When Gary Sadler takes the stage, there’s no need for a microphone. The larger than life EVP of Sales and Industry relations at Unique Vacations, Inc, Sandals’ affiliate, knows how to command a room and Tuesday night was proof as he welcomed a small, VIP group of 50 for dinner to launch the Sandals Jamaica Love Showcase happening this week in Montego Bay.
ACV VP Nino Montagnese is speaking Wednesday at the Showcase. Sandals is seeing record-breaking sales from Air Canada Vacations. (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
About 700 travel agents, media and partners from Canada, the US and the UK have descended into Jamaica, this week to not only celebrate and drive tourism to the country, but to celebrate what Sandals’ Executive Chair Adam Stewart says is the one common denominator of his company's success; relationships.
“Our organization was founded in 1981 right here at Sandals, Montego Bay and and it has been one wild, wild ride over the last 44 years,” Stewart told the crowd. “People have asked me, what's the one word that defines our success? And I say, that word is relationships, the relationships that we hold, all of us in this room. They span years, decades, the good times and the bad times.”
Adam Stewart welcomes the crowd Tuesday night in Jamaica. (Photo Credit: Marsha Mowers)
The Jamaica Showcase is set to be a crucial event attended by key tourism officials including the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Jamaica Hotel Association, and even Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The conference spans beyond Sandals, something that Stewart says is important to remember. After all, Jamaica’s economy is seeing leaps and bounds; debt to GDP has gone from 148% to 70% in the last decade, hailing as an IMF poster child "turnaround state." Jamaica has three times more money than ever and has given their Armed Forces three times the money than they did 10 years ago to fight crime crime which is at a record low. Unemployment which Stewart says once went as high as 20% hovers around 4.5% now.
“Jamaica tourism is much more than one or two people. On Wednesday, we'll have teams from the airports, the red caps that carry the bags. We'll have taxi drivers and farmers and fishers. We'll have captains of industry that own the biggest companies in the Caribbean and Jamaica, and publicly listed companies that supply things like wine, salt, and rice, the elements that all come together.
I have been a big champion is saying you have to meet the people who make these things happen, understand how the cash comes into our economy.”
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