Open Jaw :: On The Town ::

With Theresa Storm
30JUL08

Denise Sterling, product specialist, WestJet Vacations and Gary Davies, publisher up! Magazine, present a Value Award to Butch Stewart.

Top-selling agent Gloria Taylor, Marlin Travel, Medicine Hat with Adam Stewart.

Allthough Hazel Affonso, Affordable Travel, YYC, told the ladies, "keep your hands off Adam,” she couldn’t do so, explaining she has known him since he was a baby. Dad, Butch Stewart, doesn't seem to mind.

A Chip Off The Old Butch’s Block

Love was in Calgary’s Rocky Mountain air last week when the Honourable Gordon “Butch” Stewart and son Adam, respective chairman and founder and CEO of Sandals Resorts International, paid their first visit.

So much so that I, an uninitiated Sandal-ite, wondered if the cocktails were spiked with a little love potion. That same magic that dances in couples’ faces on the resort’s glitzy marketing materials also gleamed from the travel agents and tour operators all decked out to dine with the Sandals execs.

Devotees all, it seemed. Like a movie star, Butch’s dining room entrance garnered a standing ovation and much backslapping and hugs.

As speeches and videos rolled, it appeared, well, cultish. But as tour operators WestJet Vacations, ACV and top-selling agents Gloria Taylor (Marlin Travel, Medicine Hat) and Hazel Affonso (Affordable Travel, Calgary), driver of the only Sandals car in Alberta, passionately spoke about their relationship with Sandals, I began to feel the “all in the family” vibe they share.

Like father (or “old man” as Adam fondly calls him), like son. An idiom, but true. Judging from 27-year-old Adam’s plans, the Stewart reign is far from over, as he unveiled scores of developments to take the resorts to the next level and exceed guest expectations.

When, at last, Butch stepped to the podium, the love-in reached a crescendo.

"Love is all you need?" ...not to run this billion dollar empire! But Adam seems to have the business and marketing acumen to follow in his famous father’s footsteps. It doesn’t hurt that he is charming, unpretentious, and sports a heart-melting smile.