"Group travel with
all-inclusives is broken."
Since the pandemic began winding down two years ago, DWHSA members have reported deteriorating conditions for quoting, contracting, and managing groups with properties in the all-inclusive sector. The biggest concern? The exploding differences between negotiated group room block rates and lower rates for individual guests (particularly "member pricing" that's forcing many destination wedding guests to book outside their room blocks and thereby causing attrition penalties and other headaches for DW couples). However, we've collected from DWHSA members in a September 2024 survey a dismaying list of contracting issues that have cropped up mostly since COVID leading to this inescapable result:
Right now, our members' contracted group guests are paying artificially higher rates and chafing under tougher rules and penalties than those applying to one-off resort guests who book individually. And, in turn, that's damaging our members' businesses and their clients' events.
(The header on this page? That's a direct quote from one of our members in our recent survey.)
As the world's oldest and largest romance travel association, DWHSA wants your help on these issues.
This fall, we're opening a transparent dialogue with the world's 16 leading all-inclusive resort suppliers - the companies whose properties are constantly promoted and booked by DWHSA's 850+ members. We're seeking open conversations with you so we can identify fixes on both sides of our partnerships with you - things the resorts can do differently, and things the advisors can change as well - so we can achieve pricing and operating parity for our negotiated room block clients.
The first step is attending DWHSA's group booking issues call set for Tuesday, Oct. 15. On that call, DWHSA's Group Booking Issues Committee will review the results of our recent member survey and provide a comprehensive list of the specific concerns our members (and their clients!) have shared with us. Here's the link to the Zoom instructions. We've reached out to the following 16 companies inviting you to send a representative to this discussion:
Apple Leisure Group (ALG) and Classic Vacations will also work with DWHSA on this conversation. (We have a separate committee of our Canadian members working with tour operators in that country.)
Next, we want to request one-on-one 90-minute meetings with decision makers at these 16 resort companies now through January so we can discuss issues our members have raised with specific resort brands. We want these Zoom discussions to be a completely open dialogue, so you can share your concerns about how agents book groups with you as well. Below, you'll see our calendar through mid-January. Please select any open date that would work for your company, and we'll follow up to confirm with you.
Finally, we're planning an in-person "Group Booking Summit" in Miami on Wed., Jan. 22, 2025. We'll invite you to join us there for a full day of discussions on these issues (we should have complete details to share in November 2024).
Again, we're eager to have a very open, transparent, productive conversation with you - as one of the leading all-inclusive resort companies in the world - so together we can improve group booking conditions for the future. You may reach us any time at [email protected] or (U.S.) 615.730.9977 if you have questions. Thanks for your support!
Right now, our members' contracted group guests are paying artificially higher rates and chafing under tougher rules and penalties than those applying to one-off resort guests who book individually. And, in turn, that's damaging our members' businesses and their clients' events.
(The header on this page? That's a direct quote from one of our members in our recent survey.)
As the world's oldest and largest romance travel association, DWHSA wants your help on these issues.
This fall, we're opening a transparent dialogue with the world's 16 leading all-inclusive resort suppliers - the companies whose properties are constantly promoted and booked by DWHSA's 850+ members. We're seeking open conversations with you so we can identify fixes on both sides of our partnerships with you - things the resorts can do differently, and things the advisors can change as well - so we can achieve pricing and operating parity for our negotiated room block clients.
The first step is attending DWHSA's group booking issues call set for Tuesday, Oct. 15. On that call, DWHSA's Group Booking Issues Committee will review the results of our recent member survey and provide a comprehensive list of the specific concerns our members (and their clients!) have shared with us. Here's the link to the Zoom instructions. We've reached out to the following 16 companies inviting you to send a representative to this discussion:
- AIC Hotel Group
- Atelier de Hoteles
- The Fives Hotels & Residences
- Hilton All Inclusive
- Hyatt Inclusive Collection
- Iberostar Hotels & Resorts
- Karisma Hotels & Resorts
- Lomas Hospitality
- Majestic Resorts
- The Palace Company
- Palladium Hotels & Resorts
- Playa Hotels & Resorts
- RIU Hotels & Resorts
- Royalton Resorts (Blue Diamond)
- Sandals Resorts
- Hoteles Xcaret
Apple Leisure Group (ALG) and Classic Vacations will also work with DWHSA on this conversation. (We have a separate committee of our Canadian members working with tour operators in that country.)
Next, we want to request one-on-one 90-minute meetings with decision makers at these 16 resort companies now through January so we can discuss issues our members have raised with specific resort brands. We want these Zoom discussions to be a completely open dialogue, so you can share your concerns about how agents book groups with you as well. Below, you'll see our calendar through mid-January. Please select any open date that would work for your company, and we'll follow up to confirm with you.
Finally, we're planning an in-person "Group Booking Summit" in Miami on Wed., Jan. 22, 2025. We'll invite you to join us there for a full day of discussions on these issues (we should have complete details to share in November 2024).
Again, we're eager to have a very open, transparent, productive conversation with you - as one of the leading all-inclusive resort companies in the world - so together we can improve group booking conditions for the future. You may reach us any time at [email protected] or (U.S.) 615.730.9977 if you have questions. Thanks for your support!