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More than 100 U.S. travel advisors tee off in Jamaica as Sandals positions golf as a bigger part of the Caribbean luxury travel experience

OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA — Sandals Resorts is making a stronger play for one of global tourism’s fastest-growing specialist markets — golf travel.

From September 9 to 13, Sandals hosted its 22nd Annual USA Travel Advisors Golf Tournament in Jamaica, bringing more than 100 American travel advisors to the island for several days of competition, destination exposure and first-hand experience of the Sandals product.

The tournament was staged at the Sandals Upton Estate Golf & Country Club in Ocho Rios, an 18-hole, par-72 course set approximately 700 feet above sea level and surrounded by sweeping mountain and ocean views. Sandals describes the course as stretching 6,404 yards, with narrow fairways, small greens, practice facilities, a pro shop and clubhouse amenities. Sandals Resorts

But behind the friendly competition sits a much larger tourism strategy.

Golf tourism is big business.

Fortune Business Insights estimates the global golf tourism market at approximately US$30.55 billion in 2026, up from US$27.98 billion in 2025, with projections that it could reach US$61.8 billion by 2034. Grand View Research offers a similar estimate, placing the 2026 market at around US$29 billion. Fortune Business Insights

That puts Sandals directly inside a market where high-value travellers are increasingly combining sport, accommodation, dining, wellness and destination experiences into one vacation.

MORE THAN JUST A GOLF TOURNAMENT

For Sandals, the annual tournament is also about relationships.

Jake ColdIron, Sandals Resorts National Manager of Golf Sales, said the participating travel advisors already have a strong connection with Jamaica and play an important role in selling the destination to American travellers.

“These travel advisors love Jamaica and love selling Jamaica, so we brought them down to compete in a golf tournament and build a relationship with the caddies and the golf staff, as well as managers and staff at the resort,” ColdIron said.

That approach reflects a wider Sandals strategy of investing heavily in travel advisors as a distribution channel.

Sandals has publicly described travel advisors as central to how Caribbean vacations are sold and has continued expanding engagement and incentive programmes for the trade. Sandals News

And there is a simple advantage in bringing advisors to Jamaica themselves.

They get to experience the product.

Instead of selling a golf vacation from a brochure or website, advisors can return home having played the course, stayed at the resort, interacted with staff and experienced the destination directly.

That can translate into a much more persuasive sales pitch.

GOLF WITH A CARIBBEAN DIFFERENCE

Jonathan Newnham, Director of Golf Operations and Director of Operations at Sandals Upton Estate Golf & Country Club, said the course is designed to deliver both accessibility and challenge.

According to Newnham, golfers are less likely to lose balls around the course, while its smaller greens still demand accuracy and skill.

He also highlighted the role of local caddies and the clubhouse experience in separating Sandals’ golf offering from a simple round of golf.

That combination is increasingly important in golf tourism.

Travellers are not necessarily flying thousands of miles simply to play 18 holes.

They are buying an experience.

The attraction can include accommodation, food, beaches, nightlife, wellness, excursions and culture — with golf becoming the anchor around which the wider holiday is built.

Sandals already markets dedicated golf experiences in Jamaica and Saint Lucia, with selected resort guests receiving access to courses and transfers as part of the vacation offering. Sandals Resorts

WHY THE MARKET MATTERS TO THE CARIBBEAN

The economics are worth watching.

Golf tourists are generally associated with longer stays and spending beyond basic accommodation, particularly in areas such as dining, transportation, equipment, excursions and premium experiences.

And North America remains especially important.

Fortune Business Insights estimates North America accounted for around 35% of global golf tourism revenue in 2025, while Grand View Research puts the region’s share at approximately 41%. Although methodologies differ, both point to North America as the dominant regional market. Fortune Business Insights

That makes an event involving more than 100 U.S. travel advisors particularly strategic for Jamaica.

These are not only visitors.

They are sellers.

Each advisor potentially returns to the United States with a direct experience of Jamaica that can influence future bookings.

JAMAICA HAS THE NATURAL ADVANTAGE

The Caribbean already possesses many of the ingredients needed to compete in golf tourism — year-round warm weather, established airlift from North America, internationally recognised hospitality brands and dramatic natural landscapes.

Jamaica adds a long-established resort sector and several golf facilities to that mix.

At Upton Estate, the setting itself becomes part of the product.

The course rises into the hills above Ocho Rios, offering views of both mountains and sea while providing the type of tropical golf experience that cannot easily be replicated in traditional North American golfing destinations. Sandals Resorts

That gives Sandals something valuable to sell.

Not simply golf.

Caribbean golf.

A TOURISM NICHE WITH BIG POTENTIAL

The wider lesson for Caribbean tourism may be even bigger than the Sandals tournament.

For decades, much of the region has marketed itself primarily around sun, sea and sand.

Those remain enormous assets.

But specialist tourism — golf, diving, wellness, culinary travel, yachting, heritage and sports tourism — allows destinations to broaden the type of visitor they attract and potentially increase visitor spending.

Sandals appears to be betting that golf can play a bigger part in that mix.

With the global sector now estimated at around US$29 billion to US$31 billion annually, and industry forecasts pointing toward substantial growth over the next decade, the opportunity is difficult to ignore. Fortune Business Insights

And by putting more than 100 American travel advisors directly onto a Jamaican golf course, Sandals is doing more than hosting another tournament.

It is putting Jamaica — and the Caribbean — in front of the people who help decide where thousands of travellers vacation next.

TIMES CARIBBEAN | TOURISM