Agency Executives See Opportunities in Royal Caribbean & Sandals Resorts Merger

While front-line advisor reaction to Royal Caribbean’s 50% purchase of Sandals Resorts has been mixed, executives at host agencies, franchises, and consortia are mostly seeing opportunity.

“This is exciting news for travel advisors because it creates new opportunities to engage clients in conversations about their next vacation,” said Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager of Dream Vacations. “Today’s travelers aren’t thinking in terms of cruise or land vacations. They’re looking for the experience that’s right for them, and advisors are uniquely positioned to help guide those decisions.”

Daly’s words echo Royal Caribbean’s sentiment that it’s not in the business of selling cruises, but of selling vacations – whether that includes an ocean or river cruise, a perfect day on the beach, or an all-inclusive resort.

Ensemble president Michael Johnson’s response also echoed this. “It reflects something we’re seeing across travel: consumers don’t necessarily separate their vacation choices into land and sea. They want great experiences and increasingly have interest in both. We hope this partnership creates new opportunities across the industry and, importantly, benefits our community of travel professionals by giving them even more ways to serve their clients and grow their businesses.”

“Today’s travelers are looking for more flexibility and more ways to personalize their vacations,” David Crooks, chief product officer, World Travel Holdings, added. “Bringing together two iconic brands in cruising and all-inclusive resorts has the potential to expand vacation choices and create even more opportunities for travelers to find the experiences that best fit their needs.”

Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature Travel Network, told TMR he also sees “good value” in the merger.

“Both brands are strong. Royal [is] more global, which will help,” he said, adding that adding “real estate” in the Caribbean gives Royal Caribbean Group more options as it “considers more private beach/island space.”

“There are certainly synergies and savings from a cost perspective and overlap/opportunity with customers,” he added.

Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer at Internova also sees synergies between the two companies.

“As a leading seller of both brands, we see tremendous potential in bringing these two iconic vacation companies closer together,” he said. “The Caribbean is in their DNA, and it’s in ours, too. Their vision of turning a vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations is music to a retailer’s ears. It’s also at the heart of what great travel advisors do: build relationships with customers that span many trips and many stages of their lives. This partnership gives our advisors even more opportunities to create extraordinary vacations, deliver exceptional value to travelers and introduce more customers to both brands.”

Christina Pedroni, executive vice president and general manager USA for Envoyage, also sees opportunity ahead but acknowledged that many travel advisors are feeling iffy about the deal.

“I have already seen some advisors online bracing for the worst,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “I understand the instinct. Sandals was one of our top partners during my time at Liberty Travel and we have carried that history forward. They remain an excellent partner with Envoyage today. It is family-owned, Jamaican-built, and one of the most beloved brands in this industry. Changes like this don’t always end well for the advisor community, and that fear is real.”

But, she added, she doesn’t believe the deal is a setback.

“If a partner had to come in, Royal Caribbean is one of the best possible outcomes this industry could have asked for. They, like Sandals, have built one of the strongest consumer brands in travel without ever losing sight of the advisor channel. That is not a given at this scale. They also understand customer segmentation extremely well given their multiple cruise line brands, and I expect collectively they will stay focused on protecting what Sandals customers love most about the experience.”“This is not the end of something. It is two companies that understand this industry combining forces to grow faster than either could alone.”

Nicole Mazza, the CMO at TRAVELSAVERS, and Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, also saw the opportunities from the deal.

“When two successful brands with a strong commitment to the travel advisor community come together to create new experiences for travelers, it creates meaningful opportunities across the industry. Partnerships like this give advisors new ways to cross-sell and offer more comprehensive vacation experiences. It will be exciting to see how this develops,” Mazza said.

“This partnership brings together two iconic vacation brands to create broader possibilities for travelers. By combining the strengths of Royal Caribbean and Sandals, we can inspire more people to discover new ways to vacation, explore new destinations and create unforgettable memories,” said Fee.