Mr. Stuart told the Bahama Journal on Sunday that it was important for his company to acquire the hotel property so that it could assist with helping to keep the island’s economy booming.
"The Four Seasons is an excellent company worldwide and it built a beautiful hotel within the Emerald Bay Development Company. We were down here about six years ago when it opened and we wanted to cash in to ensure that the island kept going," he said.
"We think the people on this island are fantastic and there are wonderful activities to do. The island is clean so it has the bones for success."
The Sandals CEO said as a Caribbean company, the hotel felt it was necessary to go to Exuma and showcase the island.
"We wanted to do that by putting [the island] on the map in a way that maybe Four Seasons wasn’t able to do alone," Mr. Stuart said.
"It comes with promoting the island’s natural beauty and having airlift, so we are glad that Air Canada is here and American Airlines is going to do the same thing as well by having three daily flights from the United States into George Town."
On Sunday, Air Canada made its inaugural flight into George Town, Exuma which was a partnership between the airline, Sandals and the Ministry of Tourism.
"The hotel opened on January 22 for a soft opening and on February 4 we accepted our first paying guest," Mr. Keating said.
"It has been going very well and we tried through Unique Vacations, our travel agents, not to fill the resort to capacity all the time, but the demand is still very, very high. Bookings are very strong as well."
The Sandals general manager added that the hotel is off to a good start and people are generally very happy with the hotel’s service.
"Since we have taken over, we built quite a few [sections] to the hotel," Mr. Keating said.
"We built Barefoot Restaurant, which is a signature of Sandals, which is a restaurant by the sea and we also built a pub, which is another signature of Sandals and we have the largest swimming pool in the Caribbean, which is an acre in size. The guests are happy about those things."
Mr. Stuart added that there are also plans for more Sandals resorts in the country in the future.
"We have three investments now – Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau, Royal Plantation on Fowl Cay and now we have Exuma," he said.
"We love the Bahamas and think it’s a magical part of the world; so there are talks and plans underway to see which island will be our next stop. Like I said, The Bahamas is the place to be and we will remain here for as long as we can with our brand of hotels."
- Austin DWI - New York DWI