Big Bird Sails Into Town

with Martha Chapman

There’s this itty-bitty thing called the G20 about to descend on Toronto, bringing with it some of the most important politicians in the world. But none, I predict, will be received with such unabashed open arms as the celebrity I met yesterday: Big Bird.

The adorable avian arrived in style aboard the Lady Sandals, a swish 131’ yacht which has sailed up from the Caribbean on a glamorous tour of Canada and the U.S. (she’s headed for Chicago) to promote all things Beaches – particularly the Sesame Street connection.

Beaches Resorts of course are all about families, and the Sesame Street connection is a natural. So it’s big news when yet another character is added to the furry hosts your clients’ kids can expect to meet, and Big Bird it is, as of this fall. As our host Adam Stewart, the poised and personable 29 year old head of the Sandals and Beaches Resorts put it, “We must take care of every age group – right up to the grandparents, who often are footing the bill!”

As we cruised around Toronto Harbour (sadly in the pouring rain, so we couldn’t wave to passing boaters who surely assumed we were all celebrities), Adam brought us up to date on the resorts, which now number 22 and employ some 10,000. The DJ schools are proving hugely successful (even with, as Adam put it, “the 40-year old teenagers”).

Beaches Negril is undergoing major renovations to add 100 one and two bedroom suites – which will feature kid-sized vanities in the bathrooms. And the adults-only restaurants are toast throughout the chain, as management observed that folks want to eat with their kids on holiday. 

“The stigma that Canadians won’t spend money on a luxury vacation is gone – last year our sales from Canada were up 203 per cent, and this year we’re tracking 35 per cent above that,” Adam told me.

In fact, I think he would have given each us of a huge hug…if we hadn’t been lined up waiting for a cuddle with Big Bird.