PHOENIX — Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' new all-inclusive brand Alltra, launched Tuesday, will debut in the Caribbean, but President and CEO Geoff Ballotti says the upper-midscale offering will expand globally.
The first two Wyndham Alltra resorts will open as part of the company’s new strategic partnership with Playa Hotels & Resorts, the Fairfax, Virginia-based owner, operator and developer of all-inclusive resorts throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. Playa will serve as the exclusive development partner for the Alltra brand in the Caribbean and select Latin America markets.
“We started talking about this with Playa 18 months ago,” Ballotti told Hotel News Now in an interview at the recent Lodging Conference. “Playa is one of the leading operators of all-inclusive resorts and they want their resorts to be branded in all segments by distribution players like Wyndham. We have the best distribution for them in economy and midscale.”
The first two resorts to open under the Wyndham Alltra brand are the 458-room family-friendly Wyndham Alltra Cancun, and the 287-room adults-only Wyndham Alltra Playa Del Carmen, both in Mexico. Both are open and undergoing renovations to debut under the Alltra brand this December.
Ballotti said the positioning for Alltra is upper-midscale, and the time is right to appeal to travelers clamoring for accessible vacations. The brand's name draws from its brand promise, "all-inclusive travel for all," Ballotti said.
“Leisure is exploding and will continue to explode. Travel demand is back for economy and midscale travelers, and there’s immediate demand for vacations in the midscale space to the Caribbean,” Ballotti said. “I am very bullish on leisure demand.”
Demand for all-inclusive hotels in Mexico jumped this spring, and in March demand surpassed 1 million room nights, according to STR, CoStar’s data analytics firm. More than 2 million room nights were sold in the segment in Mexico in July, the first time Mexico has seen that level of demand for all-inclusive rooms since February 2020.
The Caribbean region has surpassed 1 million all-inclusive room nights sold since April 2021, according to STR data.
Last month at the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit, Fernando Mulet, Playa’s executive vice president and chief development officer, told Hotel News Now that strategic alliances with hotel franchise companies have strengthened the company’s proposition.
“We plan to continue enhancing our relationship with [hotel franchise companies] and then continue to grow and have more relationships with other brands as they want to enter the space, because the challenge is how to get it done right,” Mulet said.
In addition to this partnership with Wyndham, Playa maintains brand alliances in the Caribbean and Mexico with Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Hilton.
Exclusive of the Wyndham properties, Playa owns and manages 17 hotels, owns two managed by third parties and manages three hotels for other owners in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Ballotti said Wyndham “wouldn’t have [gained a foothold] in the all-inclusive space because we don’t own real estate and we needed a partner that was best-in-class in that segment.”
Development in Latin America
Ballotti said the all-inclusive model is attractive in Latin America, particularly for Wyndham’s loyalty program members.
“It’s all about what consumers are looking for now,” he said. “In addition to standard European Plan hotels, consumers are looking for security and a brand and for value. Playa tells its consumers and investors that in peak season, guests can save 25%-30% in terms of the cost of a vacation and in off-peak season that could be closer to 40%. And a branded resort, like ours will be, are a convenient one-stop shop for our Wyndham Rewards members.”
These two all-inclusive resorts will join the company’s current portfolio of 225 hotels open in 25 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ballotti said the company always is looking for ways to add vacation options. In February the company expanded its partnership with Vacasa, a North American vacation rental platform with properties in North America, Belize and Costa Rica.
After these first two resorts, Ballotti said he predicts the next Alltra openings he’ll be able to announce officially will be in the Caribbean.
“I can see a lot of opportunity in Latin America,” he said, specifically citing the Dominican Republic.
Development Outside Latin America
Beyond Latin America, Ballotti has his sights set for Alltra in Europe and Asia.
All Alltra deals, like the two announced today, will be licensed deals only, without ownership or management from Wyndham.
Ballotti said his company will be selective about development and will “look for resorts and partners similar to Playa in other regions” when the time is right to continue expansion.
Alltra is Wyndham’s 22nd brand. As of June 30, the company’s portfolio totaled 798,000 rooms worldwide.