Tourism Legends Awards: Willings H. LaMontagne

During its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 17th June 2026 the SLHTA awarded Willings LaMontagne with a Tourism Legends Award, in appreciation of his many years of dedicated service, devotion and commitment to the hospitality and tourism industry.

Mr. Willings H. LaMontagne was a trailblazer at the Halcyon Chain of Hotels—Halcyon Days, now Coconut Bay; Halcyon Sands, which was located at Vigie Beach; and Halcyon Beach Club, now Sandals Halcyon. His career is closely linked to these properties, which served as the cornerstone of Saint Lucia’s hotel sector in the 1970s.

When the Halcyon Days Hotel stood as the first major resort on the island, Willings returned to St. Lucia and began his journey there in 1973 as Catering Manager. This was in an era where executive roles were almost exclusively held by non-nationals. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Food and Beverage Manager, and by 1975, he had risen to Senior Assistant Manager, overseeing the operations of a 550-room resort.

LaMontagne’s daughter accepted the award on his behalf.

His success at Halcyon Days paved the way and he was soon appointed General Manager of the Halcyon Sands Hotel, where he turned budgets into financial successes while ensuring complete guest satisfaction. By 1979, he took the helm as General Manager of the 180-bed Halcyon Beach Club, thus operating at the highest level of executive excellence.

Willings was an Architect of Excellence. He took the lessons from these early successes and applied them across the Caribbean—from the business hotels of Trinidad to the luxury yachting culture of Marigot Bay. He became the “go-to” executive for complex operations, serving as the Human Resource Director for the opening of the Jalousie Plantation Resort in 1992, where he was responsible for the complete staffing and welfare of over 400 employees.

He understood that for Saint Lucia to remain a world-class destination, we needed to invest in our greatest resource: our people. For 13 years as a central figure at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, he transformed his decades of executive experience in the tourism industry into teaching and imparting his knowledge of tourism to the next generation. Let us celebrate him for his pioneering spirit, his executive brilliance, and his lifelong commitment to the development of our hospitality family.