KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaican Businessman and entrepreneur Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart died on January 4, 2021 at the age of 79 in Miami.

Hon. Stewart was born in Kingston on July 6, 1941. He grew up along the island’s North Coast.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) expressed sadness about Stewart’s death.
“We extend deepest condolences to his immediate family, his extended Sandals family and to the people of Jamaica on the loss of another Jamaican legend,” said an OECS statement calling him the visionary icon of Caribbean tourism.

Hon. Stewart attended college in England. After college, he founded Appliance Traders Ltd., selling air conditioners and appliances. In 1981 he founded the Sandals Resort chain and was its long-time owner and chairman. As it grew the enterprise became Sandals Resorts International.

Hon. Stewart founded the popular all-inclusive resort chains Sandals and Beaches. The OECS said,
“The greatest tribute that we can pay to this transformational figure is to ensure the continuation and continued impact of the legacy in the New Normal by bringing to the task of the re-invention of the Caribbean tourism sector, the same creative energy that he brought to the challenge and creation of his brand.”

“The Sandals and Beaches brand of indigenous all-inclusive luxury hotels have given prominence to the Caribbean region with its extensive international marketing and the extraordinarily high standards of hospitality and customer satisfaction that he defined. The legacy that he created is indelible and it lives on in the thousands of OECS Sandals employees in Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia (and soon, St. Vincent & the Grenadines) who are able to sustain their families every day.

“The greatest tribute that we can pay to this transformational figure is to ensure the continuation and continued impact of the legacy in the New Normal by bringing to the task of the re-invention of the Caribbean tourism sector, the same creative energy that he brought to the challenge and creation of his brand.”

Sandals was one of the first all-inclusive resorts and the first in the Caribbean to feature a swim-up bar. He later founded Beaches Resorts, which like Sandals, catered to couples only.

In 1994, Stewart bought a majority state in Air Jamaica and became its chairman.

In a tribute to Hon. Steward, Forbes Magazine said, “Stewart was one of the hospitality industry’s most vibrant personalities and founder of Sandals Resorts International, the world’s leading all-inclusive resort company. 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. He single-handedly changed the concept of the “all-inclusive” resort and changed how the world goes on vacation.”

Sandals Resorts International is a family-owned corporation and his son, Adam Stewart became chief operating officer in 2007 and will continue his management.

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