For all its monumental achievements in Jamaica and across the Caribbean, nothing is more special to the Sandals family than its role in bringing people together to fall in love, marry, and go on to build their own families.

That explains the large number of returning guests and honeymooners who take the trek to rekindle the memory of a time when they lost their hearts to someone in the famous love nest suites of the Sandals resorts. And, in doing so, leave their economic footprints on the sands of the Caribbean.

Recognising that none of this would have been possible without the devotion of its 20,000 team members, Sandals Resorts spends many working hours designing ways to ensure that the benefits of its growth are shared generously with its staff.

Team member welfare has been a hallmark of the approach by Sandals founder, the late Gordon “Butch” Stewart whose son and heir, Adam Stewart, the executive chairman, has taken up where his famous dad left off.

“At Sandals and Beaches resorts our team members are the heart and soul of why the world considers us the most trusted Caribbean hospitality enterprise,” said Adam Stewart, who is also executive chairman of the Jamaica Observer.

“We have long considered that education is a single-greatest gift we can offer to our talent. Through education comes opportunity, the chance to matriculate and achieve our individual goals and aspirations. We build the most magnificent architecture on God’s most magnificent backdrops; however, it’s our people who make us the extraordinary company that we are,” Stewart said.

“We take pole position of being the employer of choice through the multitude of features that make up the ecosystem of being a member of team Sandals. Being a team member of Sandals and Beaches opens doors to tremendous opportunities and advancement: training and development, culture, respect, benefits, features, and amenities,” he explained.

Around this time of year, deserving staff of the resort group can look forward to hefty bonuses and increases that become eligible after one year of employment. An even more long-term benefit is access to unlimited training and further education through the Sandals Corporate University which continues to change lives.

To make daily life easier, Sandals provides staff transportation to and from central locations; meal once on duty; four sets of uniforms per year and access to free Wi-Fi in designated areas.

Staff can look forward to Easter packages; quarterly and annual awards recognition, for example, Housekeeping Week, Administrative Professionals Day, Chefs Week and the like; back-to-school care packages; mothers’ and fathers’ day celebrations, and complimentary gifts.

Team member welfare assistance is an important facility for the inevitable times of accidents, natural disasters, and other emergencies; bereavement and care packages; annual community dental and eye care clinics via the Sandals Foundation; All That’s Good Fun Day and All That’s Good Road Show, as well as staff parties for fun and relaxation.

The work life is bolstered by health coverage (single and family); life insurance; and one week’s paternity leave after one year of employment.

Sandals stands out for its pension provisions in an industry in which up to recently 80 per cent of tourism workers had not been covered under any pension scheme, sending them into an uncertain retirement. The resort’s philosophy is that no employee should have to scrounge around for a living after retirement. The pension scheme is bolstered by medical and life insurance coverage until death.

The company’s birthday recognition with party and paid day off, topped off with complimentary birthday gifts remains popular with staff, as are the provisions for lockers and changing rooms, staff restaurants, and recreational areas.

Many of the improved benefits offered to Sandals team members were made possible by significant increase in resort guests lured to Jamaica by the very brash Jamaica Love Sales event which drew hundreds of travel advisors and a deep audience of tourism partners to the island and culminated in the Montego Bay Convention Centre in scenic Rosehall, St James.

The event, which was unveiled in October 2024, marked the first time that 1,000 travel advisors and stakeholders were assembled at one place in the Caribbean. The historic Sandals Jamaica Love marketplace stitched together every component of the tourism industry, from the smallest to the largest, to paint a compelling picture of the island to the travel advisors from across the globe.

There were greetings from representatives of some of the world’s largest travel groups, including the 100,000-strong Inter Nova Travel Group which accounted for over 600,000 stopover visitors to Jamaica already this year; the American Society of Travel Advisors; the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Advisors; and two of the world’s largest airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada.

At the macro level, Sandals is second to none in promoting the Caribbean, attracting more than 25 million vacationers to the region who bring with them an estimated US$50 billion annually that collectively make tourism the most important industry.

As the Caribbean’s leading resort company, Sandals spends huge sums every year educating travel agents and tour operators about its Caribbean destinations, resorts, and products. It has paid huge dividends for all, especially the destinations.

In all but one of the territories where it operates, Sandals is the biggest private foreign exchange earner and employer, one of the leading payers of corporate and income taxes, and makes significant contributions to the economy via local purchases, including payments to local entertainers, taxis, and utilities.

The company mandates that all resorts seek to buy local first, and in many cases has provided support to local farmers and suppliers to help them improve their product to an acceptable standard.

The Sandals Corporate University (SCU) mentioned earlier provides all team members across the region with opportunities to further their education through high school equivalency, professional certification, and degree programmes at no cost to them.

The SCU has also partnered with some of the world’s leading institutions, including The University of the West Indies; New England Culinary Institute; American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute; Hotel School of The Hague; and the internationally renowned British Guild of Butlers.

Beyond its economic impact, Sandals’ focus on corporate social responsibility and philanthropic work is also unprecedented, and in 2009 Adam Stewart formalised the organisation’s outreach activities with the launch of Sandals Foundation.

The foundation has raised tens of millions of dollars to initiate and sustain thousands of projects that focus on improving education, the environment, and the community. With all administrative costs paid directly by Sandals, 100 per cent of the money the foundation collects go directly to the development projects.

Despite bursting at the seams with innumerable awards and accolades, Sandals refuses to rest on its laurels and continues to push the product quality envelop, offering guests only the very best.

It has introduced five-star global gourmet and its numerous bars serve only premium liquor. Additionally, the company made proud history with the launch of the region’s first-ever over-the-water bungalows.

In water sports, the resort is achieving enviable status with a slew of awards, including being voted by the world standard PADI as one of the top five diving operations in the Western Hemisphere.

Sandals’ leadership in environmental preservation and sustainable development is worthy of special mention. It is the only hotel chain in the world to have six resorts currently holding Master Certification from EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification, and advisory group for travel and tourism.

The resort chain has also brought pride to the Caribbean through its firm hold on the World Travel Awards for more than two decades as World’s Best All-Inclusive Resorts, with its Beaches brand being named World’s Leading All-Inclusive Family Resort for 22 years in a row.

Through support for the sports in which the region excels, Sandals has won the hearts of Caribbean people as exemplified by its decision to celebrate the extraordinary performance of Caribbean athletes at the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics by extending complimentary vacations to all medallists from the islands where the resort brand operates.