Business View Caribbean
9
us; we like them, they like us; we treat them well and
they treat us well.”
“And, of course, direct bookings are always great be-
cause of the margin of profitability involved in those
types of bookings,” France adds. “So, I stopped using
them, except for Bookings.com and Jetsetter. And the
reason I kept them on was because they were will-
ing to give us a commission contract for lower than
25 percent; and also, because they were linked with
TripAdvisor. Being linked with TripAdvisor is extremely
important because TripAdvisor has a lot of influence
on buying decisions in the tourism industry. When I’m
on the property and I ask our guests how they found
out about us, pretty close to a hundred percent of
them mention TripAdvisor in one way or another. We
ask guests to write TripAdvisor reviews and we have
a phenomenal TripAdvisor profile - 98 percent of the
people have given us a five-star rating. So, I needed
one or two OTAs that were synced with TripAdvisor and
Booking.com is one of those.”
In another example of the type of personalized service
offered at Chabil Mar, France relates that on its web-
site, there is no immediate booking engine for guests
to reserve villas, because the resort wants to talk with
people, directly. “It just says, ‘Please send us your con-
tact information through the website and we will con-
tact you within 24 hours to discuss your objectives,” he
relates. “The other reason is that when people come
to Belize, they want to do a lot of touring, so it gives us
the ability to work with them on a personal level to find
out what their wants, needs, and wishes are.”
France asserts that Chabil Mar is a property that has
been designed and focused on everything that there
is to celebrate about Belize. “Many new properties are
very modern, not just in the interiors but on the exteri-
ors, as well,” he says. “And so, what we are really very
proud of is the architectural style of Chabil Mar; it’s
lush with flowers and becomes intimate as a result. In
the interiors are works by local artists and the furniture
is made from Belizean wood. We have intentionally
put plants on our property that come from all over the
country and we actually brought soil from the western
part of Belize where these plants grow to Chabil Mar,
so when they were planted, they were planted in soil
that would enhance their ability to grow. Chabil Mar is
a statement and a celebration of all that is Belize.”
Which is why Chabil Mar’s motto is: “Beauty by Belize,
Luxury by Design.”
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