People – academics, travel writers and journalists, travellers and holidaymakers and people in the industry – tend to hold strong opinions about all-inclusives. Those with easy access to the media tend to have strongly held negative opinions about all-inclusives. There has been some surprise that we have included an all-inclusive category in this year’s Responsible Tourism Awards.
1. Can all-inclusive be responsible?
All-inclusive holidays and resorts are widely criticised, but other all-inclusive travel experiences are not. There are all-inclusive safaris in Africa, many in national parks, yacht charters in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Americas, and all-inclusive cruises. There are all-inclusive holidays for the disabled and their families, too.
The criticism often appears to be tinged with disdain, dismissed as an inferior form of tourism denying economic opportunities to local businesses and delivering a third-best experience for those who book them, unless, of course, it is a luxury all-inclusive. They remain popular, a Disneyland Resort offers “a dream trip … that fits your family’s preferences and budget.”
With mounting concern about the impacts of overtourism on the guest experience and on local communities, are there all-inclusives that contribute to reducing negative impacts and enhancing the positive? Are there all-inclusives that:
- Are genuinely and practically inclusive, enabling families with low or modest incomes to take a holiday knowing that the costs are within their means?
- Provide holidays for the differently abled travelling alone or with family?
- Prioritise sourcing locally produced food and beverages, soft furnishings, staff uniforms etc?
- Employ local staff on full-time or seasonal contracts, decasualising their employment and providing additional staff benefits?
- Employ local people to provide entertainment and sports activities?
- Encourage the purchase of local arts and crafts by showcasing local products and the work of artists and crafters within the hotel or resort?
Full details of the Awards, there are six categories, are on the ICRT.global website.
One of the key principles of Responsible Tourism is that all travel and tourism can be more responsible. That includes all-inclusives. When I worked with Adama Bah in The Gambia on market access for SMMEs the issue came up a great deal. All-inclusives were regarded as a problem because tourists staying in all-inclusive hotels and resorts were markedly less likely to venture out to use local bars and restaurants or the services of taxis and local guides. While the local guides and taxis were and are Gambians many of the bars and restaurants were owned by expats, aka migrants and immigrants.
The Gambian employees in the cafes, bars and restaurants were generally casually employed. When we talked with the “bumsters”, their aspiration was to get a salaried job in a hotel or resort. Bumster is their badge, the way they describe themselves. They are unemployed young people, predominantly male, with good verbal language skills, often trilingual, who scrape a living assisting tourists.
There are real financial benefits for travellers and holidaymakers who use all-inclusives:
- People don’t like to pay for every little thing, you don’t have to keep reaching into your pocket to pay for every little thing, the kids’ ice creams are “free.”
- People can relax more if they’ve prepaid.
- You can avoid tipping confusion
- All-inclusive resorts are made for budgeters; they enable people on local incomes to travel.
The details of what is included in an all-inclusive plan vary—caveat emptor. All-inclusive holidays are all-inclusive in two senses. Financially and socially. All-inclusives have two big advantages in Responsible Tourism terms:
- They enable people to travel without concerns about the holiday costing more than they budgeted for.
- They contribute to reducing overtourism pressures on local communities in holiday areas.
Most of the negativity about all-inclusive holidays is focused on the hotels and resorts meeting the needs of budget travellers. There is very little criticism of all-inclusive safaris, golf packages, luxury spas, or crewed charters. Much of the negativity is based on social class.
There is a more respectable objection to all inclusives, which is about economic leakage. However, all executives usually purchase food and beverages, soft furniture and uniforms locally, and they employ local people. Remember the bumsters want the secure employment they offer.
2. Demand is changing and increasing
Expedia Group chief commercial officer Greg Schulze reports that since 2019, the all-inclusive demand on Expedia and Hotels.com has grown by 70% and the average daily rate (ADR) by +40%. In 2024 the most popular all-inclusive destinations on Expedia Group platforms were in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Türkiye, followed by Spain, Greece, Cyprus and the East Adriatic.
Schulze reports that this “remarkable growth is largely thanks to higher quality offerings which are attracting new demographics of travellers” with “a shift (…) currently underway from a one-size-fits-all model to more personalised experiences for all-inclusive. We are witnessing a shift to high-end all-inclusive experiences with gourmet dining, personalised service and luxury experiences.”
