Caribbean News
Sandals Resorts Awarded CARPHA’s Highest Health and Safety Honour
July 30, 2025 – Montego Bay, Jamaica – Through consistent implementation of regional health protocols and active monitoring systems, Sandals Resorts has become the only hospitality group in the Caribbean to have every one of its 19 properties certified by the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA with the Healthier Safer Tourism Award. This collective recognition has earned Sandals the distinct honour of being designated a Healthier, Safer, Destination (HSD) — the first hotel group ever to receive this title.
The awards were presented at a special ceremony hosted at Sandals Montego Bay, where Dr Lisa Indar, executive director of CARPHA, commended the brand’s consistent and proactive health efforts across its entire regional portfolio. According to Dr Indar, “this isn’t just about recognition. It’s about real-time response and prevention that protects not only guests but also local communities.”
Sandals’ regional footprint includes seven resorts in Jamaica—Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Royal Caribbean, Sandals Negril, Sandals Ochi, Sandals South Coast, Sandals Royal Plantation and Sandals Dunn’s River—as well as its flagship Beaches resort in Negril. The company’s presence continues across the region with Sandals Grande St. Lucian, Sandals Halcyon Beach and Sandals Regency La Toc in Saint Lucia, Sandals Royal Bahamian in the Bahamas, Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados, Sandals Grande Antigua, Sandals Grenada, Sandals Royal Curaçao, Sandals Saint Vincent and Beaches in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Each of these resorts met CARPHA’s rigorous standards by going through a process of active and confidential reporting, addressing any form of threats with urgency, while ensuring that at least 10 percent of the team completed certified training in the prevention and control of infectious diseases within the hospitality sector.
Jeremy Jones, regional managing director for Sandals and Beaches Resorts in Jamaica, called the recognition a critical validation of the brand’s standards. “What makes this award truly special,” he said, “is that every single one of our resorts is recognised—not just as individually safe, but collectively forming the region’s first Healthier, Safer Destination. That’s a game-changer for tourism in the Caribbean.”
The Healthier Safer Tourism award, launched by CARPHA in 2020 through its Tourism and Health Programme, serves as a measurable
traveller health assurance tool. It is backed by major regional and international bodies including the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC). Properties that earn the award are publicly listed by CARPHA and will soon be linked to other tourism and health websites to help travellers make more informed choices.
Dr Indar underscored the significance of the partnership with Sandals, noting that “CARPHA has a long-standing, public and private relationship with Sandals, collaborating since 2012 on promoting health and safety in tourism. This historic milestone underscores the company’s unwavering commitment to tourism health, safety and environmental responsibility across the Caribbean as well as demonstrates its novel, trusting, strong partnership with CARPHA.”
With the Caribbean being the most tourism-dependent region in the world, the HST designation not only enhances the guest experience but also reinforces long-term economic resilience. Jones added, “CARPHA provides a safe environment for reporting and supports the hospitality and tourism industry in our region. Whenever something goes wrong with tourism in the Caribbean, we all get nervous, we all start to wonder what the best solution is and what CARPHA does for our resorts is to provide that level of safety and comfort.”
“Our long-standing relationship with CARPHA has played an invaluable role in helping us to champion the culture of health, safety and well-being across all our resorts. Together we have strengthened our systems, empowered our team members and set high standards to ensure that our guests, team members and community members are always protected. This ongoing collaboration reminds us that health and safety are not just policies, it is shared commitment that brings us together, inspires confidence and builds a stronger, more resilient tourism industry,” Jones further elaborated.
With this latest achievement, Sandals continues to set the regional standard for responsible tourism, reinforcing its legacy not only as a leader in luxury all-inclusive travel, but as a brand that puts the health and safety of its guests, staff and communities at the forefront.
Captions:
Header: (L-R) Keston Daniel, visitor-based surveillance coordinator – CARPHA, Jeremy Jones, regional manager director – Sandals Resorts, Jamaica, Dr. Lisa Indar, executive director – CARPHA and Gavin Palmer, corporate manager, environment, health and safety at Sandals Resorts.
Insert: Sandals Resorts representatives share in a celebratory photo op with CARPHA’s Executive Director, Dr Lisa Indar (6th left) and Visitor-Based Surveillance Coordinator, Keston Daniel (left).
Imagine an Atlantic Bridge connecting the Caribbean Region to the African Continent
Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — When CARICOM leaders convened with African counterparts and Afreximbank officials in Ethiopia, the outcomes were savory and exactly what many Caribbean people want to see materialise as the islands become uniquely reconnected to the African continent.
At the Second CARICOM-Africa Summit, held at the African Union headquarters, leaders moved beyond symbolic language to agree on a draft communiqué that, if finalized, would anchor this partnership in practical action. While not yet officially published by the AU or CARICOM, the document points to an agenda that blends history with urgent twenty-first century priorities.
The draft outlines commitments to improve air and sea transport links, including the pursuit of a multilateral air services agreement to break down the barriers that still keep the Caribbean and Africa physically apart. It also calls for visa facilitation and simplified entry regimes, making it easier for citizens of both regions to travel, study, and work across the Atlantic.
Equally significant are pledges to advance double taxation treaties that could remove one of the most stubborn obstacles to investment.
With Afreximbank’s Caribbean headquarters already established in Barbados and the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) gaining momentum, leaders now want to lock in the financial and legal frameworks that will drive new business.
Reparatory justice also featured prominently, with the draft communiqué sharpening a joint call for coordinated advocacy. CARICOM’s long-standing Reparations Commission is expected to work more closely with African institutions to demand global recognition and redress for the shared traumas of slavery and colonial exploitation.
CARICOM’s incoming chair, Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew of St. Kitts and Nevis, captured the spirit of the gathering when he urged that the Atlantic Slave Trade be reimagined as an “Atlantic Bridge — a bridge of hope, a bridge of advancement, a bridge that will ensure our people take their rightful place in this world.”
For Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett, the meeting was a “homecoming,” but also a reminder that concrete steps like the Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC) and improved transportation links are needed to transform rhetoric into results.
For citizens back home, wrestling with inflation and economic uncertainty, the Addis outcomes — transport, visas, investment, health, and reparations — are precisely the kinds of measures that can validate leaders’ journeys and rekindle faith in South-South cooperation. What was once only rhetoric now hints at the beams of an Atlantic Bridge, connecting the Caribbean and Africa in ways that could finally turn history’s tragedy into tomorrow’s advantage.
