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A race to launch luxury, all-inclusive resorts has begun in Europe with Marriott and Hyatt, two of the world’s biggest hotel groups, vying to capitalise on demand from wealthy tourists as the package holiday goes upmarket.
The popularity of top resorts offering package breaks which include haute cuisine, champagne on tap and butler services is spreading from Mexico and the Caribbean to a region where all-inclusive has more typically been associated with all-you-can-eat buffets and cheap alcohol.
Hyatt earlier this month opened the 366-room Dreams Madeira resort on the Portuguese island, whose packages include à la carte restaurants, a 24-hour room and concierge service and premium spirits in the price. A five-night stay for a couple in June next year starts from just over €1,800.
The US operator expects to be able to offer all-inclusive luxury packages at multiple sites across Europe within a few years, including a location in the Canary Islands, and is hunting for hotel owners with which to develop these.
“We have a vibrant resort pipeline, with highly anticipated openings planned for the next few years,” said Javier Águila, group president overseeing Europe, Africa and the Middle East at Hyatt.
Hyatt already operates the world’s largest portfolio of high-end all-inclusive resorts with over 120 properties following its $2.7bn acquisition of resort provider Apple Leisure Group in 2021. However the most luxurious properties are in the Americas, while the majority of the near-50 resorts in Europe located in Spain, Greece and Bulgaria are in a more modest upscale category.
Marriott, which currently only has one luxury all-inclusive resort — the Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, whose packages start at around $2,700 for five nights — is looking for a site in Turkey as well as others in Europe to launch similar packages.
“Competition [in luxury travel] is more fierce today than it has ever been before, and I don’t see that abating,” said Tina Edmundson, president of luxury at Marriott. “We’re obviously seeing a lot of demand from developers who want to build these new and unique locations.”
The company has also signed 10 contracts with hotel owners and developers to open new all-inclusive luxury sites in Mexico and Brazil.
The package holiday “has definitely reinvented itself,” pushed by families who want everything to be taken care of, said Ana Ivanovic, executive vice-president at property group JLL. “The majority of the big brands don’t have much exposure in Europe yet, so I think it’s definitely a way for them to grow and expand.”
The concept of luxury, all-inclusive breaks in Europe is not entirely new but the rollout has been limited. Sani/Ikos Group, a Greek resort chain backed by Singapore’s GIC, began offering such breaks almost a decade ago and now owns seven resorts in locations such as Marbella and Corfu. Ikos Odisia in Corfu provides a five-night stay from about €3,200 next June.
Chief executive Andreas Andreadis said he “would love the competition” with larger rivals such as Hyatt and Marriott. The group is spending €700mn for its all-inclusive Ikos Resorts brand to add three new venues in the region and extend existing properties. It also plans to open its first site in the Caribbean by 2028.
Interest comes amid predictions that the global luxury market is expected to surge. McKinsey, which defines luxury travellers as those who spend at least $500 per night on accommodation, predicted in a May report that global spending will increase by 64 per cent to $391bn in the five years to 2028, faster than for any other travel industry segment.
Demand is being driven by the rising number of high net-worth individuals but also by young “aspiring luxury travellers”, McKinsey said, who are willing to spend a larger share of their income on upscale options.
Such travellers are increasingly keen on all-inclusive stays, said Ivanovic. “It used to have this negative connotation when you think about the history of all-inclusive, [because] it was for students who were on a spring break who wanted to . . . manage their travel costs.”
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