Celebrating a decade of Playa Hotels & Resorts
As Playa Hotels & Resorts celebrates its 10th anniversary, Travel Courier caught up with Rose Cosentino, Vice President, Global Wholesale & Retail Sales, to find out how the company has grown over the past decade, the importance of the travel trade and exciting new openings.
Playa Hotels & Resorts has been in growth mode since the day we opened our doors. Over the course of 10 years, we’ve transformed from an ownership company with eight properties to a public company owning and operating 25 all-inclusive award-winning resorts –including iconic global brands Hyatt, Hilton, Wyndham and Marriott. The Playa name is now synonymous with all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic…and soon even beyond that. You’ll have to stay tuned for more, but there is lots coming down the pipeline for Playa!
One thing that’s great about Playa is that we’re always working on new and exciting projects. We just announced our newest Wyndham Alltra set to debut on the shores of the Dominican’s Samana peninsula in December. Reservations are open and we currently have a great grand opening offer with rates starting as low as $198 and the fourth night free.
A current endeavour that also comes to mind is our management of the soon-to-be Kimpton Hacienda Tres Rios in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico, opening in 2024. The first all-inclusive resort for parent company IHG Hotels & Resorts, this beachfront property will be completely renovated and rebranded, and we’re thrilled to help bring it to life and add a new global hospitality brand to our management roster. The property is just magnificent with its own nature park and cenotes on the resort grounds. There is so much excitement around this one, I am ecstatic for agents and partners to get their hands on it!
Travel is back for sure, and with it comes the post-pandemic trend of choosing comfort, trusted brands, and ease of mind. We’ve seen evidence that more and more travellers are returning to — or experiencing for the first time — the all-inclusive vacation, where everything they need is in one place. Furthermore, consumers are interested in vacationing with brands they are comfortable with and brands they trust. Playa’s name-brand all-inclusive resorts allow travellers to not only get the ease and simplicity of an all-inclusive stay, but they also get the reassurance of the quality and trust that only a global brand can deliver. All of which is perfected by Playa’s signature Service From the Heart, which simply just can’t be beat. If you know, you know.
We’re welcoming a great deal of Canadian guests to our resorts in Puerto Vallarta, specifically in Riviera Nayarit and the Riviera Maya continues to be a strong destination for Canadian travellers. And with Air Canada, WestJet, Transat, Sunwing and Canada Jetlines adding additional flights from Canada’s core gateways to Mexico and the Caribbean this winter, we anticipate seeing even more of our Canadian friends at our resorts very soon.
Canada remains a key market for Playa Hotels & Resorts, and we have an entire Canadian sales team dedicated to the region and its growth. Amanda Morris, Director of Sales leads the field sales team with Freddie Marsh, Andi Bacho and Christoper Jeffrey-Racine. Our sales team is the best in business, hands down and I know this to be true through the travel advisor community feedback and notes of appreciation I receive about how supportive and engaging the team is. We continually enjoy visitors coming from across the country and we’re looking forward to hosting even more Canadian guests soon.
We love, love, love, love our travel advisors. Did I mention how much we love our travel advisors? Without them, we couldn’t do our jobs. We understand the value of what booking with a travel advisor can do for guests and that a significant percentage of our Canadian resort guests book through a travel advisor, it’s pretty clear our reciprocal relationship is a vital one. And this has always been the case. Playa always had and always will consider the travel advisor community a key element of our business.
We may only be turning 10, but it’s been an incredible and exciting first 10 years. It’s our anniversary and we want you to celebrate with us! To celebrate 10 years of Playa Hotels & Resorts and to thank our travel advisors, we’re hosting 10 days of giveaways and a special contest for Playa Preferred Agents registered on AgentCash+.
Check it out here: https://agentcashplus.com/playa-ten-years.
