Week of January 25, 2021 MAVERICK. INNOVATOR. ICON. HIS LEGACY WILL LIVE ON FOREVER Gordon “Butch” Stewart July 6, 1941 - January 4, 2021 Love is all you need SAN 41728 ALL-THATS-GOOD-BUTCH-CTP-3PGCW-OFC-012521-DIGITAL_AA.indd 1 1/13/21 6:32 PM CTP front page AD template.indd 1 2021-01-21 3:39:55 PM BEACON INSPIRATIONALMOGUL LARGER THAN FAMILY TRAILBLAZER LIFE HONOURABLE INNOVATOR MAN GAME KING OF THE CHANGERICONCARIBBEAN PHILANTHROPIST SONJAMAICA OF MARKETING MAVERICK TITAN ENTREPRENEUR GENIUS VISIONARYLEGEND SAN 41729 ALL-THATS-GOOD-BUTCH-CTP-3PGCW-SPRD-012521_AA.indd 1 1/13/21 6:35 PM CTP full spread AD template.indd 6 2021-01-21 2:37:44 PM The Legend Lives On IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE HONOURABLE Gordon “Butch” Stewart A TRUE VISIONARY. AN EXTRAORDINARY, PASSIONATE LEADER. AN AMAZING HUMAN BEING WHO TOUCHED SO MANY LIVES AND INSPIRED A DEEP LOVE FOR HIS RESORTS AND THE PLACE HE CALLED HOME, JAMAICA. Gordon “Butch” Stewart blazed trails in the hospitality industry, and it all began with one resort and a big dream. Forty years later, he turned that dream into the world’s only 5-Star Luxury Included® Vacation. Today, there are 20 Sandals® and Beaches® Resorts on 10 islands across the Caribbean. A visionary like Mr. Stewart comes along once in a lifetime. He believed in dreaming the impossible dream, and that’s how he forever changed the all-inclusive vacation industry. His legend will live on as Sandals and Beaches look to new horizons by expanding to PRUHLVODQGVEXLOGLQJPRUHUHVRUWVDQGR΍HULQJ more cutting-edge innovations that make vacation dreams come true for our guests. July 6, 1941 - January 4, 2021 It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and chairman, the Honourable Gordon “Butch” Stewart. His legacy will live on forever. Love is all you need If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences, you can email [email protected] Sandals® and Beaches®DUHUHJLVWHUHGWUDGHPDUNV8QLTXH9DFDWLRQVΖQFLVDQDɝOLDWHRI8QLTXH7UDYHO&RUSWKHZRUOGZLGHUHSUHVHQWDWLYHRI6DQGDOVDQG%HDFKHV5HVRUWV SAN 41729 ALL-THATS-GOOD-BUTCH-CTP-3PGCW-SPRD-012521_AA.indd 1 1/13/21 6:35 PM CTP full spread AD template.indd 7 2021-01-21 2:37:57 PM The greatest gift … A son remembers y greatest gift ever was to be your son. Call after call, message after message from all four corners of the globe with people sharing stories about Mhow you affected their lives, the outpouring of love is overwhelming. For some, it was a single interaction with you that they have held on to and cherished, for others it has been decades of your friendship and leadership. To know you was to love you, firm, jovial, strong, dir- ect, outspoken, creative, proud, charismatic, larger than life all wrapped in a bow of soul and good intentions. For me, it was the daily phone calls, meetings or visits, the mission at hand, the situation at that moment, the helping of others, the need to fi nd a solution because there was a problem, the push to outperform our best work prior, the innovation, the giving because someone was in need, the wellbeing of our teams or your friends or just your selfl ess approach to helping everyone else ahead of worrying about yourself right up to your very last day with us. For me, I had a lifetime of those moments, of learnings & of memories. I am beyond proud to be your son, dad, go disrupt heaven and make it even better than it was before your arrival just like you changed the world. 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Baxter, Edith Baxter We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada Vol. 53, No. 16 We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada 4 • CANADIAN TRAVEL PRESS • JANUARY 25, 2021 0125PG04.indd 4 2021-01-21 1:18:33 PM Delighting in defying the odds The Honourable Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart July 6, 1941 to January 4, 2021 LEGEND, entrepreneur, unstoppable force, vibrant personality, philanthropist, statesman, private and devoted to family man. The Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart was all of these and so much more. News of his