The cruise industry is probably our biggest competitor: Adam Stewart

When Sandals Resorts Executive Chairman Adam Stewart sat down with Yahoo Finance’s Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer, they spoke about how impactful the cruise industry is for the hospitality sector in the Caribbean.

Video transcript

ADAM STEWART: The cruise industry is probably our biggest competitor. And I will say here on air that I think the cruise industry has done an incredible job in the recovery to inspire confidence of its consumers. I was very humbled to be asked to be a guest speaker at one of their large conferences last year in Miami. And all the executives were there. All the CEOs were there.

And I had to say to them, for being a sixth generation Caribbean national, I was applauding them on their resilience on how much work they put in because the ecosystem of tourism in the Caribbean simply doesn't work without cruise. It is the coming together of the farmers and the fishers and the entertainers and the taxi drivers. And who brings them together are the land-based tourism operators like Sandals Resorts International. And the cruise industry has a large part to do with it.

Cruise has not fully recovered. They are being somewhat prejudiced, I believe, generally by the consumer. I think they run strong safety standards overall, but they did have a very difficult run. And I know that they are working tirelessly to try re-instill that confidence and to get their ships full again and sailing through the Caribbean. And the Caribbean countries, speaking with my Caribbean national hat on, we're waiting for them to come with open arms.