Pink Gin Beach, Grenada– Upon his return to Grenada from Jamaica for the company-wide Ultimate Team Member Award, Curtis Bailey said ‘Jamaica, Wow!’ Last year, after winning Diamond (Best) Team Member of the Month, he was awarded as the overall best Team Member of the Year for Sandals LaSource and so was granted the opportunity to represent the resort at the Ultimate Award event in Jamaica. This young, ambitious Scuba Instructor was treated to a week of VIP luxury along with other Team Members from across the region.

In the days leading up to the grand award ceremony and dinner, the nominees were treated to a week of activities including tours to the group’s various head offices in Kingston and Montego Bay, a day of zip lining and river tubing at Good Hope Estate courtesy of Chukka Caribbean Adventures and outreach at the Stewart Town Basic School in partnership with the Sandals Foundation.

Although on the night of the Ultimate Award ceremony, Jamer ‘Captain Neil’ Georges, a playmaker in Sandals Grande St. Lucian Spa & Beach Resort’s Entertainment Department emerged as the Ultimate Winner, all nominees had an enriching experience.

Deputy Chairman and CEO Adam Stewart, praised the nominees for their incalculable value to the company. He thanked all team members for allowing the company to confidently and continuously pursue new ventures, crediting them for the continued success of the company and all its endeavours. ‘There’s a reason why everything we touch turns to gold and you, along with all the other thousands of team members across the region are that reason. It turns to gold because of hard work, dedication and passion’, he told the nominees.  ‘This is the night we love’, he continued, ‘The night where we get to celebrate and recognize our shining stars. We can’t thank you enough for all that you do and I just want to tell you that we see your efforts, we appreciate them and we are happy to reward excellence.’

To identify the ultimate winner, nominees were assessed by various criteria, including team spirit, training hours, attendance record, ambassadorial qualities, and community and environmental stewardship.  After weeks of examining the nominees’ profiles, the selection panel was confident to announce Georges as the Ultimate Team Member – the best of the company’s 14,000-strong team.

Bailey added, ‘Although I was not the Ultimate Winner, it was indeed an Ultimate experience that I will never forget. From the VIP travel arrangements, being VIP guests on resort with all our needs taken care of, the specially organized events and most of all, the opportunity to bond with my fellow team members from across the Caribbean.  Truly an Ultimate lifetime experience that I wish I could do again tomorrow. I left feeling empowered and ready to take on the world. It really made me realize that I am part of one of the best brands in the world.”

The Ultimate Award week is an annual event honouring top performers from the Sandals group across the region and forms one of the company’s many team member appreciation activities.