PR – Barely two years after the opening of Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the region’s leading all-inclusive company has announced plans to build a 500-room, US$500 million dollar Beaches family resort on the Eastern Caribbean island.
This, after Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines shattered industry records for how quickly new properties are expected to stabilize after opening. Sandals Executive Chairman Adam Stewart, said the property outperformed all expectations after opening in early 2024, “the big hotel world usually gives a hotel somewhere between three or four years to stabilise …Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines achieved this within one year. We have been able to outperform what the international world would call ‘stabilisation’ by 300 percent because of that commitment of working together, and we are just warming up, this is just the beginning of what is possible.”
Built on this solid performance, Sandals this week, signed an agreement with the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to establish a second resort, this time under the Beaches Resorts family brand. According to the Sandals Executive Chairman, it is the further realization of a dream shared by both his father the late Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart along with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves. In fact, the pen used to sign the agreement was a treasured belonging of the late Sandals founder, ensuring that his spirit and memory were an integral part of the proceedings.
“We are here today to sign an agreement to build, what looks like at this moment to be a 500 bedroom, US$500 million Beaches Resort. At full capacity it will employ nearly 2,000 Vincentians.”
The Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves welcomed the announcement, noting that Sandals Saint Vincent has already transformed the lives of the people of his country, “according to the Ministry of Finance estimates, Sandals’ direct economic impact is approximately US$40 million or 108 million EC annually, stimulating local businesses, agriculture, transportation and cultural industries. This infusion has contributed significantly to GDP growth, foreign exchange earnings and national development.”
The Prime Minister went on to say that the Sandals Effect has also had a major impact on airlift, “because of the presence of Sandals the available seats in international flight capacity has risen by 412 percent; from 612 to 3,162, incredible numbers. This growth is driven primarily by new routes by the major airlines and the gateways, making Saint Vincent and the Grenadines more globally accessible than ever before.”
Member of Parliament for Central Leeward, and Minister of Housing, Informal Human Settlement, Youth and Sports Orando Brewster, acknowledged the role of Sandals Executive Chairman Adam Stewart, as well as Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, in realizing the vision and the dream set forth by their fathers many years ago, “I want to say to the Executive Chairman, I wish that your father was still here today to see this Beaches taking its true shape and form, but I want to remind you, that if he is looking down right now, he will say to you, Adam, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.”
Design work on Beaches Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is due to begin in 2026.
