During a public appearance Saturday marking the launch of a new automotive joint venture, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali made a direct public appeal to Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Jamaica-headquartered hospitality giant Sandals Resorts International, to develop a luxury all-inclusive eco-tourism resort in Guyana. In his remarks, the president emphasized that local private sector stakeholders are already prepared to commit an initial $15 million in joint investment to back the project.
Ali framed the potential Guyanese venture as a historic opportunity for the Sandals brand, arguing that locating the resort in Guyana would create the brand’s top-tier eco-tourism destination that no competing property could match. “You will be doing your brand a great disservice if you don’t draw on the bold capacity I know your brand carries to make the best possible investment decision Sandals has ever made,” Ali said during the event. “That decision is to work with our private sector as partners in creating Sandals’ number one eco destination, all-inclusive resort here in Guyana. I can assure you that none will come close to you.”
The meeting came ahead of the official opening of CAMS Motors, a new automotive dealership that operates as a joint venture involving Stewart’s ATL Group, the parent company of ATL Automotive. Stewart confirmed during the event that Ali has actively lobbied for Sandals to enter Guyana’s fast-growing hospitality sector, and while the discussions remain in early stages, he has not ruled out moving forward with the project.
“As I arrived here, we were here to sell cars, but the president reminded me that one of these days we need to build a hotel down here, and I want to follow suit,” Stewart explained. “That’s not a public service announcement just yet. It’s a ‘we love the idea of it’.”
Ali noted that the pitch to Sandals is the continuation of conversations that began roughly one year ago, when he first floated the concept of Sandals entering Guyana’s tourism market. He added that Guyana’s private sector has already demonstrated robust confidence in the country’s tourism growth trajectory, having completed construction on more than 14 new hotels across the country in recent years to accommodate rising visitor demand tied to Guyana’s expanding oil sector and growing global profile as a biodiversity and eco-tourism hotspot.