Selling Luxury Takes A Personal Touch: 3Q With The Landings, St. Lucia
by Cheryl Rosen /
TMR asks Wilbert Mason, general manager of The Landings Resort and Spa in Saint Lucia, three questions about how to sell luxury and what’s new at the Caribbean resort.
What’s new at The Landings as we move into the fall and winter season?
The changing nature of travelers looking for a new Caribbean destination has led to an increase in visits to St. Lucia, allowing us to welcome new guests. As the needs of our travel-savvy guests evolve, we look at new ways to cater to their expectations. For this coming fall and winter season, we will continue to offer our guests an authentic St. Lucian experience, while debuting our newly refurbished suites on October 15. And our Soleil Spa will feature a new line of Nature Bisse products to complement our premium treatments.
What advice can you offer travel agents trying to sell upscale properties?
Over the years, I have seen success within the luxury market comes when an agent can speak the customer’s language. You need to know the unique nuances between a Caribbean luxury vacation and an Asian luxury vacation. Agents have to know what are the hottest, latest, hippest, trendiest hotels in the Caribbean and which properties offer that authentic experience your client wants to book. An agent’s recommendations should come from experience, which will gain the client’s trust. At the same time, agents should be ahead of the trends, if not the one’s defining what the newest vacation experiences should be.
Travel agents selling upscale properties should focus on developing great relationships with key properties. I personally like it when agents call or send an email to say they have a client coming, to ensure we make their stay as comfortable and memorable as possible. When you develop those relationships with those upscale properties you can guarantee that you will be able to provide a better experience for your clients than you can on your own. My goal is to continue developing relationships with travel agents in an effort to create great stories for our guest staying at the Landings Resort and Spa.
What new things do you see customers asking for?
At The Landings Resort and Spa, each guest has his or her own unique requests—which can be challenging when trying to be proactive, as opposed to reactionary, to their needs. As St. Lucia is an emerging destination for the U.S. traveler, we find education to be a key component to ensuring a memorable stay. Our concierge team provides information not only on our hotel amenities and offerings, but also of local events and island staples worth a visit. Cultural immersion experiences are also highly requested of our concierge team, which recommends a cooking class on the beach to learn a signature St. Lucian dish, sailing classes, or a mixology class behind the bar using a favorite local rum. While stimulating experiences are on the rise, we also see a trend in wellness requests for more mindfulness experiences and peaceful retreat offerings.