Adam Stewart named Sandals’ new Executive Chairman, ACV pays tribute to father and founder
Date: Jan 19 2021
MONTEGO BAY Adam Stewart has been appointed Sandals Resorts International’s new Executive Chairman following the passing of his father, the Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, earlier this month.
The elder Stewart, who passed away on Jan. 4 at the age of 79, founded Sandals Resorts in 1981 and later Beaches Resorts and was widely considered across the Caribbean and the travel and tourism industry as a visionary, innovator and pioneer of the all-inclusive concept.
Said the younger Stewart on the company’s next steps: “My father’s shoes are impossible to fill but we will follow in his groundbreaking footsteps to continue the important work we all set out to do together. As a company and as a team, we are poised for the future. We are already leading the industry in recovering from the greatest setback in the history of travel. We will continue to lead not
Redefining the way the world goes on vacation
January 15, 2021
Legendary Jamaican entrepreneur Gordon “Butch” Stewart, one of the hospitality industry’s most vibrant personalities and founder of Sandals Resorts International, the world’s leading all-inclusive resort company, died at the age of 79 on January 4, 2021. An unstoppable force, who delighted in defying the odds by exceeding expectations, Stewart single-handedly built the world’s most awarded vacation brand from one resort in Jamaica to over two dozen distinct resorts and villas throughout the Caribbean, redefining the way the world goes on vacation.
A son of Jamaica, Butch Stewart was born in Kingston on July 6, 1941, and grew up along the island country’s North Coast, a tropical paradise that now boasts several of his Luxury Included® Sandals and Beaches Resorts and where his love of the sea, dominoes, and free enterprise were sown. Certain from the start that he wanted to run his own company, at the tender
Frederick “Toots” Hibbert and Gordon “Butch” Stewart.
Late reggae pioneer Frederick “Toots” Hibbert and business mogul Gordon “Butch” Stewart will be posthumously honoured with the Keys to the City of Kingston by the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Winston Ennis, said that the presentations will be made in February following the passage of the necessary resolutions.
“The City of Kingston has lost one of Jamaica’s greatest and most successful sons in Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart at the start of this year.
“The Administration intends to honour his memory and that of the late Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert by posthumously presenting both with the Keys to the City of Kingston,” he noted.
Jan. 13, 2021 10:00 am ET
If he had known anything about the hotel business, Butch Stewart said, he might never have bought the Bay Roc Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
At the time of his purchase in 1981, the waterfront hotel was dilapidated and stood near the end of an airport runway. The roar of jet engines frequently interrupted the guests’ tropical idylls.
Mr. Stewart renovated the building, invested in king-size beds and introduced a couples-only policy with room, food and tips included in a single price. His aim was to create a more luxurious version of Club Med. Airport noise became part of the package: Every time a jet took off, the guests were encouraged to wave their arms and kiss their partners. After 18 months of losses, the hotel began to thrive.