Best Western confident in face of Baha Mar unveils new product

Wed, Feb 4th 2015, 10:50 AM

While mega developments like Atlantis and Baha Mar are increasingly grabbing headlines around the world, Best Western executive Tom Osborn seems assured that smaller properties like the Best Western Bay View Suites on Paradise Island will continue to thrive.

Osborn was addressing media questions at the Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week.

Questioned by Guardian Business about whether Baha Mar - scheduled to open on March 27 - will pull clientele from Paradise Island, Osborn said that might be the case with Atlantis, but not with his resort.

"Our property is a smaller resort-type property that sits on the bay and it's more for that guest that doesn't want that Atlantis-type experience," he said.

"They don't need four thousand people around them. They'd like to have a swimming pool and space to themselves and the tranquility of the Caribbean (Sea) instead of the fast pace that you get at the Atlantis."

Premier Collection
Osborn also unveiled the Best Western Premier Collection, which presently has one member hotel in Sweden.

"Premier Collection was just introduced. It's mainly for upscale independent hotels. It allows them to keep their independence but tap into our reservation system and our rewards programs," he said.

Osborn explained that Premier Collection is a "pay for performance" model.

"Where our competitors charge a fee based on the revenue of the hotel, the Premier Collection is simple: You only pay for what we send to the hotel, (a small) percentage of a reservation, and our global system last year did well over $4 billion in revenue worldwide," he said.

The ideal partners are hotels with a AAA rating of three-star or higher, a four-star TripAdvisor rating and full service hotels Osborn said are "tired of the total dependency on OTAs (online travel agencies) and the fees charged by the OTAs."

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