Brands seek scale in all-inclusive resorts while building loyalty with frequent guests
Brands seek scale in all-inclusive resorts while building loyalty with frequent guests
Hoteliers aim to give travelers options
Ocean Eden Bay, an adults-only, all-inclusive resort set on the seafront of Montego Bay, Jamaica. (Ocean Eden Bay)
https://www.costar.com/article/1958225271/brands-seek-scale-in-all-inclusive-resorts-while-building-loyalty-with-frequent-guests
Global all-inclusive resort development has grown and evolved while travelers are more interested than ever in knowing exactly what their trip will cost.
In the first half of the year, searches for all-inclusive resorts on Hotels.com were up 70% year over year, according to Bloomberg. And, despite the growth in development in some of the most active all-inclusive destinations, hoteliers can't keep up.
“Demand continues to exceed supply" in the Caribbean, said Antonio Fungairino, Hyatt Inclusive Collection's regional vice president of growth in the Caribbean and South America. "We continue to open hotels or convert hotels, and they continue to have excellent occupancy — about or above 70% … there's no stopping in the near future.”
Hyatt's all-inclusive resorts posted an average of 84% occupancy in the first three months of the year, per Bloomberg's report. Fungairino explained that the all-inclusive segment of Hyatt's business continues to be a significant contributor to the company's overall performance.
“Hyatt now has 15% of its rooms within the all-inclusive portfolio, and the results of Hyatt reflect ... quite a lot over 15% in terms of financial performance,” he said.
This continued performance growth has motivated Hyatt to invest in the growth of its all-inclusive business. In the past few years, Hyatt has acquired or partnered with all-inclusive hotel owners and operators, including Hyatt's $2.6 billion acquisition of Playa Hotels & Resorts, which closed last summer.
"We clearly are a world leader in this industry. However, looking forward, we only control 16% of the global all-inclusive market, so there's a huge opportunity to expand our footprint globally," Fungairino said, adding that Hyatt has 150 resorts and a little less than 58,000 rooms in its all-inclusive portfolio. "We think that we can get to about 300,000 to 350,000 rooms, so that means that we are very far away from the potential that we have."
Hyatt's growth strategy includes significant expansion of its all-inclusive footprint in Europe and North Africa, as well as in Asia, Fungairino said.
"Step one is further significant growth in EMEA, and at the same time a stable and unintentional growth in Asia, so that we can grow intentionally in the different markets — so that we know what we're doing, and we know that we're going to be successful," he said.
Cultivating the Caribbean all-inclusive experience
(CoStar)Even as Hyatt rolls out plans to expand in EMEA and Asia, the Caribbean region continues to see strong all-inclusive resort development — even in markets already with a high concentration of all-inclusive rooms. While Mexico is the Caribbean market with the most all-inclusive hotels, 73% of Jamaica's hotels are all-inclusive, according to CoStar data.
Tanesha Clarke, director of sales and marketing of two Jamaica resorts, Ocean Eden Bay and Ocean Coral Spring, said that Jamaica is a competitive environment for all-inclusive resorts, so maintaining consistency and staying true to the brand is key.
"We have great hotels in Jamaica, and I think each property has its place in the market," she said. "For us, it's tapping into our loyal clients who have come over the years and know and love what they've experienced in our brand's hotels, and sometimes it's exposing some of those kinds who have been to all the destinations, and 'Hey, now we have a property in Jamaica.'"
Clarke, who's been with the two sister properties for seven years, said Ocean Signature Resorts is currently undergoing a rebranding to take its hotels into a new era. Coral Spring is a family-friendly resort while Eden Bay is adults-only, giving guests the option to chose what type of vacation they want to have.
While both resorts were affected by Hurricane Melissa last October, the hotels, like others on the island, were able to get back online quickly.
"Jamaicans after the hurricane picked up and start putting their lives back together, and that's what we did in the hotel," she said. "Actually, if you come now to Ocean Coral Spring and Ocean Eden Bay, you would not see anything that reminds you that a hurricane even happened in Jamaica."
A shift in segments
Hannah Smith, senior consultant at STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, writes that when it comes to the Caribbean all-inclusive hotel development pace, hoteliers seem to be favoring the luxury segment.
