Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of the Caribbean’s leading luxury all-inclusive resort brands Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, accepted the 2021 ‘Pacesetter’ Award on last week Friday, at the annual Young Leaders in Travel Council in Jamaica. Travel A.L.L.I.E.S Society, host of the event, presents this distinguished award each year to young trailblazers who prioritize integrity and dedication to the people they lead and serve, while guiding others to do the same.
On the island where he was raised, facing an audience of like-minded young leaders and passionate travel professionals, Stewart reflected on his own experience becoming a leader, as well as that of his late father, SRI founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart, who sparked and inspired greatness in the tourism sector throughout his lifetime. “Thank you for this opportunity to remember and share with you today whose shoulders I stood upon on my way to becoming and to consider the lessons in leadership my own journey has taught me and will continue to teach me,” said the Executive Chairman.
Before rising to current leadership, Stewart served as the Deputy Chairman for over a decade, contributing to the advancement of the Sandals Resorts International brand. He oversaw a period of great expansion; including the now three Beaches resorts in Jamaica and Turks and Caicos, a fourth coming soon to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as fifteen Sandals Resorts in Antigua, Saint Lucia, The Bahamas, Barbados, and Grenada, with a sixteenth just announced to open in Curacao in April 2022. He also led the brand’s transition to its now Luxury Included® signature and introduced the region’s first over-the-water accommodations. Stewart additionally serves as the President of the company’s philanthropic arm, The Sandals Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting schools, hospitals and families in need, fulfilling the promise of giving back to the Caribbean community.