Willemstad- Sandals Resort 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, deluxe accommodations and its so called new River Suites.

Golf Course

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.”

The resort shortly operated as a Hyatt resort, before continuing operations as Santa Barbara Resort. Earlier this year the staff was laid off and the resort was closed. It is expected that the operation by SRI will not only create quite some jobs, but will also help to put Curaçao on the map as a prime tourism destination.

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