SANDALS HONOURED AT 2019 WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS
Sandals Resorts International (SRI) received four prestigious awards at the 26th annual World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala Ceremony that took place Nov. 28 in the Sultanate of Oman.
Most notably, Sandals Resorts International was dubbed the World’s Leading All-Inclusive Company for the 24th consecutive year.
“Our Sandals family is extremely humbled to have been recognized as the world’s leading all-inclusive company by the World Travel Awards once more,” said Gordon “Butch” Stewart, founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts International. “This award serves as an enormous testament to the decades of innovations the Sandals brand has introduced to the all-inclusive industry and reaffirms that we will continue shattering expectations in the decades to come.”
The Caribbean resort company’s top honours included: World’s Leading All-Inclusive Company 2019: Sandals Resorts International (24th year in a row); World’s Leading All-Inclusive Family Resort Brand 2019: Beaches Resorts (22nd year in a row); World’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort 2019: Sandals Grenada; World’s Leading Caribbean Attraction Company 2019: Island Routes Caribbean Adventures.
MAJESTIC OPENS FIRST MEXICAN RESORT
The highly anticipated Majestic Elegance Costa Mujeres is open, the hotel company’s first resort in Mexico.
“We have brought the same luxury and excellence that we’re known for in the Dominican Republic to Costa Mujeres. A guest-first mentality is the heart and soul of all of our resorts, and that will be reflected in Mexico,” said Bernard Wyss, COO, Majestic Resorts.
Set along the white sand Costa Mujeres beach, Majestic Elegance Costa Mujeres offers 570 modern, well-appointed rooms in a picturesque beachfront location. Located just 20 minutes north of Cancun, the resort is also just minutes away from the Punta Sam Ferry Terminal for those guests interested in a day trip to Isla Mujeres.
Resort amenities include: 24-hour all-inclusive, including one restaurant and one bar open for guests around the clock; welcome cocktail and refreshing towel upon arrival; free WiFi throughout the resort available; spacious 625 sq. ft. Junior
Suites with outdoor Jacuzzi and lounge bed, including free minibar restocked daily and a safety deposit box with a built-in electric outlet; open in-suite bathrooms with bathtub and shower featuring Hierbas de Mallorca toiletries; unlimited visits to seven restaurants with six à la carte options for dinner, main buffet and grill; 12 bars including six swim-up bars and four exclusive bars for Club guests; 24-hour room service is included for Club guests (6 a.m. to midnight for Family Section); 12 pools plus eight integrated Jacuzzis including an infinity pool and a pool for children; complimentary golf nearby at the Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course in Puerto Cancun based on room category.
Also available is the Blossom Spa.
STAND WITH PUNTA CANA, RIU OFFICIAL SAYS
On hand for a recent Toronto gathering were Sunwing’s Jennifer Lucas, Helen Lipitkas and Deana Murphy; Riu Hotels & Resorts’ Hugo Aguilera; Sunwing’s Dave Wright and Lorraine Brisbois; and Riu’s Valerie Ward.
Riu Hotels and Resorts’ director of partner marketing and business development for the United States and Canada is calling on the travel industry to continue supporting Punta Cana, with the Dominican Republic’s tourism trade struggling at times this year following the sudden deaths of a number of American visitors.
The deaths drew international attention but were later blamed on natural causes.
“It’s important we don’t forget about them (those in the Dominican Republic’s tourist trade),” Hugo Aguilera told a recent Toronto gathering.
Meanwhile, next year will see “the full renovation of the Riu Montego Bay, with work expected to begin in April and finish in November.”
Aguilera added that Riu is committed to working with travel agents. The gathering was in turn told by Dave Wright of Sunwing that Riu has a “fantastic product…We love selling it.”
CUBA FARM PROVIDES HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES
Cubatur guide Vladimir Galloso stands next to Rancho Vista Hermosa’s Raydel Guera, who uses his T-shirt to get a message out about climate change.
Those visiting Rancho Vista Hermosa can literally milk the visit for all its worth.
The Havana-area 67-hectare agricultural facility – which touts organic products – has been in the same family for generations and is “really Cuban farm to table,” says employee Raydel Guera. The attraction routinely hosts groups, who may hear musicians perform during their visits.
Rancho Vista Hermosa produces different products, including fruits like bananas, and Guera notes visitors can pitch in, trying their hand at goat and cow milk production while there.
Visitors can also dine on locally produced food while there.
IBEROSTAR CUBA TO HOST CLASSIC CAR PARADE IN HAVANA
On Jan. 5, 2020, Havana will play host to a classic car rally organized by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts Cuba as a tribute to one of the city’s most iconic sights.
The cars will parade along Havana’s Malecón seafront avenue and will take in Iberostar hotel locations. The Habana Riviera by Iberostar will be the starting point for the route, followed by a stop at the Iberostar Parque Central before finishing at the Iberostar Grand Packard, the hotel that takes its name from the emblematic classic Packard cars. Iberostar will award a prize to the best-kept car among all those taking part. More than 120 cars took part in the first edition of the Classic Cuban Car Rally last year.
Iberostar offers visitors the opportunity to discover Havana from the three different perspectives. The Habana Riviera, boasting a prime urban location in a skyscraper affording unique views of Havana’s Malecón seafront avenue, transports guests back in time to the 1950s. In turn, the Iberostar Parque Central, nestled in the heart of Old Havana, provides a total immersion into life in the city, and the Iberostar Grand Packard is Havana’s first-ever grand luxury hotel standing on an outstanding site on Paseo del Prado, overlooking El Morro castle in a unique combination of tradition and modernity.
CAYMAN TOURISM NUMBERS STRONG
Business is brisk in the Cayman Islands.
The tourist board reports that stayover visitation continued to rise in October with arrivals of 23,798 persons, a 5.76% increase, or 1,297 more visitors than October 2018.
For the period January through October 2019, the destination welcomed 410,088 stayover visitors, which represents a 10% growth over the same period of 2018, or an increase of 37,276 stayover visitors.
This figure surpasses all January through October arrivals statistics of previous years recorded, an accomplishment that supports one of the objectives of government’s tourism mission to stimulate the economy of the Cayman Islands. It is estimated that total visitor spend increased by 7.4% to US$747.4 million throughout this period.
Minister of Tourism, Moses Kirkcon-nell commented.
“My government strongly supports the dedicated work of the Department of Tourism to increase visitation to, and awareness of, the Cayman Islands around the globe.”
