Hospitality Trends
Travel + Leisure Co | September 25, 2023
Travel + Leisure Co. collaborates with Sports Hospitality Ventures to launch sports-themed resort complexes near college towns.
Introducing the Sports Illustrated Resorts vacation club, uniting sports enthusiasts and offering flexible bookings and amenities.
Sports Illustrated Resorts unveils residences, with fractional and wholly owned condominiums managed professionally.
Expansion plans include chic beach clubs and experience parks, with a Tuscaloosa resort expected to open in late 2025.
Travel + Leisure Co, a membership and leisure travel company, has partnered with Sports Hospitality Ventures, LLC, the hotel and resorts licensee for the esteemed Sports Illustrated brand in North America and the Caribbean. Together, they introduce an innovative vision for a series of sports-themed resort and lifestyle complexes strategically situated in vibrant college towns catering to passionate fan communities.
A novel addition to the Sports Illustrated Resorts portfolio is the vacation club. This innovative concept aims to unite fervent sports fans, friends, and families by elevating their accommodation experience. Club members will enjoy the flexibility to make repeat resort reservations and access a variety of amenities across the expanding Sports Illustrated Resorts portfolio. This endeavor is made possible through the partnership of Travel + Leisure Co., leveraging its expertise in managing brand collaborations.
Additionally, Sports Illustrated Resorts introduces residences, offering fractional and wholly owned condominiums managed professionally through the collaboration. The residences promise a range of signature services and amenities in line with the active lifestyle theme of Sports Illustrated Resorts. The inaugural college town resort in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is just the beginning, with plans for further expansion fueled by the collaboration between Sports Hospitality Ventures, Authentic Brands Group, and Kituwah LLC, representing the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who have committed $320 million to propel the growth of the Sports Illustrated Resorts brand.
With a vision to deliver immersive experiences celebrating the iconic moments of Sports Illustrated's outstanding history, Sports Illustrated Resorts has become a destination beyond conventional lodging. The resorts' unique design will transport guests and owners into the heart of sports culture, with diverse attractions, live sports and entertainment, fine dining, and wellness facilities. While the initial focus is on university locations, the broader portfolio will extend to chic beach clubs and experience parks in prime leisure destinations. Sports Illustrated Resorts is adopting an asset-light development financing model for its expansion, with the Tuscaloosa resort anticipated to welcome guests in late 2025. While Travel + Leisure Co. foresees no immediate earnings impact, it anticipates this venture will drive incremental growth from the latter half of 2025 onwards.
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Business Travel
PR Newswire | November 03, 2023
IBS Software and Royal Caribbean Group have partnered to deploy cutting-edge retail technology at the heart of its operations.
This will enable Royal Caribbean Group to provide a more seamless vacation experience to their guests and deliver even better personalized services at every step of the trip: before, during, and after.
By deploying IBS Software's next-generation iTravelCruise travel platform, Royal Caribbean Group is able to place guests at the center of the retail experience. The company will be able to deliver tailored guests experiences by empowering every sales channel with an integrated and flexible omni-channel platform. This translates into offering improved bundling and selling services that contribute to the entire vacation experience – such as booking flights, hotels and transfers – as well as providing guests with personalized offers, credits and loyalty rewards throughout the trip using an integrated guest wallet.
The iTravelCruise platform plays a significant role by delivering high-performance transaction processing, high system availability, security and stringent performance requirements for Royal Caribbean Group, providing a faster, more flexible and seamless booking experience for guests.
Marta Poulter, Chief Information Officer at Royal Caribbean Group, said, "At Royal Caribbean Group we never stand still in our mission to constantly bring our guests new and differentiated experiences. This is made possible by replacing legacy technology with the latest cloud-based retail systems, as it gives guests far more flexibility over what they can book to make their trip as seamless and easy as possible."
Rafeh Masood, Chief Growth and Digital Officer at Royal Caribbean Group, said, "By adopting this modern digital platform, we'll offer more opportunities to our guests to continue vacationing and building memories with us, with the benefits of flexible, personalized offerings."
Jitendra Sindhwani, President at IBS Software, commented, "We're thrilled to partner with the Royal Caribbean Group to fulfill their goal of placing retail technology at the heart of its guest experiences. The travel industry is shifting from being product-centric to guest-centric and Royal Caribbean Group has an inspiring vision to continuously provide value to every guest, at every stage of their vacation journey. Backed by next-generation cloud-based architecture, digital solutions like IBS Software's iTravelCruise SaaS platform are driving the transformation needed for companies to unlock their full growth and scale potential. We're beyond excited to be on this journey with Royal Caribbean Group as they transform the future of cruise."
More information on IBS Software's next-generation digital platform for tour and cruise, enabling cruise lines to leverage smarter technologies.
About IBS Software
IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise, hospitality, and energy resources industries.
Tour & Cruise Industry:
IBS Software's platform provides a comprehensive, customer-centric, digital platform that covers onshore, online and on-board solutions.
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Travel Technology, Hospitality Management
Virgin Voyages | September 08, 2023
Virgin Voyages announced a $550 million funding round led by Ares Management for global expansion.
Founder Tom McAlpin transitions to Chairman of the Board, while Nirmal Saverimuttu takes over as CEO, bringing extensive experience from Virgin Voyages' early days.
Virgin Voyages looks forward to continued success and collaboration with investors, including Ares Management, to drive future growth and innovation.
Virgin Voyages, the award-winning cruise brand backed by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, has announced the completion of a $550 million fundraise led by Ares Management's Private Equity Group. This funding, including contributions from existing investors such as Virgin Group and Bain Capital, is poised to propel Virgin Voyages into international markets while enhancing the overall customer experience.
Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of Special Opportunities in the Ares Private Equity Group, Aaron Rosen, remarked,
With this new investment alongside our partners at Virgin Group and Bain Capital, we believe the company is on strong footing to capitalize on its differentiated product and value proposition in the growing cruise industry.
[Source - Cision PR Newswire]
Established as a leading player in the industry, Virgin Voyages has swiftly gained recognition and accolades with a fleet serving various destinations and recent wins like topping the mega-ship category in Travel + Leisure's 2023 World's Best Awards and sweeping all five cruise categories in the 2023 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards.
Alongside this development, Tom McAlpin, the founding CEO, is transitioning to the role of Chairman of the Board. Nirmal Saverimuttu is taking the reins as the new Chief Executive Officer, having formerly served as President and Chief Experience Officer. In addition, Nirmal Saverimuttu has been a foundational figure at Virgin Voyages since 2014, when he joined as Chief Commercial Officer after securing initial investments from the Virgin Group. His role expanded in 2021 to President and Chief Experience Officer, making him well-prepared to guide the brand into its next phase of growth and innovation.
Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO of Virgin Voyages, said,
I want to send our deepest thanks, on behalf of all our Crew and the Board, to Tom for his leadership and passion for the business. We are so grateful for all he has done and are thrilled to continue to partner with him as our Chairman.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
Virgin Voyages is a trusted brand due to its crew's dedication and passion for offering remarkable experiences for its guests. Nirmal also expressed his anticipation of collaborating with the Ares team and Virgin Voyages' current investors to execute growth and expansion plans as the company contemplates its promising future.
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