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Marriott strikes all-inclusive deal with Sunwing - Four Royaltons in Jamaica to be rebranded as premium Autograph Collection

Published:Wednesday | February 17, 2021 | 4:48 AMNeville Graham/Business Reporter
A Royalton resort in Jamaica.
A Royalton resort in Jamaica.
The Royalton White Sands Montego Bay, one of four hotels to be rebranded as Marriott Autograph Collection.
The Royalton White Sands Montego Bay, one of four hotels to be rebranded as Marriott Autograph Collection.
The waterpark at a Royalton resort in Jamaica.
The waterpark at a Royalton resort in Jamaica.
Brian King, president of Marriott Latin America and the Caribbean.
Brian King, president of Marriott Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Starting mid-year, American company Marriott Hotel will open four all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica under the Autograph Collection brand, in a deal with Sunwing Travel Group that incorporates 1,127 rooms. Their partnership will see the Royalton...

Starting mid-year, American company Marriott Hotel will open four all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica under the Autograph Collection brand, in a deal with Sunwing Travel Group that incorporates 1,127 rooms.

Their partnership will see the Royalton resorts owned by Ontario, Canada-based Sunwing and operated through its hotel division, Blue Diamond Resorts Jamaica, being rebranded as Marriott Autograph Collection. The deal will neither add nor subtract from the country’s all-inclusive room inventory, as Royalton already operates in the all-inclusive market.

Brian King, president for the Caribbean and Latin America region at Marriott Hotels, said the company settled on Blue Diamond/Sunwing as partner after a long search for the right fit.

It was long speculated that its partner would be Sandals Resorts, which is not only a regional pioneer in the all-inclusive market, and one of the largest hotel groups, but it already has a relationship with the American company – Sandals’ first and only meeting hotel to date is operated under Marriott’s AC Hotel brand. But King sidestepped the question of why not Sandals in an interview with the Financial Gleaner.

“We’ve been working on all-inclusives since 2019. That’s when we started the programme and this is the biggest addition to it so far,” he said. “These deals don’t happen overnight and the time has to be right. We believe it’s the perfect marriage between Marriott International and Blue Diamond hotels and Sunwing Travel.”

The Sunwing-Marriott deal is a multi-market partnership spanning 19 resorts and 7,000 rooms across six destinations. The agreement is expected to double Marriott’s presence in the all-inclusive segment to 33 properties by 2025 and propel it into the list of top 10 global all-inclusive resort operators.

The majority of the 19 properties are expected to be converted to Autograph Collections by mid-2021. Sunwing Travel Group CEO Stephen Hunter said via email to the Financial Gleaner that the broad agreement would include both their Royalton and Planet Hollywood brands, and that Sunwing was looking to leverage Marriott’s reputation and travel programme to elevate its hotels.

Worldwide, Marriott operates around 30 brands grouped under four different market segments: luxury, premium, select and longer stay. King describes the company as ‘asset light’, saying it owns few hotels, and that the ones they do build are rapidly sold.

Marriott’s luxury brand Ritz-Carlton once operated in Montego Bay, but pulled out years ago. In addition to the Sandals-owned, AC Hotel Kingston, its Courtyard brand is stamped on another meeting hotel in New Kingston co-owned by the PanJam Investment conglomerate. AC and Courtyard fall in the select category, while Autograph is a premium brand.

When Marriott made its announcement two years ago that it would be entering the all-inclusive market, the decision followed a review of the hospitality landscape and the opportunities for growth. It found that worldwide there were 324,000 rooms available for all-inclusive stays, a mere three per cent of the international room stock.

“The market is huge”, but the “supply is tiny right now,” King said. “Yes, there are long-standing players, but there has to be a right fit for both partners; and Sun Wing/Blue Diamond was perfect for Marriott,” he said.

Under the Sunwing deal, King said Blue Diamond Resorts will refurbish their Royalton properties at four locations – two in Negril, Westmoreland and two in Trelawny that are often referred to as Royalton Montego Bay.

“With the new Autograph hotels and the partnership with Blue Diamond we will be using existing room stock; plus we do have new hotels in the pipeline too,” King said.

One of those in the pipeline is the 800-room Amaterra resort development being done by Keith Russell and partners in Trelawny. The property will also be operated as an all-inclusive resort under the Autograph brand. It’s anticipated opening is 2022, King said.

Over the next five years, Marriott’s regional plans for regular rooms and all-inclusives combined is to roll out 131 hotels in the Caribbean and Latin America – encompassing 22,595 rooms across 30 markets, King added.

The six markets covered under the Sunwing deal are Mexico, Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. Neither the terms of the partnership agreement nor the size of the investment in the transitions was disclosed.

“Our owners are the ones investing and we’re really not privy to the level of investment that they’re doing and it’s not our place to say,” the Marriott executive said.

Room occupancies at both all-inclusives and accommodation-only hotels are still low due to the pandemic, but King sees that changing soon, as more and more populaces get vaccinated against the COVID-19 diseases. As travel and country restrictions lift, the market will likely benefit from what he described as a burst of ‘revenge’ travel.

“One thing to consider is that to the extent that people have been stuck at home, the minute that they’re vaccinated and the Government says it’s time to do so, they’ll be running to the airport, probably with just the clothes on their back, to find a place to go – enjoying the sun, sand and surf,” he said.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com