US$ 5 Million for Sandals Staff Education

Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is to invest US$5 million over the next five years to strengthen training programs it will offer to team members across the region through its corporate university.

The company launched its premier educational and training institution, Sandals Corporate University (SCU), which will offer team members certification up to a bachelor's degree in a number of areas in hospitality management.

Through a collaborative effort with several experienced partners, the SCU has been created as an educational system design to help in the development of Sandals employees through on-the-job training and development.

The initiative, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, was launched at Sandals Grande Riviera in this resort town, where chairman of the Sandals Group Gordon 'Butch' Stewart was hailed by regional leaders for not only investing in 'spectacular resorts', but also in the human capital of the region.

Heads of Government in the region, including Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, along with colleague prime ministers Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda; Hubert Ingraham, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas; and Dr Kenny Anthony of St Lucia were among a large group who witnessed yesterday's launch and gave it ringing endorsements.

The launch of the university, which is expected to impact the lives of thousands of Caribbean people in countries where Sandals operates its luxury all-inclusive resorts and the wider region, was also streamed live to more than 6,000 team members across the region.

Speaking at the launch, the Sandals chairman said the corporate university was the outcome of his own simple philosophy of customer service where "customers are given more than they expect", adding that the university would catapult that philosophy to greater heights.