BUSINESS AND CSR go HAND-IN HAND at SANDALS

Cricket, Coral Reefs and Caribbean People

By Wendy Singh 

 

SRI in St. Lucia has a focus on creating healthy communities in St. Lucia

 

Family-owned Sandals Resorts International (SRI) has transformed itself from one brand and one resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica to become one of the most well-known and award-winning hospitality companies in the world. With five brands and 24 properties in seven countries including Antigua, the Bahamas, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Turks and Caicos, Sandals Resorts International is the undisputed leader of Caribbean vacation experiences and remains fiercely committed to the region, dedicating itself to innovative resort development that in the words of Chairman and Founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart, “exceed expectations” for guests, associates and the people who call the Caribbean home.

 

Corporate Business Strategy

Sandals has proven to be highly successful, based on their innovative marketing concepts. Sandals Resort offers an innovative concept in their all-inclusive environments, contrived to give vacationers completely worry-free accommodations. This allows guests to relax and more effectively utilize their vacation time. Sandals prides themselves for introducing the ‘couples only’ concept.

 

They employ guest coordinators, trained to be experts in human relations, to make guests feel at home, coordinating the guest activities and making sure that everything works the way it should. They practice TQM throughout all levels of staff.

 

In the ‘couples only’ market which has its origins in Sandals, they cater to different markets by offering three different levels of suites: the basic all-inclusive suites, the crystal suites that have their own private pool and the millionaire suites that are separate villas with butler service.

 

Sandals and its communities

What is a little less known, is that the brand and its CSR programme are intricately linked in providing guests the opportunity to experience and to contribute while staying at its resorts. Sandals Resorts International currently gives active support to more than 150 major projects in its host communities through the company’s philanthropic arm, The Sandals Foundation. This support ranges from the building of schools to the paying of teachers, to providing hospitals with linens, to bringing healthcare to the doorsteps of those who cannot afford it. The Sandals CSR strategic frame is built on three pillars:-

  • Commitment to Health, Safety & Environment
  • Education
  • Empowering Community

 

Health, Safety & Environment

As a subscriber to the principles of Earth-Check benchmarking and certification programme, Sandals has its own comprehensive environmental programme, Earth- Guard, which has six components: Staff Awareness, Energy Conservation Programme, Control of Hazardous Substances, Water Conservation Programme, Waste Management Programme and Social & Cultural Development.

 

As a participant in Earth-Check, the company’s commitment is encapsulated in its policy:-

The Sandals Group is committed to providing quality vacation experiences for our guests while we work to minimize the environmental and social impacts associated with our operations. These include, freshwater & energy conservation; recycling and reuse programmes for solid waste & wastewater; reducing or eliminating the use of hazardous substances; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; preservation of land and fragile ecosystems; focused community development and cultural relations; and the employment of qualified local personnel in keeping with our existing human resource policy. The environmental focus within our hotels also includes programmes to minimize noise pollution and hazardous emissions where these are identified within our operations. CSR delivery for the chain is managed by the Sandals Foundation.

 

Education

When Gordon “Butch” Stewart opened his first resort, he had one very important mandate; the resort would be required to adopt a school in the community. Team members were to care for it and ensure that the facilities and students had what was needed to be successful. That was more than thirty years ago, and the beginning of a corporate commitment to community and a tradition of service that SRI has nurtured. “We have the resources, therefore the responsibility to act,” says Stewart. Today, every resort under the SRI banner is required to adopt schools and in some cases, entire communities to ensure that the messages of health, safety, environmental concern, community and opportunity are shared as much as possible. From helping to provide new computer labs and building additional classrooms to giving scholarships for academically bright but needy students and hosting career days – the resort teams continually provide mentorship and share their knowledge and resources with the Sandals’ Caribbean neighbours.

 

In 2007, Sandals Resorts earned the Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Award for the Adopt-A-School programme and the work in the Caribbean communities where Sandals Resorts operate.

 

Empowering Community

SRI believes in working with the community and for the community to tackle complex issues such as violence, poverty, disaffected youth, lack of health care access and employment training. Together with civic leaders and neighbors, we’ve created programmes directed at areas that will have the most sustainable and positive impact. While our community programmes are wide in scope, they all share the common goals of giving people a chance to change lives. Programmes supported by the Sandals Foundation include skills training with certification, mentorship, animal shelters and toy drives.

 

Sandals sponsors West Indies Cricket

This year, the luxury hotel chain Sandals Resorts is the new major commercial sponsor of West Indies cricket. Sandals Resorts has replaced Digicel, the Irish telecommunications giant, who closed its sponsorship, which was due to end in 2020, ending a 13-year commercial relationship.

 

According to Caribbean Life news, in a partnership recently announced, the Caribbean resorts hotel brand will sponsor all West Indies representative teams from Under-15s, through the senior men and women’s squads. Sandals will also serve as kit sponsors and will also have major stadium branding and broadcast sponsorship.

 

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Johnny Grave has hailed Sandals’ sponsorship, noting that both Sandals and CWI share such a prestigious international brand that is synonymous with promoting the best of the Caribbean to the world.

 

He said Sandals Resorts’ investment will not only help fuel the game at all levels within the Caribbean but will enable CWI to achieve its strategic objectives.

