Sandals to expand in Antigua

Mr Gordon "Butch" Stewart

Tuesday, November 4, 2003

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua: Gordon "Butch" Stewart announced last week that he would invest a further US$25 million in his 193-room Sandals Antigua resort by building a 114-room Mediterranean Village on an adjacent property.

According to Mr Stewart, he was encouraged to do this by the Antiguan Government's offer of a 25-year tax holiday to investors putting up a minimum of 100 hotel rooms and he commended the Lester Bird administration for showing investors a friendly face.

"I am particularly happy that the Government has been reviewing its policies and making it more investor-friendly," Stewart said at a luncheon at Sandals Antigua, attended by Prime Minister Bird, as well as Government and Opposition officials. "I think it is very smart, because the policies that exist elsewhere are literally anti-investor."

"In the end, it is your country that will benefit from additional revenues through job creation and increased opportunities," Stewart told his guests. "Indeed, this expansion will put Sandals Antigua into a new league where we can fight with other giants in the hotel industry."

Stewart has, in the past, complained that some Caribbean governments are over-taxing the hotel industry, creating an uneven playing-field with cruise lines, which he estimates bring in only 10 percent of the region's tourism earnings compared to 90 percent for stop-over visitors.

"The cruise shipping sector has devastated the hotel sector," Stewart said. "Since 1985, with the expansion in cruise shipping, land-based tourism has taken a beating. Tourism is an export, and so we have to be careful how it is taxed. It does not make much economic sense to tax the inputs and not the outputs.

"If you penalise the hotels, it is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot, as hotels provide about 90 per cent of tourism revenue."

Stewart also operates his Sandals and Beaches brand hotels in St Lucia, The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Cuba.

Prime Minister Bird congratulated Stewart on his accomplishments and said that the hotel mogul's move to expand his investments in Antigua was timely.

"This development came at a time when our country is aggressively seeking to diversify its economy, and we are grateful for the confidence you have in us," Bird said. "As a true Caribbean entrepreneur, you can stand up with and against other international hotel chains."

Tourism Minister Molwyn Joseph also lauded Stewart and said that other legislation relating to the tourism sector will be debated in upcoming sittings of Parliament. This includes the Tourism Development Act, which aims to consolidate all the tax and duty free concessions into one act along with the Hotel Standards Act.

Of the 114 rooms at Sandals' Mediterranean Village, 90 will be junior suites, 10 executive suites and 14 plunge pools suites. The property will also offer a 15,000 square-foot pool, complete with swim-up pool bar and jacuzzi; an Italian restaurant; Cricketer's pub; and retail space for a craft shop, gift store and jewellery store.

According to Stewart, construction of the Mediterranean Village reaffirms Sandals Resorts' commitment to creating the ultimate resorts for honeymoons and romance. Earlier this year, Sandals Antigua was selected as the best honeymoon destination worldwide at the World Travel Awards.

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