I love a good success story: There’s something about watching solid
business decisions build one on top of the other until the tipping
point when risk becomes reward. This issue’s cover story, “Secrets
of Their Success” (page 14), doesn’t disappoint. Alejandro
Zozaya-Gorostiza, president of AMResorts, began the company with a
simple concept, “all-inclusive luxury,” and today that idea is at
the core of one of the fastest-growing resort companies in Mexico
and the Caribbean going from two resorts to eight in just five
years, with over $1 billion in assets.
“I thought there was a great opportunity to come up with a
concept that was a little more entertaining, while keeping the high
level of luxury you could find in hotels,” says Zozaya-Gorostiza in
the story. “I saw what was going on with the growth of
all-inclusives in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, and noticed
that travel agents were pushing the all-inclusive concept. It’s a
very convenient way of selling a vacation.”
AMResorts’ path to success reminds me of other great success
stories, and whether it’s intentional or not, Zozaya-Gorostiza
takes after great entrepreneurial pioneers, such as Henry Ford.
Many people think that Ford “invented” the assembly line. In fact,
the assembly line was in use in various ways long before Ford. What
he did is adapt the concept of the automated assembly line to
automobile manufacturing. His success is in part the result of
recognizing a good idea and thinking creatively about how to apply
it in a fresh way.
In the case of AMResorts, Zozaya-Gorostiza experienced
all-inclusive luxury with a tour operator and he saw it being used
successfully in the cruise industry and he was able to make the
leap and see that the same principle could work with resorts. What
followed provides a great lesson for all of us in how sometimes
success doesn’t always come from once-in-a-lifetime bolts of
inspiration. Some of the greatest success stories come from
identifying a good idea, and adapting it in a new and original
way.
In this way, with a little luck, we all have the potential to
write our own success story. K.S.
