Hotels consider becoming all inclusive resorts

William Attard McCarthy

May 18th 2009, 19:17

@ W. Spencer Pt II ...but unfortunately, some think that being in the possession of an AI card entails them to extra privileges such as ordering enough drinks for the evening at one go, or being served by staff before the "other guests at the bar who have more than 500 in their pockets" and whom are waiting, and PAYING, for a drink themselves. Like myself, you may have visited and resided in other top-notch hotels worldwide, and in other countries whose tourism services are considered "superior" to that offered on our tiny isle. Therefore, like myself, you may have found it a rare instance to see overstaffed bars as this makes no sense whatsoever, in an economic and operational matter. No Hotel offers more than one cashpoint at any bar, and therefore drinks served will always be equal to the maximum numbers of orders that can be taken at the cashpoint at any point in a given time. This is simple business operating logic.

William Attard McCarthy

May 18th 2009, 19:01

(Cont with Mr. C. Micallef's last blog post) ....which in most instances results in the Hotelier operating at a loss, hence the downfall of previously well-established 3-Star resorts around our island in the recent years. Dear reader, do not be fooled into thinking that All-Inclusive Holidays is something new to these shores, as most of the resorts aforementioned had been offering these kind of holidays for years, before being economically sucked dry by the Travel Agencies and other problems highlighted by Mr. Micallef. @ Mr. W. Spencer: Food selection on AI Basis is normally the same as that offered to other guests on BB, HB, and FB basis, therefore in your case the problem would have been basis-wide and not pertaining to the AI system in itself. It has been unheard of Hoteliers going to the extent of offering an exclusive a-la-carte or buffet menu from which only AI guests could avail themselves. As for queueing at a bar, it is the norm worldwide for AI guests to be asked to show their AI privilege card at the cashier point before availing themselves of the barstaff's service. (cont)

Charles Micallef

May 18th 2009, 17:00

Cont.
The main problem is that some Tour Operators A/I descriptions on their brochures is far too lax, with some clients claiming free phone calls, free coins for the use of a launderette, free coins to use the games machines etc, and we are here not talking of the odd client. When the Hotelier denies the client requests they will then start to pick at menial faults to make a claim about the Hotel and claim compensation on their return home. Some have become professionals at this game. The Tour Operator only concern is selling the holiday leaving the Hotelier having to face some of the most obnoxious "people" that one can come across within the hospitality industry.

The fact is the matter is that the money is made by the Tour Operator and not The Hotelier but it is the Hotelier who has to make do..........................

Charles Micallef

May 18th 2009, 16:54

@W. Spencer

I fully endorse Mr McCarthy's comments and add that this system should be renamed All Inclusive Abuse, as a substantial number of people travelling on A/I abuse the system, hence some Hotels having to take defensive action especially within the three star sector, this includes but not limited to Clients on A/I basis giving hotel drinks away to other hotel clients on SC, BB & HB basis, some abuse the drink to an extend that varies from causing trouble to others who end up in hospital having their stomachs pump out.............
The very truth of the matter is that some clients understand value of money one they see it, let us face is some hotels sell A/I for as little or less than Lm8 (in old currency) including tax, this includes Bed, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, all the snacks they can consume and all the drinks / beverages they can consume.

cont.

Charles Micallef

May 18th 2009, 08:42

A/I holidays worldwide are on a downturn, Some five years since they accounted for some 50% of all sales, they are now down to some 23% or less

The tour operators will initially pay you a supplement for the A/I upgrade and when their sales drop they will forget the signature on their contracts and come back to the hoteliers with their begging bowl to ask the hotels for special offers above those contracted and upgrade their Half Board Clients to All inclusive to help them fill their seats.
And who will be at a loss then?

I too would like to buy a Rolls Royce for €500, but I know full well that Rolls Royce will not make any profit........

Alfred Farrugia

May 18th 2009, 02:51

The concept of an all-inclusive holiday is very good for the tourist and the travel agent, but hotel owners in Malta need to be careful before they introduce this type of holiday to their property. Mr. Attard McCarthy is perfectly correct. It is possible for tourists with a limited budget to exploit this type of holiday to the full.

I have been to the all-inclusive Royal Solaris Resort in San Jose del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. This has unlimited meals and snacks all day long, and unlimited drinks, including delicious cocktails, and a wide variety of wines day and night! This resort has 5 different restaurants – Café Solaris, Rosmarinus, Las Pergolas, Panchos, and Marcopolo. It also has free entertainment every evening with a free buffet dinner.

http://www.clubsolaris.com/premier_class/all_inclusive.php

When I asked how it was possible for this resort to make a profit I was informed that the management owned ranches and farms with all kinds of livestock, so they did not need to purchase any food from third parties! Unless Malta’s hotel owners have access to a “free” supply of food, they will not be profitable or competitive.

W Spencer

May 18th 2009, 00:09

@ William Attard McCarthy.......you will find that most people DO NOT want to go Al, firstly because the food served at such hotels are normally very bland with very little selection, and queueing up for a second round of drinks (because the hotel deliberately employs only one barman) before giving up and going around the corner to a local pub !!! We only went Al on two occasions ( we went on the second occasion because we thought that it could not be so bad as the first time), and ate out at local restaurants on both occasions.
So there are two sides to your personal observations William.

William Attard McCarthy

May 17th 2009, 21:28

Having held a Managerial position for 4 years in a 1500-bed 3 star resort in the North, which had to shut down 2 years ago, maybe I could shed more light on this matter. A good 90% of our clientele were repeat customers on A.I. Basis, "who had 500 in their pocket and didn't want to end up short of cash"..

The truth? 99.8% of these AI basis guests would spend their entire "holiday" sat by the pool or in the bar, taking the most (or mostly so, blatantly abusing) the hotel's AI system. They would not spend a cent out of AI serving times. They would definitely not spend money in surrounding bars/clubs/shops etc..

Moreover, at the slightest shortcoming from the resort's part (like for example, necessary maintenance works), they would use their travel agents to sue the resort or seek an out-of-court settlement which would provide them with enough money to cover their holiday expenses and also maybe a free holiday for 5 consecutive years thereafter...

AI? I don't think so......

joe caruana

May 17th 2009, 20:48

212,000 tourists in 1999----150,000 German tourists had visited Malta last year.
Dr de Marco said this winter saw a decline in seat capacity from Germany

li bena wiehed fi 22 xahar hattu ta' warajh

Robin Zammit

May 17th 2009, 20:29

Finally, a ray of light that our hoteliers will attempt to attract families rather than only pensioners and walk-in trade.

Hotels catering for young families (with appropriate amenities and entertainment for toddlers/teenagers) are few and far between. In fact I actually do not know of any. All inclusive is not a must for this category of tourist, but the child-friendly facilities must be in place.

For the tourism product to be really appealing to this category, even high-street restaurants and cafeterias need to be child friendly. In Malta, parents with young kids have hardly anywhere to go that is child friendly. At most a highchair is begrudgingly offered!

25-50 year olds are the tourists with most cash to spend, and unless they have a safe and interesting places where their whole family can relax, they will continue to go to the Canary and Greek Islands,

Furthermore, some hotels need to invest in 18-30 year olds in the form of all inclusive Club-Med/Citta del Mare type resorts. Two ideal locations are crying out load for this investment, these being the White Rocks and Hal Ferh Complexes.

sandro grech

May 17th 2009, 19:24

I agree with all means of getting more tourist on our islands but because of all inclusive basis the private cateering sectores will suffer the consequences. but this should not be a problem if more city routes are open for low cost airlines