BWH Hotels Has Big Plans in the Caribbean: A Conversation With Bill Clegg
BWH, the hotel portfolio that includes brands like Best Western and SureStay Hotels, has been on an expansion push in the Caribbean in recent years. That includes new properties in destinations like Aruba and Curacao and an even larger pipeline of signed hotels across the wider Caribbean Basin.
So what’s next for the company, and why is BWH bullish on the Caribbean?
To learn more, Caribbean Journal Invest caught up with Bill Clegg, regional director fo development about what’s next for BWH.
How many hotels does BWH represent worldwide and how many are there in the Caribbean currently?
BWHSM Hotels is a global hospitality company that includes WorldHotels™, Best Western® Hotels & Resorts, and SureStay® Hotels. With about 4,300 hotels in over 100 countries and territories, we offer a wide range of options, from budget-friendly to luxury.
In the Caribbean, there are six open properties and nine upcoming openings, across the breadth and depth of BWH Hotels brand offerings. We are proud to be growing with our soft brands within the region as they bring value and benefit to our hotel owners allowing them to leverage our resources for their independent and unique properties, and in our core brands where the familiar brands drive incremental demand, for example, in airport locations.
What is happening in the luxury travel segment right now and what is BWH’s strategy for capturing that market?
The luxury segment has proven resilient and strong in the Caribbean region. Travelers seeking luxury accommodations continue to come to the Caribbean, which has resulted in continuous strong year-over-year growth and demand in the luxury segment.
Travel to the Caribbean is aspirational and visitors are more purposeful with their plan to spend, therefore willing to pay more for the ideal experience. Studies have shown that guests will pay more for high-end accommodations in the Caribbean than other destinations.
BWH Hotels strategy is all-encompassing to offer the right brand in the right location for any traveler’s purpose. This includes providing brand options for travelers across the segments within the Caribbean.
Our award-winning loyalty program drives demand to the region from guests around the world. BWH Rewards and WorldHotels Rewards reward guests for their stays as members seek to earn and spend points on aspirational Caribbean stays.
We see exciting growth opportunities in the luxury segment as our guests who stay across our brands seek luxury accommodations to spend (and earn) their loyalty program points. BWH Hotels is pleased to deliver on these aspirational hotel stays in the Caribbean.
BWH Hotels offers over 250 WorldHotels properties, hand-selected, luxury, independent hotels and resorts in over 175 destinations worldwide. We have demonstrated WorldHotels success and eagerly anticipate bringing the brand to the Caribbean.
How is the Caribbean market poised for hotel development right now and what is the outlook?
Average rates and occupancies are at record highs throughout the Caribbean. We have seen no slowing in demand with the return to travel post-pandemic. We see development opportunities in a number of islands within the Caribbean, particularly the A-B-C islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, Barbados, the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands.
Please tell us what is unique about BWH Hotels and how you work with hotels.
We have two distinct business models for affiliations in the Caribbean, both designed to drive success for owners, and not shareholders’ return. The first is membership model in which hotels receive all the benefits of a traditional franchise but pay lower fees due to our non-profit corporate status. The second is an affiliation agreement model in which we drive demand and lower distribution costs for independent hotels. In both models we are flexible for an owner’s vision and operation with owner-friendly agreements.
How can BWH Hotels help independent Caribbean hotels?
BWH Hotels brings a strong value proposition to driving incremental demand and lower distribution costs for independent Caribbean hotels. We bring full brand resources, for example distribution, sales, marketing, performance support, training resources and others at very low fees. Our negotiated OTA commissions and distribution shift to our proprietary channels can easily offset a hotel’s current distribution costs.
Where do you think the Caribbean Hotel marketplace will be in five years?
The Caribbean has been and will remain a very desirable vacation destination. Travelers are realizing that it is not one homogenous region, rather it is a collection of 33 unique destinations. Travelers seek authenticity and we believe that demand across the region will continue to grow as travelers across generations want to explore and experience the variety within the region.
As an organization with 19 brands BWH Hotels is poised to meet the variety of needs across travel intentions. Our goal is to have the right hotels in the right destinations at a variety of price points to welcome travelers for their ideal and aspirational vacations.
Bill Clegg is BWH Hotels director of development for the Caribbean region. For more information, he may be reached at bill.clegg@bwh.com or at 704.906.5084.
