In this context, Travel2latam spoke with the Global Sales Manager, Luis Nuñez, and the International Marketing Director Luis Carreño, of Inclusive Collection, the variety of nine special brands for each Hyatt Hotels and Resorts guest.
What has been the experience these days at WTM London?
Look, it's really been a very good experience this year. It continues the trend that we saw since last year where the different commercial partners were already seeing recovery numbers, a positive trend. This year this trend is marked again and we are being able to see how the different destinations from these sending markets, mainly the United Kingdom and all of Western Europe, generate a very good movement. In general, I can tell you that new contracts have been closed with markets in Italy. We are seeing a very strong trend with major clients such as TUI, British Airways Holidays, to name a few. From Europe too, with commercial partners from Germany, France, etc. I can tell you that there are good results from the meetings. And we see that despite the conflictive situation in the world, right, with two open fronts in the Middle East and Ukraine, both very unfortunate situations for all reasons, we have a positive trend around everything that is Hyatt Inclusive Collection of Las Américas, which is the part that corresponds to me to represent. And we are leaving with good numbers, there are still some meetings left, but I insist, the climate has been positive, the expectation is good and I think we are going to have very good results.
We are closing the year. I would like a reflection on what you have experienced in 2023, and what is your global vision of what awaits you or what you are planning for the next season.
Ok, look, I can tell you that Q1, Q2 and now Q3 have been with positive closings. As a public company we cannot talk much about the future in terms of numbers, but I can tell you that the trend is also good. What have we experienced? Well, simply a little adaptation, some markets, some situations where you see a reduction in air capacity and we have to react, anticipate. In general, at a global level, we see practically all markets functioning, North America very strong, South America growing and as I told you previously, in Europe and the United Kingdom we are going to close with numbers above what we had budgeted, that is, this already It marks an achievement in itself and I think this is what I can tell you for the moment.
Obviously they have had a rebranding, it is not an easy task. How have they programmed it?
Well, I can tell you that going hand in hand with a brand like Hyatt makes the process much easier. There is indeed a rebranding, but it has been something that has gone down well with business partners, and through this trust that the Hyatt brand has, this positioning that is already extremely well established worldwide, actually means that more doors will open for us. In other words, before the rebranding presents us with a very big challenge, basically a matter of getting used to it in general, but at the same time it gives you much more leverage, it gives you much more leverage to reach a negotiation, so that people have confidence in your brands, because obviously Hayat Inclusive Collection is at the forefront, but we move with the ten brands we have.
What are the milestones beyond all the rebranding they have had this year and which ones lie ahead? For example, openings that you can mention.
Since, I insist, the closing of 2022, being above the budgets and projections that even the Hyatt had as such for us. This year, indeed, we have been able to open new properties and we recently opened the Impression by Secrets Isla Mujeres in May, now in October we have opened the Secrets Tulum, a very unique property because it is our first property in the Americas that is not in front of beach but is within a high-end community in the Tulum area, a private community with its own beach club, it could be interpreted as a weakness not being on the beach but it has become its differentiator and its strength, The case of the hotel is very interesting and is also presenting a very powerful multi-market demand. Tulum is fashionable, Tulum is a destination that is doing very well, and obviously we have been able to take part of the personality of the Tulum destination to infuse it into our concept, our product and that pairing has been extremely positive. Additionally, other openings are coming in the Dominican Republic, we will be in just over two weeks, November 30th opening the Sunscape Coco in Punta Cana and on the 20th-24th we have a multitude of openings at the Pipeline, Sunscape Dominicus in La Romana, also the Republic Dominican. Secret Sites on the beaches of Uvero Alto near Punta Cana, Punta Cana area. We also come with Hyatt Vivid. We also have Secret Sites in Saint Lucia at the end of the 24th and there will be more surprises that we cannot comment on yet.
Well, today we are at WTM in London. I wanted to know how the season continues and how it starts next year in terms of events where they will participate.
OK, very good. Look, WTM really almost marks the end of events-level activities. We only have Cannes left at the end of the year. Then we started with a swing drum in FITUR. Then comes Anato in Colombia, Bogotá, with his dear partners, friends of his. A very important market, with great potential. It has become the number 3 market in the Dominican Republic. It has very good emission towards Cancun, Riviera, Maya. Therefore, we have a team there with which we will be participating in the Anato fair, in the tourist showcase. Next comes the ITB in Berlin. Next is the Tianguis in Mexico City. You have to put a lot of effort into destiny so that it recovers very soon. Our sales arm carries out more than 350 activities including fam trips, visits, site inspections, activations in different cities, mainly in North America, in our global offices in Mexico City, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, and they are always active. We also have representation in Brazil, and on this side we have London and Madrid. We also have offices in Singapore. So, if I tell you the number of events that all these offices will be managing together, we will run out of memory on your phone.