Can A Half Century-Plus Old Brand Maintain Its Cachet? Operators Betting On It with Significant Growth During Economic Downturn
At a time when the word “environmental” was just another dictionary entry, Laurance Rockefeller, a grandson of the oil tycoon, created RockResorts, a forerunner of the eco-tourism movement. Resorts like Caneel Bay and Little Dix Bay in the Caribbean pioneered “green” travel, though it was not even large enough to be considered a movement.
But over the last decades, the RockResorts brand was purchased by a number of owners – some who sought to maintain its integrity, others who simply allowed the name to stagnate. Then in 2001, Vail Resorts, which operates the ski operations on five Western mountains (including Vail and Breckenridge), bought the name. While they spent the first years regrouping, they have now moved aggressively to open a number of new resorts – including a return to the Northeast (Stowe, Vermont) and the first city hotel (Hotel Tempo in Miami).
But is it possible to resurrect a brand, many of whose early guests are gone and a new generation of travelers who are unfamiliar with the name at all? Stan Brown, president of RockResorts; and Paul Toner, vice president-sales and marketing, spent some time with LT360 talking about this born-again brand.
Here are highlights of our chat with the RockResorts leaders:
* The RockResorts name, say the executives, continues to have
cachet amongst many travelers, in part because the brand never grew
large enough to weaken the integrity of the name. “We’ve been
surprised,” says Brown, “about how much awareness there is today.”
Brown says there has always been an interest in the brand, not just
from guests but from owners as well.
* RockResorts is not looking to grow quickly, but strategically,
according to Brown. The original environmental mandate is key so that
most growth will be in environmentally friendly areas – like ski
mountains and the Caribbean.
* While each property is very different, they share a boutique feel
and architecturally uniqueness. Guest rooms will be large and spas
“cutting edge.” And to maintain brand integrity, says Brown, “we will
continue to spend money to upgrade our existing properties. For
instance, we just spent $7 million to upgrade what had been the Inn at
Beaver Creek and is now the Osprey.”
* With RockResorts no longer alone in the eco-tourism realm,
operators week to distinguish it through “sustainable cuisine” prepared
by “the best chefs out there. “It’s what we believe in, not a marketing
ploys,” says Toner. And “unbelievable spas” will also be
differentiators. But the eco piece reigns,”Everything we do will be
done with a green visor,” says Toner. “That again is part of our
culture, not just marketing.”
* But why a city hotel for a name that has been associated with
resorts for a half century? Says Brown, “We see Miami as a gateway to
the Caribbean and across a causeway from South Beach. It gives people a
chance to look at the kind of services we provide. Also, it highlights
our cultural/arts approach to hospitality. The hotel is walking
distance from all the city’s cultural pieces.” While cities will not be
a focus, said Brown, “we will never say no to another city location.”
* Looking ahead, Brown sees more “source markets” for guests –
including South America, Canada and the United Kingdom. “We already
have a large international clientele,” says Brown, “who are looking for
something beyond the standard room. The brand has been well known
internationally since its inception.”
* Coming up for RockResorts: The Osprey, Beaver Creek, Colorado
(December 2008); Tempo Miami (Spring 2009); One Ski Hill Place,
Breckenridge (200); The Mansfield Inn at Stowe, Vermont (2010); Rum Cay
Resort Marina, The Bahamas (2011) and Third Turtle Club & Spa,
Turks and Caicos (2011.)
We began our recent report on ‘Family Travel Rising’ with the following:
“All the evidence -- whether you are looking at the Amex-Harrison Group study we reviewed in our last issue, or the Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluence Report completed in September, -- shows Family First when it comes to disposable dollars.
We believe family focus is going to be front of mind for a long time to come, long after the punishing economic climate has subsided. Provider brands will be hard pressed to provide much more than kiddie or junior, or young adult activities. Smart travel agents will have to rise to higher levels of creativity and performance on the family front to sustain customer loyalty and earn the benefits of word of mouth in the neighborhood.”
And last week we caught our favorite global traveler-editor-writer-commentator during a quiet moment at home in England, the home of The Gostelow Report. She shared these thoughts:
• The hotel industry has been very slow to realize that this big expansion in family travel was going to happen. We’ve had “connecting rooms and you can put the kids next door”. They moved on to two swimming pools rather than one. One was kid friendly and one was not. But we really haven’t had anything more than that.
• We are seeing more and more bigger family groups. Operators are having a real challenge coping with such groups because it’s not a group per se, but they form their own groups. They want to be private. They want their own thing. .They tend to do their own excursions. They suddenly want a bus to take them all out. So it’s a real, real challenge. And so far the hotel industry has not realized this is happening. Now, it’s not only families. We’re also seeing more and more groups of friends traveling. And the hotel industry is not incentivizing enough – say a pair of DINKs come- Double-Income-No-Kids. There’s no incentive to them at the moment to bring along two other friends or even four other friends. And there’s big potential on the marketing side there.
Everybody knows her, but her bio is worth repeating.
Mary Gostelow, president of Gostelow Travel: Hottest Hospitality News Worldwide, is an inveterate traveler on the road more than 300 days a year. She owns and publishes the definitive Gostelow Reports, monthly market intelligence briefings to the top levels of the hospitality industry. She is the editor of KIWI's online Wow! Magazine, and also sends out a monthly update to top travel professionals worldwide.
At the same time, she is contributing editor to such publications as Elite Traveler, enRoute, Hotels and Le Magazine.
Nat Ives, in Ad Age Online Sept 6, cites new data from Ipsos MMR which assures that well-off readers read print publications just as much now as they did 5 years ago.
Also, survey respondents making more than $100,000 annually said their average hours online had grown to 22.1 each week from 10.7, while the time they said they spent watching TV sunk to 18.6 hours from 23.7 in the 2003 survey. Read the full Ives story at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130685. Lux 360 attended the client briefing this week and will provide additional perspective in our Sept. 30 issue, interviewing Ipsos MMR President Bob Shullman.
Imagination Marketing 
Here are highlights of our chat with the RockResorts leaders:
