2024 has been officially inaugurated as “The Year of More,” by Unique Vacations Inc and Sandals at their Global Sales Conference that celebrates the outstanding achievements of the travel advisor community. The Canadian sales team took home five awards at the event that was the first since 2019 and held between Sandals Dunn’s River and Sandals Ochi last week.
Gary C. Sadler, Executive Vice President of Sales and Industry Relations at UVI, lauded travel advisors for their unwavering loyalty, recognizing the impact of the region’s most committed sales force.
“The biggest part of what we have is our travel advisors, and the most profound thing that Unique Vacations can do on behalf of Sandals Resorts is work hand in hand with these trusted colleagues day after day – because whenever the going gets tough, it is always travel advisors who are there to rescue any hotel brand there is in the world.”
Taking home honours at Unique Vacations Canada were Guy Archambault – Business Development Manager, Montreal/Northern Quebec - Social Media Award; Robert Smith – Business Development Manager, Eastern Ontario - Outstanding Sales Achievement; Teresa Villanueva – Inside Sales Manager - Outstanding Team Player and Sandra Brousseau – Business Development Manager, Quebec (East & Central) and Atlantic Canada - BDM of The Year. Winston Chang, Business Development Manager, BC, Saskatchewan & The Yukon was honoured on global level and was named winner of the Global Award of Excellence.
Winston Chang, Business Development Manager, BC, Saskatchewan & The Yukon was honoured on global level and was named winner of the Global Award of Excellence. (Photo Credit: Sandals)
Over 200 members of Unique Vacations global sales force gathered for the weekend which featured a business session with a series of inspiring speeches from notable figures, including The Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica's Minister of Tourism, and The Hon. Carlos James, Minister of Tourism for Saint Vincent and The Grenadines. They were joined by UVI and Sandals Resorts International (SRI) executive leadership, including SRI Executive Chairman Adam Stewart, who addressed a captivated audience, reflecting on the brands’ foundation and its continued commitment to supporting travel advisors while sharing insights and strategic directions for the future.
“We sit here today on 42 years of legacy – 42 years of a clear runway of opportunity to be the company that is the game changer to rewrite the future history books of what Caribbean tourism is going to look like, and that is what Sandals 2.0 reflects and represents,” said Stewart. “We are committed every day to you and your craft – to doing things that are monumentally bigger than Sandals. This is an ecosystem of Caribbean tourism that only triumphs if we function together as one.”
In his address to the sales force, The Hon. Edmund Bartlett expressed his appreciation for a year of record-breaking travel in Jamaica – four million visitor arrivals in a single year (2023) and 10 consecutive quarters of economic growth, reducing the island’s debt to GDP from 149% to 74% – manifesting “more visitors, more revenue and more love in 2024.”
“What you are doing for Jamaica means additional exposure and opportunities for our destination, which translates in effect to more arrivals and more earnings. It means more business, more jobs, and more growth,” said The Hon. Edmund Bartlett, adding that innovation and collaboration will be the driving force of ongoing success in 2024 and beyond.
“Our way forward in the tourism industry is to remove this sense of competition that has characterized our process over time, and replace it with a nice new word called co-petition. We must now represent a future of co-peting with each rather than competing with each other.”
Looking ahead and building off the theme of ‘more in 2024’, Stewart highlighted upcoming innovations across the Sandals and Beaches brands, honing in on the design, service, and accommodation innovations across the portfolio, including Sandals Royal Curaçao – home to 10 new Rondoval villas debuting February 1 – and the upcoming Sandals Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, promising an experience immersed in mother nature, “raw and uncut,” with more features, amenities, and Sandals Firsts than anywhere else.
“Everything that we are doing as hoteliers is in the relentless pursuit of finding the best of the best in this part of the world,” said Stewart. “No place on God’s planet is more interesting, more enticing, more relaxing, more soulful, or more charming than this archipelago. It is our job, together, to connect the dots to get the travelers of the world to choose us – to choose the Caribbean.”
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