ALL-inclusive resort group Allegro is looking to acquire properties in St Lucia and Barbados in order to make further in-roads into the UKmarket.
The Caribbean-based group currently has 24 resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Tunisia and Morocco and is now planning to open properties in locations particularly popular with British holidaymakers.
Managing director UK Clive Farmer said:”We don’t have any properties in St Lucia and Barbados, but they are key destinations for the UK. The UKaccounts for around 10% of our total business, but is second behind Germany. My job is to make it the number one market.”
He said the chain was also looking for opportunities in Florida, Hawaii and in Europe.
“We will consider any location which has good air access and is a year-round destination,” said Farmer.
The group opened its first UKsales office at the end of last year. It has four brands, the core being the four to five-star Allegro properties, all situated on the beach. Second largest is the three to four-star Caribbean Villages brand, followed by the adult-only four-star Jack Tar Villages.
Just before Christmas, Allegro opened the first of a fourth brand, the five-star Royal Hideaway Playacar, in Playa del Carmen, in the Yucatan Peninsula. At the end of this year, it will open a property in Cozumel, expected to be a Jack Tar Village, and also an Allegro resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The group is currently focusing sales and marketing efforts on the Allegro Turks and Caicos, reopened earlier this month after renovation.It was previously the Ramada Turquoise Reef.