"Over a third of all-inclusive properties in the region are luxury — 37% of hotels and 35% of rooms. There has been a shift toward more high-end, all-inclusive properties over time — all-inclusive hotels built now are much more likely to be luxury than at any other time," Smith writes. "A total of 58% of all-inclusive hotels that opened between 2021 and 2025 were luxury properties, with another 25% upper upscale."
Hyatt's strategy within its Inclusive Collection is to have a wide range of brands that fall into a variety of potential guests' budgets. Fungairino said a guest might want to stay at a Sunscape resort if they are bringing their whole family or might want to splurge for a room at the Hyatt Zilara if just traveling as a couple.
"There's something for everyone," he said.
Overall, the all-inclusive resort space — particularly in the Caribbean — has evolved to include travelers from both sides of the spectrum when it comes to how much they want to spend. Clarke said she's seen an evolution of how guests think of the "value" of their experiences.
"You want to be able to budget for your trip and know what you're getting. All-inclusives are great for that because food and beverage is included in your stay," she said. "But more than that, all-inclusives have evolved so that you're not having less for [staying at] an all-inclusive. Actually, it's quite the opposite in all-inclusives. You're having even more."
In that sense, resort guests can both be conscientious of their spending while being able to indulge and relax on their vacations, Clarke said. That's the value more travelers are looking for.
How hotels can prepare for guests of the future
Gettys Group CEO discusses how hotel brands are changing
The economics behind some traditional hotel offerings like room service are being reexamined in the modern hotel industry.(Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/955660751/how-hotels-can-prepare-for-guests-of-the-future?
Predicting how travelers' needs and wants will change in the future can feel like an impossible task for hoteliers. Ron Swidler, CEO of the Gettys Group, said firms like his — along with the major hotel brands — have to keep that in mind to stay relevant.
Speaking on the latest episode of the "CoStar News Hotels" podcast, Swidler talked about the many downstream effects of keeping tabs on changing consumer behavior, and how artificial intelligence is making that more achievable.
He noted his company works with an AI startup called Vurvey Labs to try to do just that.
"They are using AI technology as a predictive tool for consumer products," he said. "They're working with Unilever and Procter & Gamble, and they're testing products with real people, then building up a database that is a combination of real responses and video responses from consumers who are testing these products — Dove products, Nike Shoes, Legos, et cetera — with their AI database. And they're putting those things together and saying, 'This is what's most important to consumers now, and this is what's likely to be most important to consumers later.'"
Swidler noted that it's more important than ever that the investments brands look to push on to their owners actually make a difference in terms of consumers’ perceptions of the brands, but owners also need to recognize that not every investment into their assets can be gauged by a direct boost to things like average daily rate. He said those investments also come back to building brand equity.
"It isn't as simple as saying, 'Let's put the money in the places where we can get an immediate return on investment and say, if we put money in the guest rooms, we know we're going to get a bump in rate, or we're going put money in the [food and beverage] outlets because we know we're going to get increased demand and maybe average check,'" he said. "It's more complicated than that."
The benefits of private credit
Five reasons the non-traditional financing path might be the best for you to follow
Dana Tsakanikas (Access Point Financial)
https://www.costar.com/article/961921896/the-benefits-of-private-credit?
As industry colleagues approached us at NYU recently, inquiring about our recent portfolio transaction with the principals of the G6, it became evident that there is a growing misconception that one needs to be a billionaire to successfully finance your hotel.
Traditional banks prefer deeper pockets, so the thinking goes, and if you’re not breathing that rarified air, you’re either out of luck or looking at a slog with traditional lenders who are more focused on their own returns than understanding the specifics of the hospitality industry. Like Prince said, though, “I’m here to tell you — there’s something else.” In this case, let’s talk about private lending as an option and the reasons it makes sense for many hoteliers with smaller resources trying to get their deals across the finish line.
For whatever reason, many hoteliers are apprehensive when approaching private lenders, not fully understanding the role they play in the world of hotel financing. In reality, private lending simply fills the gap between traditional banks and private equity. While rates generally are higher, private lending offers many advantages for the cost. When provided by vetted lenders with a long-term history in the industry, the benefits far outweigh the costs.
Here are five positives to consider when weighing one’s funding options.
1. Expertise
The most obvious benefit of working with a private capital provider (aka “private lending” or “private credit”) focused exclusively on the hospitality industry comes from the expertise earned through specialization. This depth of knowledge grants private lenders a great deal more insight into everything from which market segments are performing best to which brands are the most profitable in each region, often with deep relationships with the owners, operators and brokers who are the most active in the spaces under consideration.
