 per cent; in my lifetime it averaged 18 per cent. Debt to GDT was cut in half in the last 15 years at 70 per cent; it used to be 142 per cent. Jamaica is a poster child turnaround state. Sandals 2.0 is changing the game in Jamaica, and it will continue to change the game.”
Jamaica’s prime minister the Hon. Andrew Holness also took a moment to address the country’s ongoing efforts to reduce crime in the country, noting that Jamaica is shifting its narrative as being known for “sand, sun and sea” to “safety, security and seamlessness”.
According to Holness, major crimes and homicides down 19 per cent and “our projection is that it continues to go down. We have made more investments in security in the last five years than the last 30,” he said.
Jamaica Love
During the Sandals Jamaica Love tour, Sandals Resorts and Air Canada Vacations teamed up to give away a series of prizes to its valuable agent partners, including a series of three to five-night stays at various Sandals Jamaica properties, gift baskets, and round-trip flights.
ACV also recently announced that it will be extending two of its popular sales promotions, created exclusively for Canadians travelling to Sandals and Beaches Resorts in Jamaica and beyond with Air Canada Vacations, until Oct. 31, 2024.
All new ACV bookings to any Sandals or Beaches resort in Jamaica with departures from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax will include free connecting flights to Toronto, en route to Montego Bay if made before Oct. 31, 2024. This translates to a savings up to CAD$350 per person and is valid for departures between Nov. 1, 2024 to Aug. 31, 2025.
The 2024 Sandals Jamaica Love Tour concludes on Oct. 20.
For more information, including on the latest Sandals promotions, visit www.sandals.com.
