The Karisma Hotels & Resorts’ Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) Awards and Sales & Marketing Forum became a bit more exclusive this year, with only Diamond 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and Elite-level GIVCs invited to attend.
The three-day event, which ran from Dec. 4-7 at El Dorado Royale, A Spa Resort, by Karisma in the Riviera Maya, previously incorporated Diamond 1 GIVCs (who sell between 126 and 239 room nights per year), but the decision to focus on higher producers cut attendance from 600 advisors in 2018 to 350 in 2019.
The event’s format, however, remained largely the same, with the two-day Sales & Marketing Forum preceding the GIVC Awards gala. (Sponsors of this year’s event were Grupo Lomas Travel, Delta Vacations, Apple Leisure Group, Gogo Vacations and Classic Vacations.)
The decision to invite only those GIVCs selling at least 240 room nights tied well to this year’s theme, “No Guts, No Story,” which Marilyn Cairo, associate vice president of sales, North America for Premier Marketing (an exclusive representative for Karisma), described as an ode to the company and its advisor partners as “game changers.”
“We write our own story, we beat to our own drum, we don’t follow in anyone’s footsteps, we like to ruffle feathers, and we like to shake it up,” Cairo said during the conference’s opening general session. “And if you don’t have the guts to do that, you won’t have a story to tell.”
Here’s what else we learned at the event.
Karisma’s Sales & Marketing forum featured a panel with executives from Grupo Lomas Travel, Viacom International, Margaritaville and Karisma.
Credit: 2019 Emma WeissmannKarisma’s Sales Team Reshuffles
Karisma’s sales team has been restructured for 2020; instead of dividing sales by territory, the team will be separated by brand, while a six-member “Karisma Kore Team” will oversee the company’s entire portfolio and support GIVCs.
The shakeup is a direct result of a “year of evolution and change” within the company’s 14 brands, which include El Dorado Spa Resorts by Karisma, Generations, Hidden Beach, El Cielo Winery & Resort, and Xolumado (all owned by Grupo Lomas Travel) in addition to Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts, Margaritaville Island Reserve Resorts and Azul Beach Resorts.
New Packages to Sell for 2020
Next year, GIVCs will be able to sell a new El Dorado Honeymoon Collection at El Dorado Spa Resorts that takes advantage of the brand’s unique room categories, including its Beachfront Honeymoon Suite, Oceanfront Honeymoon Suite, Honeymoon Private Pool Casita Suite and more.
Couples will also have new opportunities for romance at Palafitos (home to the first overwater bungalows in the Caribbean) at El Dorado Maroma, which now includes destination wedding packages. Palafitos also plans to double its inventory to 60 bungalows.
Karisma executives also encouraged GIVCs to target social groups beyond weddings at Generations Riviera Maya, shown in the company’s new #GenGirls initiative (marketing girlfriend getaways) and, for multigenerational groups, the introduction of Le Petit Chef (a foodie experience that incorporates projected animation directly onto guests’ tables).
New Margaritaville and Nickelodeon Properties
Agents also have new properties to book for 2020; next year features the opening of Nickelodeon Riviera Maya in late 2020 (adjacent to El Dorado Royale and also owned by Grupo Lomas), which will feature the largest waterpark in the Riviera Maya.
A preview shot of Nickelodeon Riviera Maya, which will open next year
Credit: 2019 Karisma Hotels & ResortsKeeping families in mind, the new property will have all oceanfront, swim-up suites with two bathrooms in every room. Similar to its Punta Cana counterpart in the Dominican Republic, Nickelodeon Riviera Maya will include its signature Pineapple Villa (an ode to the popular kids’ television show “SpongeBob SquarePants”).
It will also feature a massive Big Kahuna Suite and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired Turtle Lair. Additionally, GIVCs — and their children — are invited to experience Nickelodeon Resort Riviera Maya in 2020 via “Mommy/Daddy and Me Fams.”
The Margaritaville brand, which welcomed 21 million guests last year and celebrates all things Jimmy Buffett, will be expanding in 2020, with the adults-only 355-suite Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Maya opening in late 2020, and the kid-friendly 148-room Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancun undergoing a refresh that will be completed by March. (During the event, travel advisors, event sponsors and trade media received an exclusive hard-hat preview tour of Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Maya that included the viewing of a showroom.)
And just last month, the team broke ground on the new Margaritaville Island Reserve by Karisma Cap Cana, which is slated to open in the Dominican Republic for 2021.
Although clients will see nods to the singer’s work at all Margaritaville properties, Brad Schwaeble, chief operating officer for the brand, assured GIVCs during the event that the hotels are about “so much more than Jimmy Buffett.”
“It’s a product that we are developing that’s anchored in the experience of escapism,” he said. “It’s not about any particular person, but it’s about the overall experience.”
Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancun is currently under construction, with an opening slated for late 2020.
Credit: 2019 Karisma Hotels & ResortsThe Role of GIVCs
Throughout the Sales & Marketing Forum, Karisma praised the GIVCs in attendance while focusing on their importance in helping the company grow and remain innovative.
Mandy Chomat, president of Premier Worldwide Marketing, challenged GIVCs not to be distracted by competitors’ newbuilds, and instead focus on growing their sales, remaining devoted to the brand, acting as “micro-influencers” to their clients and pushing the envelope on group sales.
“As a group of agents, we have more power than any influencer out there, but we have to work together,” he said. “We’re all about long-term relationships. Today, there are fewer agents than there were last year. Not because agents did not want to come, but because we made a strategic decision that we’re writing our own story, and we want to assure ourselves that we are going into relationships with those agents who are going into the long haul with us.”
Cairo agreed, citing last year’s event tagline, “Always Leave Your Mark.”
“We all left our mark in 2019, and it’s going to be a better year in 2020,” she said. “You are an important part of this story. How are you writing your chapter of the book?”
The Details
Karisma Hotels & Resorts
www.karismahotels.com