This is knowledge borrowers can use to help make their final decisions. Hotel expertise allows savvy lenders the ability to underwrite using both in-place performance and forward-looking pro formas, enabling swift, creative credit decisions for value-add and transitional assets.
2. Speed
A private lender focused exclusively on hospitality typically can provide speed to completion uncommon among other lending sources. Whereas it might take other lenders 45 to 60 days to finalize a deal, private lenders can close in as little as three weeks.
With pricing fluctuations on everything from building materials to labor costs, time is of the essence now more so than ever when attempting to finance and close deals. Particularly in today’s market, with prices subject to changing on a seemingly daily basis, being able to move quickly can mean the difference between a deal penciling in or not.
3. Complexity
Expert, industry-specific private lenders also are capable of and more inclined to transact on more complex deals, utilizing their hard-earned knowledge to see potential in a loan that a generalist might not. Traditional sources, unfamiliar with hotel dynamics, are often more comfortable in smaller, one-off transactions that require less risk and insight. Private lenders, by contrast, can see the value in larger deals, such as portfolios spread across strong markets with multiple demand generators, and are willing to finance accordingly. And these groups often have several team members with both equity and debt experience.
4. Flexibility
Additionally, private lending provides a flexibility not found in more traditional sources. Banks and private equity often utilize harsher penalties for selling a hotel earlier than initially planned or refinancing the property when a market opportunity arises as opposed to the stricter terms originally set. Private lenders can be more flexible and are not beholden to such constraints or regulation.
5. Up and down the cap stack
Private capital has the advantage of being able to be placed throughout the capital stack, from senior bridge loans to construction loans, mezzanine loans to preferred equity. This flexibility can ease the overall process, giving other capital sources more confidence when they see a private capital provider taking higher-risk slices of the pie. In a SASB, for example, this can result in higher proceeds and tighter pricing in the more senior bond tranches, resulting in lower overall rates to the owner.
Hotel financing continues to evolve. While traditional sources will always exist, finding alternative routes can provide a wealth of resources beyond the immediate dollars themselves. From vast depths of industry knowledge to an ability to work more diligently and more intelligently, private credit, in particular hotel-specific private capital providers, offers a unique and compelling path forward to funding a hotel project.
Dana Tsakanikas is chief investment officer of Access Point Financial.
At 250, sustaining America’s competitive edge
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/at-250-sustaining-americas-competitive-edge?
By
America’s history of reinvention holds compelling lessons as the nation confronts a future of immense if uncertain opportunity
Chapter 2.
Looking back: Four chapters of US competitiveness
As we have seen, the United States has been the world’s largest economy for more than a century. The rise of American competitiveness did not follow a linear or clear trajectory. Growth and innovation often happened in bursts, after moments of disruption and reinvention.
Taking stock of the past 250 years of US economic history, four chapters emerge (Exhibit 9). In each, the United States led global markets in at least one major area while working on new strains of innovation that planted the seeds for the following chapter of competitiveness, first in agriculture, then in industry, science, and knowledge. Major geopolitical events roughly mark the transition between chapters—the Civil War, World War II, and the end of the Cold War. Heralding the end of each chapter, disruptions tested the country, and reinventions at these turning points ultimately strengthened the US economy and its position in the world.
Exhibit 9
A diagram summarizes four historical phases of US competitiveness—agricultural abundance, industrial influence, scientific strength, and digital dynamism—anchored by major turning points (1776, 1865, 1941, and 1991). Each chapter lists key drivers, such as resource abundance and exports, economies of scale and industrial process innovation, public R&D institutions and new tech firms, and the rise of digital platforms, venture capital, and AI. The flow emphasizes disruption and reinvention at transitions between eras. Takeaway: US competitiveness has evolved in waves, repeatedly shifting the sources of advantage.
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The United States has taken an incredible journey of economic development over the past 250 years. But it was not a straight path; it required reinvention along the way. In the next chapter, we turn to some of the constants: the foundations of competitiveness throughout US history.
DUHC&S | Strategic Hospitality Consulting & Advisory
We transform hospitality and tourism businesses through strategic solutions, operational efficiency, and comprehensive renovation. With over 40 years of experience working with brands like Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton, and Sonesta, we enhance asset value and profitability through:
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