Monday, 11:10 pm, Mon January 4, 2021
Pioneering Jamaican hotelier Gordon "Butch" Stewart has died.
Butch Stewart
Mr Stewart, 79, passed away in the United States on Monday.
The news was confirmed by Adam Stewart, Deputy Chairman of Sandals who, in a statement, said his father had chose to keep a very recent health diagnosis private.
Gordon "Butch" Stewart founded a vast Caribbean business empire, starting with Appliance Traders Limited, which grew to become the ATL Group, then he went into the hotel business, creating Sandals Resorts Interntaional, operating two main brands throughout the Caribbean - Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts.
In the 1993 he also entered the media business, establishing the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
In 1992 Butch Stewart was a moving force behind an initiative to defend the value of the Jamaican dollar which had come under severe pressure from foreign exchange speculators, by selling his company's foreign currency into the formal banking system at a set rate. That became known as the "Save the Dollar" initiative.
That initiative was supported by thousands of Jamaicans who were mobilised by Dr Leachim Semaj on Radio Jamaica's "Night Doctor" show. They also agreed to sell their foreign exchange to the banks at a set rate which undercut the power of the speculators.
The younger Stewart described his father as "a marketing genius and talented showman," but also said that "those who knew him best recognized that he was a dreamer who could dream bigger and better than anyone."
No comments:
Post a Comment