Sandals reaffirms its commitment to Antigua & Barbuda

Since its inception 35 years ago Sandals Resorts International remains one of the most respected names in the hospitality industry, with an unblemished track record, and has been recognized by the industry as the World’s Best for the past 23 consecutive years.

Sandals is proud of our contribution to the economic development of the Caribbean, and in particular to the people of Antigua and Barbuda over the past twenty five years. Not only have we been a top private sector contributor to the economy with over XCD$93 million (all duly audited) in the past 12 months alone, we stand head and shoulders above most other institutions when it comes to the training and investment in our employees.

And so, after 25 years of non-stop operations, even when other hotels around us were closing their doors, Sandals wrote the Prime Minister and Government on July 13th, 2017, giving them 69 days’ notice that we intended to close the hotel for maintenance. We gave the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union the same courtesy of notifying them in writing.

While the response from the Union has been professional and measured, which resulted in reasonable discussions and a decision by the Board to eventually reduce the closure period from five to three months, the response from Government has been both shocking and disturbing.

Our intention has always been to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure that the investment we are about to make helps strengthen not only Sandals Grande Antigua Resort itself, but the destination as a whole.

We can assure both the country and the wider industry however, that Sandals will not be deterred from doing all it can to ensure that our resort is of the highest standard and is able to compete with anyone anywhere in the world. We are confident that the end product will result in enormous benefits for the destination, and we are honoured to be the flagship resort of Antigua and Barbuda, a position we have held proudly for the past quarter of a century.