All-inclusive resorts have officially gone upscale. Nearly 80% of all-inclusive resorts have become “luxury or upper upscale,” Bernstein analysts say, as the industry pivots toward higher-income travelers who can weather inflation — and even the wealthy are buying in.
(Credits: MarketWatch)
All-Inclusive Resorts Go Luxury: The Bernstein Findings
According to the Bernstein analysis reported by MarketWatch, the all-inclusive industry is actively seeking higher-income travelers as a hedge against inflation — and those travelers are responding. What was once dismissed by affluent vacationers as a budget option is now, in four out of five cases, a luxury or upper-upscale property.
The economics make sense on both sides. Luxury resorts hold 42% of all-inclusive resort revenue and are growing at 8.3% a year — the fastest of any resort type, per market research — with branded flags like Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Secrets, and Zoetry in the mix. Buyers increasingly choose the all-inclusive version because the package removes the high incidental bills that come with a conventional five-star resort.
Why Travelers Are Switching to All-Inclusive
Convenience and peace of mind are the big drivers. As Spice Island Beach Resort’s managing director Janelle Hopkin told EBONY, “You are not constantly thinking about what everything costs or signing a bill every time you have a meal or order a drink. That freedom allows you to be more present in the experience.”
Travel strategists echo the point: all-inclusives remove the mental work of maintaining a budget throughout the trip, making them especially appealing for self-care and relaxation-focused vacations where exploring the destination is not the main goal.
“All-Inclusive” and “Ultraluxe” Are Merging
Industry voices are calling this a genuine category shift. Virtuoso’s latest findings name all-inclusive as the No. 1 ultraluxe travel experience according to its advisors, with “Fancy-flation” — affluent clients approaching advisors budget-first and asking where their money buys the most luxury — driving demand for packages where much of the vacation is already accounted for.
The takeaway from the analysts: “all-inclusive” and “ultraluxe” are no longer opposing categories. Increasingly, they are the same conversation — and the industry is pricing and building accordingly.
Source: MarketWatch — read the full story there.