Chief Executive Officer of interCaribbean Airways Trevor Sadler has praised Sandals Resorts for its commitment to the growth and development of regional tourism, as it continues to open new resorts creating employment and generating economic activity for islands all over the Caribbean.
Sadler was in attendance at the recent Sandals Travel Advisor Recognition (STAR) Awards held at the newly opened Sandals St. Vincent and the Grenadines resort. The event, which is held by Sandals to recognise its top producing travel advisors from all over the world, also brought hundreds of travel advisors to the islands, many for the very first time.
The interCaribbean Airways boss said the drive to invest in new territories and to promote the destinations themselves, underlies not only the power and stability of the brand, but the belief the company has in the potential of the Caribbean. Sadler added that his own airline has benefited from the Sandals Effect, recalling when the company took its Beaches brand to the Turks and Caicos Islands some 27 years ago, “that by itself drove a lot of tourism, but it also drove economic activity, the need for more employees, and for interCaribbean it was one of those early developments of connecting the Turks and Caicos particularly with Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and other islands that set us on the path of growth.”
In fact during those early years Sadler said Sandals Founder the late Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart would often offer words of encouragement to his own Chairman and Founder Lyndon Gardiner: “Mr. Stewart would stop in and he would say hello to Lyndon, he would always give him some counsel, some guidance, and ‘Butch’ Stewart became really a mentor for Lyndon. He guided Lyndon and helped him think about developing the business, so we as a company, have to say thanks to Butch Stewart.”
Sadler said he was pleased to see Sandals continuing to take a leading role in Caribbean tourism under its new Executive Chairman Adam Stewart: “Here is Adam following in the footsteps of his father and the legacy that was created by him. His father’s relationship with and advice allowed my own chairman (Lyndon Gardiner) to build interCaribbean Airways and to overcome the obstacles that were in front of him allowing us to achieve what we have now become today as an airline. We are by no means done, but certainly that support has helped interCaribbean to become one of the best recognised airline brands across the Caribbean.”
Sadler also supported the position of the Sandals Executive Chairman that the Caribbean must be united as a destination and promote itself as such, because together it has so much more to offer visitors. He said interCaribbean stands ready to help connect destinations, allowing brands like Sandals to sell multi-destination holidays: “An island may have a different name, but it’s not multiple hours on an airplane to get there, it may be one hour or two hours away for the most. Visitors can do it, because they won’t be giving away a day of their vacation, just a couple hours to get to a whole new destination, and you begin this new experience. People take on board this whole new realisation that because we change the name of the country doesn’t mean it takes hours and hours to get there.”
Sadler also underscored the importance of events like the STAR Awards: “The US is a key source market for us as an airline, as well as Sandals, so having the opportunity to speak to the top roughly 400 travel agents of the US, Canada and the UK is not a value you can put a number on.”
Sadler further surprised attending travel advisors by giving away two tickets to each of them to destinations where interCaribbean flies.