CANCÚN, Quintana Roo.- After complicated months in the hotel industry, the Royal Holiday Group is launching its expansion projects in the Dominican Republic and in the state of Baja California Sur.
“Within the plans for the next two years, we are going to build a hotel with more than 500 rooms in Playa Bávaro in the Dominican Republic. We have just acquired the land and we are going to start construction in February 2022, we will be ready in August or September 2023 ”, commented Pablo González Carbonell, president of the Royal Holiday Group.
He said that the project contemplates 550 rooms, with a budget of $ 200,000 a key, about $ 110 million.
“We want to grow in Cabos San Lucas. There we are looking for options from the acquisition of the land. The potential of that destination is enormous. It is growing a lot and it is difficult to find a good place at a good price, but you can get very good lodging rates, ”said González.
Currently, they have the Park Royal Homestay Los Cabos hotel that has 56 rooms, which is surrounded by a golf course and 700 meters from the beach.
He commented that in Cancun and the Caribbean they struggle a lot in terms of rates, since competition arises every day and grows significantly. “This year about 4,000 rooms were created and the fight is the rate, because the occupations are there.”
The Park Royal Hotels & Resorts hotel chain is made up of 14 properties in destinations in Mexico, the United States, Puerto Rico and Argentina.
Tourism situation
González Carbonell who is the president and founder of the Mexican Association of Tourism Developers (AMDETUR) and vice president of the National Tourism Business Council (CNET) commented that the tourism industry in Mexico has great advantages: “The neighborhood with the largest source of tourism in the world, which is the United States, the beaches, the climate and the human factor, the attention to the guest. Those are the great assets we have ”.
However, “we have two serious problems: The lack of promotion, the Tourist Promotion Council disappeared three years ago, we have made efforts locally, for example, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, among others, have joined together to promote, will private initiative and state governments. 3% of the income from lodging goes to the state government and governments have been very sensitive to this being applied to promotion, but nothing like what the Tourist Promotion Council did.
“Another serious problem that has been buried by the pandemic is security. Security is very important. These are issues to overcome, ”said González Carbonell, who has been the only Mexican to chair the Global Alliance for Timeshare Excellence.
Pandemic
The manager commented that the main challenge during the pandemic was when they were closed from March to August 2020 was to maintain the workforce. “We use the trend that we have created during the hurricanes, we are a company that is made up of people.”
He said that the bricks are inconsequential, however, human capital is very important. The Royal Holiday Group has around 4,000 employees.
“Our chain has evolved well, we had two setbacks in the year that coincide with the peaks in the pandemic in February and August. However, in the winter season that begins on December 21, it is already observed that the occupancy is higher, which in some cases is above 90%, González said.
For his part, Benny Michaud, general director of the Park Royal Hotels & Resorts, commented that in 2020 they have lived with the visit of the Mexican market. “We see a mix of American tourists in the destinations of Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Cabos San Lucas coming from California.”
They commented that inflation is observed in the costs of the products and services they purchase for their guests. “Some costs have increased up to 25% due to Covid protocols,” Michaud concluded.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx