Bahia Principe Plans Expansion for 2018

Bahia Principe is in “full expansion mode,” opening one hotel every year, and that will continue into 2018 and likely 2019, says Helen Montijano, vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. and Canada. 

Coming online this year is a new-build property in Tenerife “and we’ll probably have news for 2019,” she told TMR in an exclusive interview. The hotel company already has 25 properties, including all five-star luxury properties in the Caribbean as well as properties in Spain, where the company is based.

With a customer base that also includes Latin America and Europe, Bahia Principe has been seeing “incredible growth in the North American market,” thanks to a commitment to quality and a focus on branding, as well as a highly successful awards program for travel agents launched in 2017 “to say thank you for your support,” Montijano said. “And we’ve been doing a lot more marketing through our BDMs, teaching people what we have.”

Also spurring the growth has been the newest property, which opened in Punta Cana at the end of 2016.

The most exciting news for this year, though, is the new hotel opening in Tenerife, off the coast of Spain. Like its Punta Cana sister, it will be a family-oriented Fantasia class hotel.

Fantasia hotels are designed to offer “unique experiences in every sense of the word, targeting multi-generational vacationers and very focused on having activities for all ages,” including multimedia shows and a state-of-the-art teens club with their own gym; extended hours in the kids clubs; cooking classes where grandparents can go with the kids; buffets just for kids; and family packages for food and water parks with shows around the pool. The property’s rooms can hold up to five people.

The company chose Tenerife because its existing hotels there are very popular with the nearby British and German markets, and the weather is great throughout the year.

Also on tap for 2018 a complete renovation of the Luxury Bahia Principe Ambar Blue adults-only property in Punta Cana. Beginning in a few weeks, it will add a state-of-the-art gym with an exterior area, more themed restaurants, and a massive sports bar.