ACAPULCO, Mexico With summer hotel bookings down 17.1 percent,
several of Mexico’s hotel operators are guaranteeing agent
commission levels, offering incentives and introducing hotel and
resort specialist programs. Among them are: Avalon Resorts, which
pays 10 percent commission, is banking on a new all-inclusive
concept at five of its six Mexican properties. Among the additions
are breakfast in bed, 24-hour room service, healthy food options, a
VCR library, imported liquor, non-motorized water sports and
mountain biking. The company is also offering a special 15 percent
bonus commission at its newly branded 422-room Avalon Excalibur
Acapulco through Dec. 25. And May 1, Avalon plans to launch an
online training program that includes certification from the
Institute of Certified Travel Agents. The self-paced course is
designed in such a way that it can be done during lunch hour, over
a couple weeks, Lipp said. The company is also sponsoring a series
of agent fams from key market cities such as Los Angeles and
Dallas. Brisas Hotels and Resorts is paying 15 percent commission
on rooms at any of its six properties, including the new 350-room
Las Brisas Huatulco, formerly Club Med Huatulco. In September, the
Brisas Travel Specialist program is expected to go online, offering
ICTA certification and a preferred-commission program; and
independent luxury fams are available at $75 a night. El Cid
Resorts of Mazatlan is continuing its popular EZ Money incentive
this year, with the possibility of a fourth year in 2004. Agents
receive a 12 percent commission for FIT or group bookings,
including those secured through wholesalers and tour operators, as
well as a $10 bonus per booking. For every 20 bookings of three or
more nights, they receive a complimentary all-inclusive three-night
package, which includes $300 in hotel Mega Bucks for use toward
spa, golf, tours and fishing services. The InterContinental Hotels
Group, the former Six Continents, has no specific program for
agents, but has dropped its penalty for cancellations and no-shows.
By late 2004, the group intends to have 73 hotels in Mexico,
including new properties in Tlalnepantla, Cuernavaca, Orizaba,
Puebla, Salina Cruz, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Irapuato, Mérida,
Villahermosa, Torreon and in the Santa Fe district of Mexico City.
It also intends to introduce its Staybridge Suites brand to Mexico
with the planned 2005 opening of a Puebla property. La Jolla de
Mismaloya All-Suites Resort in Puerto Vallarta is offering agent
bonuses based on the number of room nights sold. For example, an
agent who has sold 500 room nights will start receiving 15 percent,
according to Santiago Gutierrez Hace, director general and managing
director of the resort. The hotel recently has become a scuba
diving center, with PADI-trained staff teaching beginning, advanced
and certification classes. Three-night packages with two dives a
day are $690 a person, double occupancy. Agent rates are $45 a
night in summer, $70 in winter, not including diving. All-inclusive
rates are $75, summer and $85, winter for up to three nights,
double occupancy. Pueblo Bonito Hotels & Resorts is paying 12
percent commission, with an additional $25 bonus for West Coast
consortia members. Alfredo Rosas, Pueblo Bonito’s corporate sales
and marketing director, said the all-suite Los Cabos and Mazatlán
properties have avoided the general downturn in bookings, with
reservations up 30 percent over 2002 levels. Later this year the
group expects to open the 180-suite Pueblo Bonito Pacifica close to
its Sunset Beach resort in Cabo San Lucas. It also has grouped its
most luxurious propertiesSunset Beach, Pacifica and Emerald Bay in
Mazatláninto a “Luxury Edition of Beach Resorts & Spas,”
defined as the most luxurious and exclusive of its holdings. And
this summer Starwood Hotels and Resorts is scheduled to open the
237-room W Mexico City, Latin America’s first W hotel, in the
city’s stylish Polanco neighborhood. Starwood debuted the 457-room
Sheraton Centro Historico Hotel & Convention Center in Mexico
City at the end of February and plans to reopen the Sheraton
Buganvilias Resort and Towers in Puerto Vallarta this summer. The
hotel, damaged during a hurricane last year, is being renovated and
adding meeting spa
