Travel Agent - August 20, 2007 - (Page 10)

Vital Signs News You Can Use properties by 2009. One of those properties, Travel Agent learned, will be a new JW Marriott in St. Martin. The property is slated to be a 200-room hotel with a possible addition of 200 condos, according to a Marriott International representative. The project is expected to break ground in the middle of next year and be completed no earlier than 2010. Marriott Into All-Inclusives Last week, Travel Agent learned that Marriott will increase its Caribbean product, opening an all-inclusive in the Dominican Republic (and elsewhere); and that Elite Island Resorts is expanding its three Caribbean resort properties. Marriott’s Foray Into the All-Inclusive Market A representative of Marriott International (www.marriott.com) told Travel Agent last week that the hotel company plans to get involved in the all-inclusive hotel business. We learned that Marriott is in the early planning stages of opening its first all-inclusive hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico. However, Marriott wants to only manage and not own the property; talks with a potential partner recently broke off. Marriott is still deciding whether to seek another partner or to move forward on its own. Riviera Maya is still targeted as the first destination to see a Marriott all-inclusive, but the earliest it could be finished is 2010. The Dominican Republic would be the next destination for Marriott all-inclusives. The company currently has 350 hotels in operation and is expected to have up to 500 by 2010 or 2011. Marriott is expected to increase its Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America product by as much as 20 Galley Bay is one of three recently expanded Elite Island Resorts properties in the Caribbean Galley Bay expanded from 69 accommodations to 99 with all of the new rooms coming in the form of oceanfront suites. Also, eight new oceanfront Premium Guest Rooms are open at St. James Club Resort & Villas and four new one-bedroom, air-conditioned rooms are now available at Palm Island. Also, to help spread the word among travel agents, Elite Island Resort announced in early July that it bumped commission to agents from 13 percent to 15 percent. “We started to see more and more direct business from travel agents to the point where we just thought that we really needed to come up with a better package for agents,” says Heydt, noting that the 15 percent commission is not temporary. “You can’t increase something and then take it away.” —Joe Pike Elite Island Resorts Upgrades Caribbean Properties Elite Island Resorts (www.eliteisland resorts.com) recently announced expansion and renovations of three of its upscale oceanfront resorts: Galley Bay and the St. James’ Club & Villas, both in Antigua, and Palm Island in the Grenadines. Steven Heydt, president of Elite Island Resorts, told Travel Agent there was a bit of a riddle to solve when deciding how to expand Galley Bay without changing its intimate feel. “We had all this demand for this one property that we really had no other choice than to expand it, but we also had to be careful not to disturb the feeling that people came to this property for,” says Heydt. “In the end, we felt, keep it below 100 [rooms] and we’d fine.” And Heydt pushed it to the limit. New A&K Agent Contacts Named Last week, Abercrombie & Kent (www. abercrombiekent.com) announced two appointments pertinent to travel agents. Shawn Johnson is the new director of sales for the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Gerry Cooper, a recent hire from Pleasant Holidays, will take over Johnson’s current position as director of sales for the south central region of the U.S. Based in Dallas, Johnson has been with A&K since 2005. He previously served in positions with Trafalgar Tours, NavigantVacations.com, and Carnival Corp. A spokesperson for A&K says Johnson was the company’s first choice to fill the very important position of managing sales in the New York area when the post was recently vacated. He can be reached at 630-954-2944 ext. 511 or sjohnson@abercrombiekent.com. Prior to Pleasant Holidays, Cooper worked for Air France and Delta Air Lines in both sales and development positions. She can be reached at 630954-2944 ext. 505 gcooper@abercrom biekent.com. In the coming months, the luxury tour operator will ramp up its private jet trips due to a strong demand. —Jennifer Merritt 10 TravelAgent August 20, 2007 http://www.marriott.com http://www.eliteislandresorts.com http://www.eliteislandresorts.com http://www.abercrombiekent.com http://www.abercrombiekent.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - August 20, 2007

Contents Editor's Letter News You Can Use Agenda: Fam Trips, Calendar of Events, Deal of the Week Cover Story: Hot Cruise Ports: 2008 and Beyond Central & South America: Costa Rica’s New Resort Europe: Heathrow Upgrades Hawaii: Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa Caribbean: Westin’s Plans in the D.R. Still on Track Africa: Pacific Delight Tours’ South Africa Itinerary Hotels: West Virginia Icon Gets Makeover Tech Advisor: Search Engine Optimization 101 Spa Luxury Travel Expo Update Advertisers’ Information Classified Marketplace People & Places

Travel Agent - August 20, 2007

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