Integrating Hyatt and ALG: More Than Just Rebranding

Bringing together two companies after the purchase last year of Apple Leisure Group (ALG) by Hyatt Hotels Corporation is not simply a matter of rebranding.

It’s a top-to-bottom integration project that involves an overwhelming number of details. In the case of this acquisition, according to Asad Ahmed, senior vice president-commercial services, the Americas for Hyatt, things are going well.

Although both Hyatt and ALG are in the travel/hospitality arena, they came from very different places – one focused on traditional hotels and resorts and the other with a significant all-inclusive portfolio, as well as vacation packaging and technology divisions. While Hyatt had entered the all-inclusive market years ago with the Ziva and Zilara brands, there was still a lot of work to be done to create a smoothly functioning entity that would be easy for travel advisors to work with.

Six months after the deal formally closed, another big step toward integration was taken early in May – bringing more than 50 properties from ALG’s AMResorts under Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection umbrella. Brands include Hyatt Ziva resorts, Hyatt Zilara resorts, Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Vivid Hotels & Resorts (coming soon), Alua Hotels & Resorts and Sunscape Resorts & Spas.

Ahmed said that since the deal formally closed in November, teams from the tops of the organizations have been working side by side to bring business development efforts together. While there were complementary elements, he said, there were others that were unique to each company. Hyatt’s CEO Mark Hoplamazian, said Ahmed, has been thoughtful about integrating the two entities and leveraging their combined strengths.

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Just prior to the Inclusive Collection bringing together all nine brands, the World of Hyatt loyalty program was integrated with AMResorts. As a result, consumers can “earn and burn” World of Hyatt points at properties in the Americas. Later this year, guests at European outposts will also be able to take advantage of the loyalty program. From a consumer perspective, said Ahmed, “that drives our value components.”

In fact, driving value components has been the focus of the integration across all brands, said Ahmed. Hyatt, he said, continues to build out synergy from a marketing and merchandising perspective – both from B2C and B2B angles. One example of the synergy is that, while Hyatt did not have a vacation packaging arm, it is now working closing with and building on ALG’s capabilities in that area. That has enabled Hyatt, said Ahmed, to broaden its own packaging capability, and the company is exploring the deployment of packaging beyond ALG’s portfolio.

Ahmed said Hyatt has been talking to advisors since the deal was completed about how the combined company would work. He said that while advisors were familiar with the AMR brands, the acquisition enabled Hyatt to meld its own brand equity – including the Ziva and Zilara portfolio – with AMR Collection to create more value by making vacation planning and booking simpler.

And these efforts are already paying off. According to Ahmed, summer bookings at Inclusive Collection properties are up 50 percent year-over-year compared with 2021. And while 2021 saw much of the industry struggling with the pandemic, all-inclusives in the Caribbean and Mexico were already on their way to recovery.

And looking to 2022 summer holiday travel, booking activity across Hyatt’s entire portfolio in the Americas is up 20-40 percent compared to 2019, speaking to pent-up demand, popular destinations and consumers booking further ahead than they used to, Ahmed noted.

All-inclusives have proven to be a durable product in terms of their popularity for traditional reasons and for more recent ones, according to Ahmed. There is the ease of transaction, both in booking and at the destinations. But all-inclusives have also evolved, he said, in now enabling visitors to immerse themselves in destinations through tours they book through the properties. That has been a real driver of the category’s growth, he said.

The integration has also involved a great deal of education – building on what has been in place, said Ahmed. He said the AMRagents.com training, education and loyalty program portal is a comprehensive platform that not only provides information about the brands and helps with transactions but also guides advisors in helping clients get the most out of their vacation packages.

For now, said Ahmed, the Inclusive Collection has holistically been rebranded, but legacy components like AMRagents.com continue to use their pre-acquisition names. The company will look at how that situation evolves over time because, said Ahmed, “we want to take advantage of the joint power of the brands.”

Hyatt has had its own advisor initiative in the form of Hyatt Privé, an invitation-only program that provides access to special in-resort benefits such as credits and upgrades. It mainly includes Hyatt’s upscale and luxury properties – the Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Grand brand extensions, but also Thompson, Andaz and Park Hyatt hotels. There are currently four properties in the program from the AMR Collection: Zoëtry Casa del Mar Los Cabos, Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya, Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana and Zoëtry Mallorca Balearic Islands. Additional resorts and hotels may become available later this year

In addition, the Hyatt Travel Advisor homepage now allows advisors to book travel for their clients directly with AMR Collection or Hyatt. Customers who are World of Hyatt members will earn rewards points. Bookings that are made directly in Hyatt’s channels will be eligible for registration into AMR Collection’s travel advisor loyalty program, AMRewards.

Looking ahead, said Ahmed, the market for all-inclusives has evolved and become much broader. Aside from the pent-up demand driven by the pandemic, there are different motivating factors that appeal to younger and more affluent travelers. “Not everyone is trying to do the same things they did before,” he said, which expands opportunities for selling all-inclusives.

Hyatt, said Ahmed, is open to adding more brands and to significant geographical expansion. If you look at Hyatt’s last two acquisitions – Two Roads (a lifestyle hotel company) and ALG, he said, “we continue to seek to fill the gaps in our overall brand offering and also add new destinations.” There is potential, he said, in Europe and the Mediterranean (where ALG’s Alua brand has already been expanding) and even Asia for all-inclusives.

For advisors, that means more and more options for what has always been of great appeal to travel sellers: generous commissions from all-inclusives because they are being paid for meals, activities and the rest; and the ease and simplicity of transactions.