Marriott International has announced plans to launch an all-inclusive platform to serve this increasingly popular vacation segment. The company has signed contracts with hotel developers to managed five new-build all-inclusive resorts, investing more than $800 million in the projects. The resorts are expected to open between 2022 and 2025.
“Our new all-inclusive resort platform is a natural progression for Marriott International,” said Tony Capuano, Marriott International’s EVP and global chief development officer. “It will provide the ownership community a game-changing value proposition for their luxury and premium resort projects around the world, while providing guests a new vacation option with brands they trust.”
When the company acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in 2016, Marriott assumed operation of its first all-inclusive property—the 406-room Westin Golf Resort & Spa, Playa Conchal in Costa Rica. The company now plans to further expand its all-inclusive portfolio in popular leisure destinations worldwide with a mix of new-build properties and conversions of existing resorts, including properties currently in the Marriott International portfolio.
The new platform will provide the company’s 133 million Marriott Bonvoy members the option to earn and redeem points for the pay-one-price concept.
2,000 New Rooms
The five new all-inclusive properties will be in the Caribbean and Latin America and will have a total of more than 2,000 rooms. The planned resorts include a 650-room Autograph Collection resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, poised to open in 2022. In Mexico's Riviera Nayarit, the company will open a 240-room Ritz-Carlton resort in 2023, a 400-room Westin Hotels resort in the same year, a 300-room Autograph Collection resort in 2025 and a 500-room Marriott Hotels resort in the same year.
The four Riviera Nayarit properties will be part of a new development. Mexico City-based private equity firm and real estate developer Artha Capital plans to create Nia, a flagship, all-inclusive destination taking up 220 acres along the Pacific Coast.
Marriott plans to build its platform by initially leveraging its full-service and luxury Ritz-Carlton, Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels, W Hotels, Autograph Collection and Delta by Marriott brands. By positioning each resort within an established brand, the company will be able to attract that brand's loyalists. All-inclusive resorts flying the Marriott Hotels flag, for instance, would cater primarily to families, while resorts under the W Hotels brand would cater to adults. Similarly, amenities at each brand's resorts would also be distinct, with water parks and kids clubs at family-friendly ones and fine dining and adult-only pools at the grown-up properties.
“The diversity and global nature of our brands give guests the opportunity to find the perfect match for nearly any travel experience or destination,” said Tina Edmundson, global brand officer for Marriott International, in a statement, adding that the resorts would be “a new way” for travelers to explore the company's brands “through a new, all-inclusive lens.”