NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sandals Resorts International (SRI) executive chairman Adam Stewart yesterday expressed optimism over the long run of the country’s tourism sector, noting that by yr’s end the resort chain will announce plans for further investments within the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ASTA Caribbean Showcase 2022 which is being held on the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort on Cable Beach, Stewart noted that The Bahamas was on the forefront of regional tourism’s COVID-19 recovery.
“I actually love what I’m seeing coming within the pipeline for the long run of Bahamian tourism. We’re proud to be at the middle of it and further investments are coming from Sandals,” Stewart said.
While declining to present specifics on those investments, Stewart pledged “by the tip of the yr you’ll hear one other announcement about investments from Sandals in The Bahamas.”
Stewart claimed that the performance of the resort chain’s properties in The Bahamas has been strong.
He noted that the Royal Bahamian Resort which was the last of its properties to open is seeing strong occupancies and solid forward bookings.
“We’re pleased that we did what we did. It was the proper time. The hotel needed some reinvestment. We put it in and since reopening on January twenty seventh of this yr it has been phenomenal, really gangbusters. Forward bookings are the strongest the hotel has ever seen and our customer satisfaction scores are the heights they’ve ever been,” said Stewart.
Stewart acknowledged that inflation has impacted the tourism sector because it has every other industry, expressing that its knock-on effect has impacted all the pieces from the price of food to airfare. Still, Stewart noted that customers proceed to spend “aggressively” on travel. Stewart said that inflation will proceed to be a challenge but hopefully will begin to decelerate.
