In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Ilka Padula, Global Sales Director of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.
What are your goals when participating in an event like WTM?
The main objective of being present at such an important fair for our segment is to bring hotels to participate with us. This year we have more than 18 units participating, which for us is a participation record, both for hotels in Brazil and in other locations, such as Buenos Aires, Uruguay, Paraguay and Guatemala.
The idea really was to bring together this team that came to participate with us and clearly present our products to the public here at the fair, which are the large travel agencies, organizers and operators. We are very happy to participate. Many meetings have already been held and we did training with some important clients, whom we invited to participate in a morning with us, to talk a little about our numbers, our presence in Latin America and also strengthen relationships.
What do Brazilians prefer about your network, according to the numbers you manage?
When we talk about Brazil, we have two great properties: Wyndham Gramado and Wyndham Olimpia, which are hotels very focused on leisure. Olimpia has more than 900 apartments and is next to the fourth most popular water park in Latin America. It is located in a hot region all year round, and Brazilians really like it.
Gramado is in a southern region, which is a little colder. It is also a hotel that welcomes many families, many Brazilians and now they also work a little more in the region of Buenos Aires, Uruguay and Paraguay.
We recently made a very important conversion in São Paulo, with the arrival of Wyndham Sao Paulo Ibirapuera Convention Plaza, a hotel with 600 apartments, and capacity for a thousand people for events.
We are already ending April, how do you find regional demand?
The demand has been consolidating. Leisure is always good because of the holidays and we have also seen growth in events. Almost at the end of the fourth month, we have good expectations. We are well aligned with our objectives. Of course, each region has its own growth objective, however, we have achieved the proposed growth rates for this first period.
And what news has been recently presented regarding the loyalty program?
Our loyalty program has over 106 million members, so in itself there are a lot of positive conversations about this program, which is very easy to join from the moment the guest starts staying with us. It is easy to start accumulating points and they can be redeemed for both hosting and partners that we also have, both through our application and our website.
And what would be the message for the tourism professionals who are part of our audience?
I believe in the segment and I particularly see that it has returned with everything. So let's move forward, with more events, more professionalism. If we become more and more professional, we get more and more opportunities. The tourism market, in terms of events, has a lot to offer. We can work hard in all segments, with a lot of courage and great desire.