Marriott International, which entered the all-inclusive hotel space in 2019, is poised to lead and take advantage of the transformation of the model that in a relatively short time has shifted from budget resorts with a dinner theater component to a luxury offering, executives said.
Launching its all-inclusive platform in August 2019 with the signing of five resorts in Latin America and the Caribbean, Marriott has since grown that portfolio to 37 hotels open and in the pipeline, totaling 12,234 rooms.
That growth so far has come largely through acquisition and partnership — including the October 2019 purchase of Elegant Resorts that added seven hotels; and a February 2021 mutual agreement with Sunwing Travel Group, which added 19 hotels under the Blue Diamond Resorts banner.
However, Marriott is determined to grow its all-inclusive platform using its existing brands — and sees potential for the model in all 30 of those brands, according to Craig Smith, group president, international.
"The decision was made, let's just use our brands ... and at the start, we said, 'We'll start with one, maybe two,'" he said. "Really quickly we realized that the demand was there for more vertically. ... The truth of the matter is [guests] just want to know what space they're in, and they want to pay differently. That's it at the end of the day."
Laurent de Kousemaeker, chief development officer for Latin America and the Caribbean at Marriott, said much of that potential comes from the realization that all-inclusive hotels can operate at any price point.
"When we came in and said, 'We're going to use our brands, and we're going to use some of our luxury brands in the all-inclusive space,' I think a lot of a lot of the reactions were different. Some people believe that the all-inclusive only works in the lower tier, and we broke that paradigm," he said.
"There was an internal debate about should we be creating a new brand, and then should we be creating two new brands — with all-inclusive families — because that was the perception of what others were doing. But the segment grew so quickly, and we saw that all-inclusive space exists in luxury, exists in lifestyle ... across our brand portfolio. There's no longer this specific price point, or this specific experience."
On the luxury side of Marriott's portfolio, the Ritz-Carlton brand is primed for an all-inclusive offering, Smith said. The upscale W Hotels brand also would be an easy fit, he said.
"It’s two things," he said. "It's the reputation of the brand, and people really knowing what space it plays in. Ritz-Carlton offers that. And we know the Ritz-Carlton guests want the all-inclusive experience, so it's marrying the two together. Another example would be W. You don't need to explain what all-inclusive is [to W Hotels guests]; they know what that is. They know the experience, and they know they're going to pay once. They're not going to pay for everything they take out of the minibar while they're there."
Smith said he'd be "disappointed" if Marriott doesn't at least double its all-inclusive portfolio within the next five years. Some of that growth will come in Latin America and the Caribbean, but not all of it.
Group demand for all-inclusive hotels and experiences is one factor that could change the geography, Smith said.
"Groups want to buy all-inclusive packages now; it's easier for the purchase; it's easier to keep track of people. It's been incredible to see the demand for a group in this space, and I think it's going to continue to grow," he said. "So the question then goes, 'Does it need to be a resort destination or traditional beach resort destination or could it be up in the mountains or something like that in the future?' We're looking at it."
Redefining "all-inclusive" is key to Marriott's strategy for growing its portfolio in the segment, and part of that is changing perceptions — for example, the perception that all-inclusive hotels make less money.
"Actually people spend more money at an all-inclusive," Smith said. "We thought it was going to be even at best. They actually spend more per customer, because they pay for it ahead of time, they forget that when they arrive there, and then upselling is easy."
"All-inclusive" encompasses more than the room rate and food and beverage. There's generally entertainment attached, though there's flexibility there, Smith said.
"There was a time that all-inclusive had to have these shows, and that made us nervous. We really weren’t good in that space; we can't teach the associates how to dance on stage in a pirate show or whatever," he said. "That evolved; we watched it change. It wasn't as important. It was really the food offering; [those guests] want more activities. What we saw evolving also is this whole concept of the activities on the property."
Smith said Marriott and other brands can learn a lot about unique programming on the property by watching the boutiques.
"Look at what they're doing because they've got to survive; they tried new cool things. It takes us a long time to turn the ship. But when we do, we turn it," he said.
De Kousemaeker said offering activities for all ages is key at an all-inclusive hotel.
"You've got to entertain the teens, the toddlers to a certain extent, and they each need something different. And they're going to influence the decision for the family," he said.
Loyalty-point redemption is also important to guests of all-inclusive resorts, which makes Marriott's Bonvoy program a selling point to developers as well as owners looking to convert their all-inclusive properties to a Marriott brand, Smith said.
De Kousemaeker said that while all-inclusive resorts typically are not hurting for occupancy, Marriott's brands and distribution channels can help bring the higher-paying U.S. guests.
"We toured a couple of independent hotels that were really high-occupancy, but you look at the client base. They're getting guests from Europe, Eastern Europe, even in faraway places, potentially at very low rates. They fill these hotels, but they're having trouble accessing the higher-paying U.S. customer, which is right next door," he said.
Smith said that dynamic makes development easier. "Normally in the role of development, you're selling, and it felt like with a couple of these owners, at the properties we were touring, they were selling to us. They were trying to tell us all the reasons we needed to be there," he said.
Other major hotel brands are also making plays in the all-inclusive space, notably Hyatt Hotels Corp. with its agreement to acquire Apple Leisure Group and its hotel division AMResorts, announced in August.
"All the big players see it," Smith said. "They see that it's moving this way."
De Kousemaeker added Marriott's deal with Sunwing was different from what Hyatt is doing because "it's actually non-equity, and probably the biggest non-equity transaction that's ever happened in the region."
Still, he said, "it's stimulating for all of us to see these transactions, to see the focus on all-inclusives because it endorses that what we're doing is indeed working."