 

Sandals were sponsors for the Hurricane Relief Twenty20 at Lord’s, England which saw West Indies face an ICC World 1, to raise funds to rebuild stadia in the Caribbean that were damaged after the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria last September. The two-year deal with Sandals will end in December 2020.

 

Sandals moves to protect coral reefs

For Sandals in the region, the conservation of coral reefs is important for multiple reasons aside from being credited for contributing to the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Amongst their varied purposes coral reefs protect coastlines from the damaging effects of waves and tropical storms as well as function as a means of shelter for marine organisms. The fishing industry which is of great economic value to countries such as Jamaica depends on coral reefs. According to a Catlin scientific survey the Caribbean has lost 80% of its coral coverage in recent years. If there is progressive incline in the depletion of coral coverage this could lead to the eventual disappearance of our beaches and collapse of the fishing industry.

 

The Sandals Foundation in partnership with Coral Restoration Foundation and CARIBSAVE planted over 500 pieces of coral. These corals were produced from a nursery built within the Boscobel Marine Sanctuary on the north coast by the three organisations in November 2015. The out planting in surrounding areas to assist with the resilience of the reefs followed a nine month cycle that involved the production of the coral.

 

Jonathan Hernould, Environment Officer at Sandals Foundation emphasised that, “An integral part of the establishment of the nurseries is to allow visitors to the Caribbean an opportunity to get involved in coral conservation activities. Their involvement raises awareness on its importance that would contribute to the sustainability of our initiatives. We are excited to see the growing trend of visitors’ interest in marine conservation and look forward to partnering with guests on our future out plants. We have ensured that we planted elkhorn and staghorn corals which are two fast growing corals that should allow us to do annual out planting.”

 

Protection of the environment both above and below sea level is one of the pillars that Sandals Foundation is built on. Through partnerships the Foundation is committed to bringing public awareness to the harmful effects of environmental negligence whilst promoting proactive methods that individuals and organizations may pursue.

 

Sandals in St. Lucia

In St. Lucia, the team’s CSR activities are built on its governing principles. The HS&E programmes on conservation and efficiency are hallmarks of Sandal’s St. Lucia operations. But here the chain focuses heavily on education and youth development – not only in host communities but across the island. There is a concerted effort to address hot-spot communities and families marginalised by income and geography.

 

Some of the year-round projects undertaken by the Sandals team, local partners and guest volunteers include:

Empowering Community through Sports

  • The Sport Youth Camps in football and cricket. Through the Trevor Daniel Academy, SRI, within the last five years, has sponsored over 300 underprivileged kids, providing coaching, uniforms, equipment, transport and meals during sessions.
  • The under-15 Cricket Academy which is delivered in partnership with the West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC), is a 7-day intensive, residential programme which is hosted by SRI where participants are housed at the resort and provide meals, transport and professional coaching. Coaching is not restricted to sporting excellence but includes a number of other components such as life-skills, managing change and fame, and management. The programme is fully funded by SRI.
  • Other sporting sponsorships are directed at community groups and cover football, tennis and basketball in inner city communities

 

Empowering Community through Education

The focus of the St. Lucia team is in depressed communities. SRI aims to leverage education as a catalyst for change and they do so in a number of ways. SRI encourages reading in primary schools through the weekly Reading Road Trip whereby both hotel guests and staff volunteer to distribute books and read to children. SRI also provides alternatives to traditional education through hospitality training for high schoolers and young adults in partnership with the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and the Munroe College. Some 1000 persons have been trained over the past six years through this residential 6-week training programme, many of them securing employment with Sandals across the Caribbean or at other regional hotels. In addition, along the value chain, SRI provides career advancement for persons already working within the industry through the Sandals Corporate University (SCU) which is affiliated with the American Hospitality Institute. There are over 200 accreditation programmes offered by the SCU. The training is all certified and widely recognised and accepted internationally.

 

Through the Butch Stewart trademark Adopt-A-School programme, staff volunteers give time and talent to schools in at-risk communities – providing food, entertainment and gifts at Christmas and other seasonal occasions.

 

In partnership with the Salvation Army, SRI supports a community school in Castries for single mothers and the annual Christmas Dinner for the mothers and Salvation Army staff. This initiative which is intended to ease the financial and personal demands on young mothers is directed at pre- primary children from infancy to five years old.

 

Under its education thrust, SRI is a major contributor to the Tourism Enhancement Fund which is managed by the local Tourism and Hotel Association to develop and improve the quality of service in the industry. SRI is an 80% contributor to the programme.

 

Health & Safety and the Environment

SRI works with the Great Shape Foundation in Jamaica which deploys dentists to provide check-ups and treatment at mobile clinics in depressed communities. In partnership with regional carrier LIAT, SRI provides air transport, meals and accommodation to volunteer dental practitioners. In 2016 dentists treated over 900 persons during the 2-week outreach. SRI also ships equipment in and sets up mobile clinics at various schools throughout the island.

 

SRI St. Lucia also engages in a national annual Coastal Clean Up Campaign with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA); a means of reducing waste that makes it to the sea shores, SRI shipped 10,000 reusable bags into St. Lucia last year which staff distributed at local supermarkets and community market places.