Sandals Resorts and the company’s Founder and Chairman, Mr. Gordon “Butch” Stewart, have been honored with top awards at the 2012 Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards.
 

Stewart was presented with the prestigious ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ during a glittering ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on January 25. The award was given to Stewart in recognition of his contribution to the travel industry and to the communities in which his company operates. Collecting the award, Stewart said: “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the 10,000 people that work within the Sandals family."

 

A number of travel industry greats came together to congratulate Stewart on this fantastic achievement, including Amanda Wills, Managing Director of Virgin Holidays; Sue Biggs, formerly of Kuoni and Thomas Cook and now Director General of the royal Horticultural Society; and Guy Zitter, Managing Director, Mail Newspapers. They described Stewart as “blazing a trail”, having “impressive in spades” and “changing the face of tourism”.

 

In addition, Sandals Resorts won the prestigious ‘Best All Inclusive Resort Operator’ award and the company’s UK & European Managing Director, Karl Thompson was on hand to receive it.

 

“We are honored that Sandals has been awarded ‘Best All Inclusive Resort Operator’ and this accolade is very important to us because it is voted for by the industry,” said Thompson. “We always strive for excellence and continue to invest enormous amounts of money to elevate and modernize the product.”

            

The Globe Awards are widely regarded as the pinnacle of the travel industry calendar. The integrity of the Globes is paramount to their success, as it remains one of the few award ceremonies where the winners are voted solely by the industry. To ensure the highest standards and the ultimate service is recognized it is travel agents who determine the winners.

 

These fantastic accolades build on previous successes for the Sandals brands at the Globe Travel Awards. Sandals Resorts was awarded ‘Best All-Inclusive Resort’ for 16 consecutive years, and was voted ‘Best Caribbean Hotel Group’ for ten consecutive years. At this year’s awards ceremony Sandals was also nominated for ‘Best Trade Sales Team’ and ‘Best Trade Friendly Brand’.