WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao — The all-inclusive hotel model is nothing new to the Caribbean, but with new technologies and areas where they can still grow market share, hoteliers have many development opportunities in the region.
At the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit, a panel of experts discussed trends within all-inclusive hotels and the areas of opportunity for hoteliers exploring the model in the Caribbean.
Paula Cerrillo, vice president of development in the Caribbean for Marriott International, said U.S.-based hotel brands have a huge market they can cater to if they grow their all-inclusive portfolio.
"I think most people still don't understand the U.S. customer — a big percentage [of them] haven't vacationed in an all-inclusive place," Cerrillo said. So, once hotels "start opening properties under the American brands, because right now it's still very little, we start bringing more properties in the Caribbean."
Cerrillo predicts Americans will become loyal to the all-inclusive model's convenience — for both family and adult trips.
There's a generational element to it, too. Growing market share includes targeting younger generations, said Mauricio Elizondo, director of development at Mexico-based hotel company Grupo Posadas.
"I believe it's also a matter of understanding how the new generations would like to book the all-inclusive has this convenience and ease," he said.
Evolved all-inclusive experience
Cerrillo said it's important to remember how all-inclusive hotels and resorts began. There was a value-based association, with the all-inclusive experience attracting budget travelers without brand loyalty. When Marriott was getting into the all-inclusive segment, the company interviewed travelers who couldn't remember what hotel they stayed at, she added.
"Now everything is different, and I think you bring elevated service, elevated brands, elevated quality in [food and beverage] experiences and so on, the customer is really willing to pay for it," Cerrillo said.
Without launching a slew of new brands, there's an opportunity to build successful all-inclusive concepts across segments attracting different demographics of travelers, said Nicole Tilzer, vice president of all-inclusive and resort strategy at Hilton.
"Of course there's opportunity for luxury, because what is more luxurious than paying someone else to do the thinking for you and the planning for you," she said. "So, there's so much more opportunity, because we've opened up the aperture for what it means to be all-inclusive."
An operational solution to meeting the needs of different travelers is clustering hotels nearby or offering an adults-only zone on an all-ages property.
"In Cancun and Tulum, we have clusters where we have a Hilton all-inclusive, and then a luxury [European plan hotel] clustered with it, so that you can have some of the back-of-house benefits," Tilzer said.
She added that there's an opportunity for all-inclusive guests to pay for an elevated dinner one night at the nearby luxury hotel, but that's not the goal with clustering the hotels.
"It is really opportunity- and owner-dependent, but it is about leveraging the brands that we already have, versus creating new brands," she said.
Other all-inclusive opportunities
The throughline for business development opportunities for all-inclusive hotels is making things easier for the traveler — or, in the case of group business, the group's organizer.
The Caribbean region sees about 15% of its total bookings related to group travel, and all-inclusive resorts have a chance to grow group travel in some of the slower leisure travel months.
"All-inclusive is a huge opportunity to drive group business into the region, because of the ease of planning and executing events at an all-inclusive and to those of us that are in the category that understand it, then yes, obviously, kind of a no-brainer," Tilzer said, explaining that most corporate guests think of an all-inclusive for a wedding or celebration, not a conference.
"We are spending a lot of time focused on meetings and events and conferences and building out convention centers at our resorts because of the ease of planning, the ease of budgeting, the ease of having a full experience for your guests," she said.
The panel also acknowledged the opportunities of the other AI: artificial intelligence. Cerrillo said using AI to customize guest experience can be game-changing.
"Being able to get data from your customer when they are part of a loyalty program [then using] AI help you to maximize that information in a way that you understand your customer profile, so then you can tailor to that customer the right experiences, offerings, properties, travelers, destinations," she said. "AI is the tool for them to really give them the most appealing experiences all the time, so that you maximize the power of your loyalty."
Integrating AI tools can enhance hospitality by optimizing operations, Tilzer said. While it's not as flashy, internal AI use can make a difference in the front-of-house operations.
"Whether it be AI or other forms of technology, our approach is that technology is meant to make it easier for our team members, to free up time for [them] to be more engaged with the guests," she said.