It is easy to take for granted the now unquantifiable contribution of the investments in Jamaica by the Sandals/ATL Group, the country’s largest single private earner of foreign currency.

Truly “a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house”, if we can borrow from Saint Luke, the disciple regarded by some as the foremost journalist of his day.

But it is hard not to notice the continued fervour and confidence in Jamaica by the group’s founder and Chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart after the latest round of announcements of new billion-dollar investments that will greatly enhance efforts to secure the economic growth that has so far eluded us.

Ground was broken last week for a US$50-million complex in Kingston that will house a full-scale BMW/MINI international showroom and service centre, as well as a 220-room Marriott AC brand hotel at Lady Musgrave Road near New Kingston.

Importantly, it is being undertaken through a partnership among Sandals Resorts International (SRI); ATL Automotive, the official importer of BMW and MINI in the Caribbean; and Marriott International, the largest hotel chain in the world with just over 6,000 properties.

At the same ground-breaking ceremony, it was also announced that Sandals will this year begin reconstruction of the old Dragon Bay hotel in Portland, transforming it into a 157-suite six-star boutique family resort at a cost of US$100 million.

The real story though is the fact that since it opened its first hotel in 1981, Sandals has been a net earner of foreign exchange, meaning that it uses less hard currency for its operations than it brings into the country every year.

This is a fact that Chairman Stewart, who is also the publisher of this newspaper, regards as his achievement of greatest pride. Readers will pardon us this indulgence if we appear to be equally proud.

The Marriott AC brand hotel will be SRI’s 12th hotel in Jamaica, plus three villas that it operates. The decision to ensure that the company did not become a burden on Jamaicans was Mr Stewart’s strategy from the very inception. In fact, what might not be as well known is that his venture into the hotel sector was in search of hard currency to finance imports by ATL, the flagship company, at a time when there was a foreign exchange drought, coming out of the troubled 1970s.

That was also the driving force behind the decision to open hotels outside of Jamaica, beginning with Antigua and Barbuda and now including Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, St Lucia and the Turks and Caicos Islands, with Trinidad and Tobago soon to be added.

From seeking foreign exchange for its own businesses, the Sandals/ATL vision expanded to cover Jamaica’s dire need for hard currency, buttressed by the belief that without a vibrant export sector, the country will be hard-pressed to experience economic growth.

With the fall-out in the bauxite-alumina sector, lower prices for banana and sugar on the world market, tourism has become the lifeblood of the economy and the leading exporter, selling Jamaican labour, attractions, a wide array of products and brand Jamaica.

Indeed, we believe that not enough appreciation is being shown to our indigenous export sector which is being relied upon more and more to build our economy. That we must correct.