by Brian Major
Last updated: 5:11 PM ET, Thu December 10, 2020
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) will open its first Curaçao resort at the former Santa Barbara Resort property in 2021, company officials announced Thursday. The Dutch Caribbean resort will launch with an initial 350 beachfront rooms and suites at the 3,000-acre site and mark Sandals' expansion to a ninth Caribbean country.
The new property will feature "key elements" of Sandals' resort experience, including expansive pools, gourmet dining options and deluxe accommodations, including new River Suites.
Guests will also have access to an adjacent 18-hole Pete Dye championship golf course, two on-site marinas and 38,000-square-feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. SRI is also planning "a further expansion" of the resort in "coming years," officials said.
The new resort will create "a positive, immediate and long-term impact on the island and the people of Curaçao, said SRI officials. The development will have "an over $40 million economic footprint" and "add over 1,200 local jobs" including "800 new team members and 400 local tradesmen and craftsmen."
"For us, this signals not just a bright future in tourism, but an investment in the future of Caribbean tourism," said Adam Stewart, SRI's vice chairman, in an Instagram post. "Curaçao is a place to be discovered, and we are so proud today to become part of this community."
The resort will also create "a positive economic ripple effect for the community extending to the local taxi and transportation sectors, wider supply chain, agriculture, increased airlift and increased yearly tourism numbers, especially with the key US tourism market," said SRI officials in a statement.
The new property "will bring an unprecedented boon to the Curaçao tourism industry and the local economy," said Roald Smeets, director of the Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort. He said SRI's "ability to attract regular scheduled airlines from North America distinctly marks it out from other hotel groups."
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