passing on Jan. 4, 2021, at the age of 79, has been marked by an outpouring of praise, reminisces and heartfelt sympathies, each touching on a different aspect of the man who built the world’s most recognized Caribbean resort brand and in doing so, reinvented and revitalized the tourism and hospitality industry throughout the region. A son of Jamaica, Butch Stewart was born in Kingston on July 6, 1941 and grew up along the island’s North Coast, where his love of the sea, dominoes and free enterprise were sown. See DEFYING page 6 JANUARY 25, 2021 • CANADIAN TRAVEL PRESS • 5 0125PG05-06.indd 5 2021-01-21 1:19:04 PM DEFYING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Certain from the start that he leadership of Air Jamaica. It was a wanted to run his own company, at daunting task – planes were dirty, the tender age of 12, Stewart fi rst service was indifferent and on-time stepped into the hospitality industry schedules were rarely met, causing selling fresh-caught fi sh to local its market share to plummet along hotels. His success got him ‘hooked’ Find out what with its revenues. and his enthusiasm for entrepreneur- But by applying the successful ship never waned. formula he had used for ATL and His career began at the Dutch- people want, give Sandals Resorts, he was able to owned Curaçao Trading Company give the airline back to the govern- where he quickly rose to become ment with an increase in revenue of sales manager, but itched to start his it to them and in over US$250 million. own company and in 1968, Stewart That wasn’t the fi rst time that took his chance. Stewart had come to the aid of Although he had no collateral, he his country. recognized the comfort that would doing so – exceed In 1992, he galvanized the make air conditioning an essential admiration of Jamaicans with service, and convinced American their expectations. the “Butch Stewart Initiative,” manufacturer Fedders Corporation “ pumping US$1 million a week to allow him to represent their into the official foreign exchange brand in Jamaica. With that, market at below prevailing rates Stewart’s foundational business – Appliance Traders Limited (ATL), to help halt the slide of the Jamaican dollar. was born and he was on his way. Less well-known may be the extent of Stewart’s considerable philan- At ATL, Stewart developed a simple business philosophy he articu- thropy, where for more than 40 years he has helped improve and shape lated many times: “Find out what people want, give it to them and in the lives of Caribbean people. doing so - exceed their expectations.” His work, formalized with the creation of The Sandals Foundation in It became the standard of every one of his enterprises and it was a 2009, offers support ranging from the building of schools and paying of standard practiced by every employee. teachers to bringing healthcare to the doorsteps of those who cannot In 1981, Stewart found the Bay Roc – a rundown hotel on a magnifi - afford it. This in addition to his tireless support of a wide range of cent beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Seven months and $4 million in environmental initiatives. renovations later, Sandals Montego Bay opened as the fl agship of what Beyond the work of the Foundation, Stewart has given millions to has become the most popular, award-winning, all-inclusive, luxury-in- charitable causes such as celebrating the bravery of veterans and fi rst cluded resort company in the world. responders and helping those in the wake of devastating hurricanes. While Stewart never laid claim to inventing the all-inclusive con- Stewart’s successes in business and in life have earned him cept, he is recognized worldwide for his tireless effort to elevate the more than 50 well-deserved local, regional, and international experience, delivering to his guests an unsurpassed level of luxury, and accolades and awards including Jamaica’s highest national distinc- proving beyond question that a Caribbean company could successfully tions: The Order of Jamaica (O.J.), and Commander of the Order of compete with any organization in the world.