6 January 2021
Jamaica minister of tourism,
Edmund Bartlett, has led a series of heartfelt tributes to Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, founder of Sandals Resorts International, who died earlier this week.
Stewart died in the United States at the age of 79 after a short illness.
Bartlett expressed his deep sadness at the passing and said: “Butch was truly an icon and innovator, philanthropist and perhaps the greatest marketer tourism has ever seen.
“Sandals is indeed the largest and most enduring brand created by a Caribbean entrepreneur in tourism and arguably the world today and the standard by which luxury all-inclusive is judged.
“I hail him as a father, leader, benefactor, and the greatest tourism entrepreneur of our time.