The post-Covid demand recovery in the leisure segment has been remarkable, and this has no doubt been one of the drivers of increased investor interest in resorts.
Dave Goldstein, managing director at KSL Capital Partners noted that although a large number of its hotel businesses either shut down entirely or closed substantially, the company has seen almost a full recovery in demand levels.
“Leisure didn't go anywhere—people still want to go on vacation, they still want to gather, get together and have fun.”
Javier Coll, global head of growth at Hyatt Inclusive Collection agrees, noting that in the last two years, the company has had record profits for its all-inclusive business even when compared with pre-Covid peaks of 2017 and 2019.
“We already had a good base of customers and now we have all these untapped markets that we didn't have before. More customers now appreciate the value for money offered by all-inclusive. And that increasing demand makes it more interesting for investors.”
Bleisure and All-Inclusive
But as the lucrative leisure segment attracts more and more attention, evolution is becoming more of a necessity. And for Coll, some of that evolution is coming in the way embracing a growing travel trend—"bleisure," which is a blend of business and leisure.
“We’re adapting many of our resorts for that bleisure type of travel because we saw that trend coming post-Covid. In every hotel we do, that’s a source of business we look at when we design our hotels and our facilities. We really see good potential in that type of business. There are still a lot of employees working remotely and we don't think that’s going anywhere.”
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