It was a busy three days for Marilyn Cairo, vice president of global sales for Karisma Hotels & Resorts, who got slimed, danced onstage with SpongeBob SquarePants and helped hand out trophies at a black-tie gala during the hotelier’s 14th Annual Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) Awards.
Held Sept. 27-30 at the recently opened Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya, the event welcomed more than 200 travel advisors from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America to the 280-suite property, where the agenda included a sales and marketing forum and a lively welcome party at the 6-acre Aqua Nick water park, during which Cairo and owners of the resort were avalanched with Nickelodeon-brand green slime.
“With Nickelodeon, getting slimed is their highest honor,” Cairo said, chuckling during a later interview. “I had more fun after the sliming, because I saw everybody just go right into the waterpark. We didn't have to coerce it. Everybody just let loose.”
Cairo started her marketing and branding presentation the following day while dancing onstage with beloved Nickelodeon characters SpongeBob and Patrick, and she later sang alongside a lone guitarist, who performed Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville.”
“I love to dance,” Cairo said. “And I wanted to make sure my message not only resonated with what [the advisors] heard, but also resonated with my appearance. … Branding starts with the person delivering the message.”
Iowa-based TripGuy travel advisor Ruth DeMuth, center, accepts an honor at the 14th Annual Karisma Hotels & Resorts GIVC Awards.
Credit: 2021 Karisma Hotels & ResortsTwo New Karisma Resorts to Open Later This Year
Karisma’s growing partnership with the Margaritaville brand was a substantial focus of Cairo’s marketing presentation, and she said the hotel company is slated to open the 268-key Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 1, and the 39-suite Margaritaville St. Somewhere by Karisma Punta Coco, Holbox Island, in Mexico this December.
“I'm very excited for the Margaritaville Island Reserve Cap Cana,” Cairo said. “It's a newbuild; it's in a fantastic destination. … There will be 40 adult-only villas, and it has its own swim-up pool. There’s also JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, and the first Landshark brewery.”
Cairo also discussed Karisma’s 2022 plans to open an adults-only 355-guestroom Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Maya property, located right next to the hotelier’s Azul Beach Riviera Cancun.
News of that adults-only Riviera Maya property was greeted warmly by a number of travel advisors, including Randy Otts, who runs 2 Getaway Travel in Houston.
“I think the Margaritaville brand has some really, really good legs,” said Otts, who was honored several times during this year’s GIVC awards gala at the El Dorado Royale. “I don’t think that they’ve quite figured out how to market it yet, whereas I haven’t either. But I sure want to, because a good portion of what we do is experiential travel, and I think Margaritaville does create a very good experience for their customer.”
I think the Margaritaville brand has some really, really good legs. I don’t think that they’ve quite figured out how to market it yet, whereas I haven’t either. But I sure want to.
Cairo said during her marketing presentation that nearly 3,000 more Margaritaville rooms are in the Karisma pipeline, in destinations such as Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada and St. Martin. And she noted that selling the Margaritaville brand is often about reconsidering a consumer’s understanding of five-star luxury.
“Glitz and glamor may not be someone's version of five-star,” Cairo said. “That's what Margaritaville is. If you want to show up in shorts and flip-flops for dinner, that's fine. It's that ‘come as you are’ mentality. There's no pretense, but just because you have that mentality doesn't mean you don't have the best cuisine, the best accommodations, the best service, the best drinks.”
Cairo also said the Nickelodeon resorts in Punta Cana and now the Riviera Maya have been so well received, plans are already in the works for two more Nickelodeon properties operated by Karisma.
“I've heard in Latin America, and I've heard the U.S.,” she said. “I haven't heard specifics, but those are the two markets they're looking at.”
Glitz and glamor may not be someone's version of five-star. That's what Margaritaville is. If you want to show up in shorts and flip-flops for dinner, that's fine.
Karisma’s Mexico Tourism Business Is Booming
Mark Faldmo, Jr., the marketing vice president of Salt Lake City-based Columbus Travel — who took home several honors from this year’s GIVC awards ceremony — said his agency has seen business to Mexico jump 40% in 2021, over the same period in 2019.
“And 2019 had previously been our best year for Mexico,” Faldmo said. “Mexico is performing well because it’s easy to get to, compared with other destinations.”
Both 2 Getaway Travel’s Otts and Faldmo said the lack of a vaccination or a COVID-19 pretest mandate in Mexico has certainly made it more attractive to their clients, but additional airlift has also played a role in the destination’s success.
Mexico is performing well because it’s easy to get to compared with other destinations.
“In Salt Lake, we went from one daily 737 [flight] to two flights a day — sometimes on a wide-body A330,” Faldmo said. “So, from our market, we’ve almost quadrupled the lift to Cancun with the size of airplanes on certain days compared to 2019.”
Otts did note, however, that his agency’s momentum to Mexico has been hampered some by the COVID-19 Delta variant.
“We’ve seen quote requests slow down a little bit,” he said. “But we haven’t received any cancellations due to the Delta variant.”
Cairo, who said Karisma’s business overall has been better so far in 2021 than in 2019, did concede that the Delta variant has also hampered the company’s momentum.
“Any partner who says it hasn't, is lying to you,” Cairo said of the Delta variant’s impact. “It did slow it down — not to an alarming rate — but it is definitely something to keep an eye on.”
Cairo was quick to mention, however, that her company’s destination group weddings business has also been better in 2021 than it was in 2019, with groups deciding to stay longer and spend more on accommodations this year. While some of that is likely bolstered by engaged couples who had planned to marry in 2020 and who are eager to now get away, Cairo said that weddings business also increased substantially after 9/11.
“The pandemic was a worldwide event that has people re-assessing what's important to them,” she said. “Right now, our pace for 2022 weddings is at an all-time high. … We believe the pandemic may have accelerated that reassessment of what is really important to [guests.]”
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