Former PM Christie tribute to ‘Butch’ Stewart

It is with much regret and sadness that I learned of the passing of the Hon. Gordon “Butch” Stewart, the chairman and founder of Sandals.

This amazing visionary, proud son of Jamaica and quintessential Caribbean personality started as an ordinary salesman with many obstacles in his path, but over time he successfully built the Sandals Resort brand throughout The Caribbean.

It continues to shine as one of the world’s premier chains of all-inclusive resorts, epitomizing the best of Caribbean culture, scenic beauty, superb service and adherence to the highest international standards of the hospitality industry.

Butch Stewart was universally acclaimed as a marketing genius who built an extraordinary relationship with a vast network of travel agents, tour operators, airlines, and tourism professionals.

They repaid his trust and confidence in them with a loyalty that became the envy of the tourism trade. He was, in my estimation, one of the Caribbean’s finest and most influential promoters and ambassadors.

Butch also involved himself directly and intimately in the work of the Caribbean Hotel Association, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and numerous national tourism organizations throughout the region.

In doing so, he became a hugely inspirational and iconic figure for successive generations of hoteliers, hotel workers and industry professionals alike, as well as for successive national governments in the Caribbean.

In taking stock of Butch’s many accomplishments and contributions, special note must also be taken of Sandals’ pioneering commitment to education and training, and the numerous charitable and civic causes that he sponsored or supported.

In specific relation to The Bahamas, Butch frequently said that it was his confidence in the people and the economy of The Bahamas that led to his purchase and development of the highly acclaimed Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau, and later, the Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma, the Sandals Fowl Cay in The Exuma Cays, and a cutting-edge reservation and marketing center that he headquartered in The Bahamas.

On a more personal note, I had the opportunity of getting to know and work closely with Butch over the years, dating back to my time in government as minister of tourism and then later in my public life during each of my terms as prime minister.

I always found him to be a thoroughly engaging and reliable partner in our common efforts to develop the tourism industry of The Bahamas. His warm and friendly personality made it an even more pleasurable experience to deal with him.

Butch was a Caribbean man of extraordinary gifts who gave a lifetime of exemplary accomplishment and service. He was a unique human being, truly one of a kind. He will be greatly missed.

My wife, Bernadette, joins with me in extending heartfelt condolences to Butch’s widow, Cheryl, his son, Adam, the entire Stewart family and the Sandals teams in The Bahamas and abroad.

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