Why the Business of All-Inclusive Resorts Will Never Be the Same
Photo Credit: All inclusive resorts are optimistic about the future, but this business model is likely to face greater scrutiny post Covid. Marquis Los Cabos / Marquis Los Cabos
Skift Take
Luxury all-inclusive resorts may be optimistic about the future post-pandemic, but profits will come alongside heightened green challenges. Then there's an increasingly demanding, socially conscious consumer. Can the resorts return to their former stature as the fast-growing sector of accommodations?
Two months ago, Dominican-American couple Raquel and Junior Liriano drove eight hours from Puerto Plata to Bávaro, Punta Cana, for a weeklong, all-inclusive resort staycation in the Dominican Republic.
“It’s a special place for us, we first met up here,” said Liriano, referring to one of the longest-running resorts in the area.
On arrival, the couple learned the adults-only section was closed, and their reservation had shifted to the family side. “We are reduced to one hotel with almost no restaurants,” Liriano said, noting the low staff morale.
What they encountered next was an even bigger shock. “[T]he tourists do not even wear masks, it’s like they are from a different world.”
Before Covid hit, all-inclusive resorts were the fastest-growing market in the accommodation sector, with increasing demand and offering high return on investment. When Marriott International finally entered the segment in 2019, purchasing a chain of seven luxury resorts in Barbado
