While Sandals properties in other Caribbean destinations are back in business, the luxury all-inclusive brand’s Bahamian employees remain furloughed as Sandals has once again postponed the reopening of its two Bahamas resorts due to the government’s failure to articulate a clear COVID-19 response plan and stick to it.
The Minnis Administration’s inconsistent policies and emergency orders have been a nightmare for local resorts and prospective guests who remain on edge over the prospect of curfews and lockdowns.
Consequently, Sandals Royal Bahamian has pushed its reopening date from January 28 to March 31 while Emerald Bay in Exuma is slated to reopen on February 24 instead of February 1.
The news has dealt a double blow to Sandals employees who learned on Tuesday night that the government does not plan to extend its unemployment assistance beyond January.
The government that helped to put them
in a position of extended unemployment, through its waffling policies, is now pulling the social safety net out from under them.
Sandals Chairman Adam Stewart noted that the confusion created in the marketplace over The Bahamas’ repeated lockdowns and travel restrictions had given other destinations, including Mexico and the Dominican Republic, a head start.
In November, Sandals reopened 11 resorts in other Caribbean destinations including Antigua, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica and Saint Lucia.
The two Bahamian properties and Sandals Ochi in Jamaica will be the last of the company’s resorts to reopen.
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