PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic -- Playa Hotels and Resorts
has rolled out an agent booking portal at PlayaResorts.com.
Playa announced the portal's debut on Saturday during the
Spotlight Awards event for top producers here at the Sanctuary Cap Cana.
Agents who book via the portal will receive commission
within seven days. Agents will have access to Hyatt and Hilton rates for
loyalty program members and earn full commission on those bookings.
Playa manages properties under the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara
brands, with locations in Mexico, Jamaica and, soon, the Dominican Republic. Last
November, the Royal Playa del Carmen in Mexico and Dreams La Romana in the
Dominican Republic were rebranded as Hilton resorts under an expanded
partnership between Hilton and Playa.
Agents' clients will earn full points on bookings at Playa's
Hyatt properties. Within the next month, Hilton loyalty program members will also
earn full points on bookings, according to Playa. The booking engine will
feature a calendar displaying pricing, availability and restrictions in real
time.
The new portal is "a booking engine built for travel
agents, by travel agents," Kevin Froemming, Playa executive vice president
and chief marketing officer, told the 100 agents from the U.S. and Canada
during an informational session. "We've got a lot of tools that are ready
today, and within the next 30 days there are going to be more exciting things
on there."
The
portal does not include an air-booking component. Froemming said in an
interview following the presentation that Playa would continue to rely on its
tour operator partners for air-inclusive packages. Playa's tour operator partners include Delta Vacations,
Flight Centre Travel Group, Classic Vacations, Pleasant Holidays, Vacation
Express, American Airlines Vacations, JetBlue Vacations, Island Destinations
and Sun Country Vacations.
During the four-day Spotlight Awards, agents visited the
construction site of Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Cap Cana. The 750-room complex,
comprising adults-only and family wings, is scheduled to open in November.
Also set to debut in November will be renovations to the
former Dreams La Romana, now known as the Hilton La Romana. Renovations in the
adults-only section are scheduled to take place from Jan. 20 to the end of May;
work on the family section will begin thereafter. Via artist's renderings,
agents received a sneak peek of the renovations during a visit to the property,
which is about a 45-minute drive from Cap Cana.