Royal Caribbean Group’s planned investment in Sandals and Beaches Resorts is about keeping guests inside the company’s ecosystem no matter how they choose to vacation, according to Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO.

“Our strategy is to turn the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations,” Liberty said on the company’s third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

Royal Caribbean is paying approximately $3 billion for a 50 percent stake in the all-inclusive resort operator, about 10 times forward EBITDA. Liberty said the deal was expected to be immediately accretive to earnings while keeping the company within its leverage targets.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2027 and will be accounted for as an equity method investment on a one-quarter lag.

Liberty said Royal Caribbean currently captures only 20 to 25 percent of its guests’ annual vacation spend, and about 30 percent of its guests had stayed at a Caribbean all-inclusive resort in the last two years.

“Today, if a Royal Caribbean customer goes on a competitive cruise brand, I think that’s a fail,” Liberty explained, adding that the same logic would apply to river cruising and now resorts.

The portfolio includes 18 resorts and more than 1,000 acres of undeveloped Caribbean real estate, much of it adjacent to existing properties.

The development plan, funded by the resort business’s own cash flow, includes three new resorts and room expansions across the portfolio.

“This is not stuff that you can just go buy off the shelf,” Liberty said, crediting the Stewart family for curating the land.

Naftali Holtz, EVP and CFO, said the land was included in the purchase price and also offered several greenfield opportunities in attractive markets.

Liberty dismissed speculation that cruise ships would call at the resorts.

“Sandals needs to be Sandals. Beaches needs to be Beaches,” he said.

Instead, he said Royal Caribbean would bring its revenue management, loyalty, data, distribution and purchasing scale to the business, with loyalty benefits flowing in both directions. He estimated several hundred million dollars of synergy opportunities over time, on both the revenue and cost sides.

Asked about expanding beyond the Caribbean, Liberty said the brands had legs globally, though the near-term focus would remain on growing the Caribbean footprint.