Global all-inclusive resort development has grown and evolved while travelers are more interested than ever to know 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 of 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
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 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 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.