Sandals Resorts International plans to create approximately 7,000 new jobs as the Jamaica-born hospitality company moves into a new phase of expansion that will include new hotels and, eventually, destinations beyond the Caribbean.
Executive Chairman Adam Stewart announced the planned job creation during a briefing with travel advisers last week, days after Royal Caribbean Group agreed to invest approximately US$3 billion for a 50 percent equity stake in Sandals and Beaches Resorts. Stewart said the new jobs will be tied to the company’s planned hotels, but did not provide a breakdown by country, property or timeline.
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Sandals currently employs more than 18,000 people, meaning the additional positions would represent an increase of roughly 38 percent in its workforce. Stewart said the company intends to expand beyond its traditional Caribbean footprint, telling travel advisers that the time had come for Sandals to go beyond the region. However, the company has not yet disclosed the specific international destinations under consideration.
The expansion will take place in stages. Stewart said Sandals is already upgrading its existing resort portfolio, with some projects involving investments worth hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars. The company also has new hotels planned in the Caribbean, including developments associated with Beaches Resorts in Exuma in The Bahamas, Barbados, Runaway Bay in Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Royal Caribbean partnership is expected to provide additional capital and resources to support the expansion. Under the agreement, the two companies will share control, with Stewart remaining executive chairman of Sandals and Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, jointly leading the partnership’s board. The transaction is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.
Stewart has emphasized that the partnership is intended to accelerate growth without changing the identity or management structure of Sandals and Beaches. He said the brands will remain intact and that existing general managers and sales teams will continue in their roles.
The expansion could also have implications for Jamaica beyond direct employment. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has said he wants discussions with Sandals and Royal Caribbean about the partnership’s potential impact on Jamaican workers, local suppliers and future investment in the country.
Stewart described the strategy as “Sandals 3.0,” representing the next stage of the company founded by his late father, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, in Montego Bay in 1981. While the locations and timing of the additional 7,000 jobs have yet to be announced, the plans signal a significant expansion of the Jamaican-founded resort brand’s global ambitions.
