For Saint Lucia’s Joyce Destang, a Lifetime of Tourism Success

It’s been more than three decades since Joyce Destang and her husband began their hospitality career with a 45-room hotel on the highway in Saint Lucia. 

Today, Destang’s Bay Gardens Resorts portfolio is one of the biggest success stories in Caribbean tourism, with a thriving (and expanding) collection of five hotel properties on the island, including the soon-to-open Sapphire Sands Villas, which debut later this year. 

Now, Destang has been honored with another award befitting her years of service to the island: the Lifetime Achievement Award at Saint Lucia’s GIMIES. 

The award was presented to Destang this week by Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip Pierre, celebrating her “extraordinary contributions” to the development and promotion of tourism in Saint Lucia. 

“For over thirty years, Mrs. Destang led with vision and heart, transforming challenges into opportunities and dreams into landmarks. Her journey has not just shaped tourism, it has inspired a nation,” Pierre said. 

Destang’s leadership has had a ripple effect on the whole island. 

“To the world, Joyce Destang is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award in tourism,” said daughter Tanya Destang-Beaubrun during a heartfelt tribute. “But to us, she earned that award a long time ago from a little girl in Hospital Road with big dreams to a beloved teacher at the St Joseph’s Convent to a bold businesswoman.”

It’s a legacy that continues to shape Saint Lucia’s tourism future. 

“Congratulations to our Managing Director Joyce Destang on your Lifetime Achievement Award. You’ve done so much for Caribbean tourism. You’re a trailblazer, and a lot of people may not realize this, but Bay Gardens Resorts is the largest Caribbean hotel chain owned by a black Caribbean woman that was founded by you thirty years ago” Executive Director of Bay Gardens Resorts, Sanovnik Destang said.

For Joyce, her work is one of inspiration, a message about the importance of passion in any field.

“Not all of us can build and own a hotel,” she once said. “But local people can find their own place in tourism whether through an Airbnb with two rooms or twenty. The most important thing is to put your heart into it.”