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64 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Business View Caribbean - September 2016 65
tourism ratios – 75 percent of them come from the
U.S.; about 15 percent from Canada; and the rest from
the rest of the world, primarily Europe. France tries
to capture his share with a three-pronged approach:
“First on the list is that we are a luxury property mean-
ing that I would classify us as a four-star property out
of five stars,” he states. “But we believe we always de-
liver five-star service. For instance, when people get to
the area airport, we provide round-trip transportation
for them. We greet them, not only at the airport, but,
when they arrive, our staff is out there greeting them
with a cool towel and a nice cool drink, and then we
give them a private tour of the property. When they
arrive in their villa, they have a fresh vase of flowers,
a welcome card, chocolates from Belize, and those
kinds of things. So, five-star service, is, and always will
be, our target.”
“The other thing that we do to differentiate ourself is
that we’re the only resort in Placencia that offers a
full-service resort operation, meaning we have a full-
service kitchen, bar services, and concierge services
right on the property that is reserved for the exclusive
use of our guests,” France continues. “There is no
other resort that provides those services exclusively
to their guests. And even though we’re boutique - so
that means that at most, we will have 50 people on
the property at any one time - we don’t open our doors
to the public for our services. That gives us the abil-
ity to enhance the services that we provide because
we’re completely focused on the clients. Our staff is
trained and expected to know when anybody arrives
on the property, and everybody in the service area
knows them by name before they even arrive. Every-
body greets them by their name throughout their stay
from the very first time they step foot on the property.
And that guest-service exclusivity is something that
we market that completely distinguishes us from the
other resorts.”
“Last but not least,” he concludes, “as in all real es-
tate, location is extremely important. And we are the
closest, full-service resort to the Village of Placencia,
so people can walk there, down the beach. The other
resorts that are in our category of quality and service
are outside of the Village and further up the road, so
their guests have to get some kind of transport. But
within our property, people can just walk or take a bi-
cycle or even a kayak down along the shoreline and
go have lunch or breakfast. So, they have the ability to
utilize all of the culture, the gift shops, the night life,
and the restaurants that are available in the Village.”
France says that Chabil Mar books its guests direct-
ly, as well as through agents and wholesalers. It also
works with one of the OTAs (Online Travel Agencies),
Booking.com. “When I first wanted to make people
aware of who we were, we utilized people like Expe-
dia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Jetsetter,” he says. “But I
always hoped, someday, that I wouldn’t have to use
them, except in unique situations. And the reason
for that is because of the volume of commission that
they charge – they were charging 25 percent, while
a wholesaler would charge 20 percent and an agent
would charge 10 or 15 percent. But maybe three years
ago, we finally got to the point where we were getting
so many bookings through direct, and through agents
and wholesalers, that I discontinued the contract with
Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity, because we wanted to
focus our attention and what monies we had available
in our budget for marketing towards the agents and
wholesalers who gave us great value. They understand