Federico Moreno-Nickerson, Vice President of Development for Apple Leisure Group, said that the operation has been highly beneficial for both US hotel chains. In a few months, he said, the $2.7 billion transaction begins to be reflected in strategic points, such as the addition of 50 AMR Collection properties, located in America
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Less than a year after the purchase of Apple Leisure Group by Hyatt, the operation has been highly beneficial for both US hotel chains, especially in the part of the exchange of knowledge and experiences, Federico Moreno-Nickerson, vice president of Development of Apple Leisure Group.
In an interview with EFE in Cancun, in the Mexican Caribbean, Moreno-Nickerson explained that while Hyatt has cutting-edge technological systems for the reservation system and a solid reputation, the hotels in the Apple Leisure Group collection have a very high positioning in the ‘luxury all-inclusive’ segment thanks to its own distribution channels through ALG Vacations.
In a few months, he said, the $2.7 billion transaction that was announced in August 2021 and concluded last November begins to be reflected in strategic points, such as the incorporation of 50 AMR Collection properties, located in America, to the World loyalty program. of Hyatt.
“Nearly all AMR Collection resorts in the Americas have now joined the World of Hyatt loyalty program, in which members – who number over 30 million – can use the points in their Hyatt accounts to book hotel nights. 50 AMR Collection resorts in America”, he indicated.
Exponential growth
So far this year, he mentioned that seven hotels have already opened, four are new construction and three are conversions. In addition, six new properties are due to open in the remainder of the year and 2023, including some in Spain, Greece, the Dominican Republic and the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean.
“We are a resilient company that has shown a great capacity to strengthen and renew itself during periods of greatest crisis. In the H1N1 pandemic, we achieved the greatest growth to date and in 2021, a year after the covid-19 pandemic hit the entire world, we experienced the most important expansion of our brands in Spain”, he added.
Moreno-Nickerson stated that the demand for beach destinations occurred more quickly after the pandemic, with two destinations that had a faster recovery, Mexico, mainly Cancun, and the other, the Dominican Republic.
“From his point of view, the most specific action that the government of Quintana Roo took was to support the safe travel seal of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, for its acronym in English), which was intended to standardize the minimum standards of safety and hygiene, agreed by authorities of several countries”
“The demand for beach destinations was faster and stronger than ever anticipated, the recovery in general is strong, although the particular case of Cancun was due to the fact that there was an accelerated increase in seats on international flights,” he added. .
From his point of view, the most specific action taken by the government of Quintana Roo was to support the safe travel seal of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which was intended to standardize the minimum standards of safety and hygiene, agreed by authorities of several countries.
“Gloria Guevara, president of the WTTC, pointed out the need to unify and for this they analyzed 40 cases of circumstances that caused a drop in tourism in the world, both by destination and in general, and came to determine that one of the priorities was to respond to crises,” he explained.
The executive of Apple Leisure Group pointed out that the correct thing for the government of Quintana Roo was to have adopted these protocols and to be the first destination in all of America to obtain the WTTC safe travel seal.
A second very successful concrete action, he indicated, was to have promoted the celebration of the WTTC summit in Cancun, this being the first face-to-face world meeting.
“These two actions gave a very categorical message that Cancun implemented guidelines to strengthen safety and hygiene, and it is not that other places did not, but that it was endorsed and validated by various organizations. All this gave a boost to destiny that allowed him to recover better, ”he said.
He added that the priorities of the AMR Collection are to redouble efforts to maintain the pace of growth and be able to exceed the indicators for 2019.
“Our vision is to redouble our efforts to grow at an even faster pace and we are very confident in 2022 that we will recover the levels we had in 2019,” he concluded.
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