Q & A with Paul Pennicook, President of International Lifestyles Inc., SuperClubs Resorts

Q & A with Paul Pennicook
President of International Lifestyles Inc., SuperClubs Resorts

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

In November 2009, SuperClubs changed its two Grand Lido hotels and Starfish Trelawny to Breezes brand. “After a year, the operation has been successful and the change has been pretty well received in markets, especially in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. It has been an excellent year and there are some good perspectives for the first months of 2011”, Mr. Pennicook said in this interview, when he provided details on other projects the Jamaican company is working on.

Is your company, International Lifestyles, part of SuperClubs?
International Lifestyles Inc is the Worldwide Marketing Representative for SuperClubs Resorts. For instance, we market Breezes resorts in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Curacao, Panama, Brazil, as well as Hedonism and two affiliated resorts ROOMS On The Beach in Jamaica

We’re managing sales and marketing for SuperClubs worldwide. My headquarters are based in Florida, but we have representatives in the U.S., Canada (Toronto) and the U.K.; they all send reports to my office, just as the one located in Colombia (Bogota) does, which is in charge of the Latin American market. In Europe we count on GSAs in Germany, Netherlands, Spain/Portugal and Italy. We agreed that those four European GSAs will report to the office in the U.K.

How are you working with the new resort in Panama?
In the case of Breezes resort in Panama, which opened its doors a year ago, SuperClubs has a Franchise Agreement. We’re not dealing with the hotel’s day-to-day management, but it’s managed by GHL Hotels from Colombia. Our Breezes brand is still there,  and our company handles sales and marketing in the U.S, Europe and most of Latin America. It’s the first time we do it under franchise system and, depending on how it works, another type of operations for Breezes brand might come up. If it works, we might have Breezes franchises in other hotels.

How about other countries?
Yes, of course, in any country where we see opportunities. This Panama experience is new to us, but if it succeeds SuperClubs might open franchises of Hedonism. There are franchises with the main hotel chains all over the world. And there are franchises in Jamaica.

In this respect, do you imagine a Hedonism hotel in Madrid?
It might happen if there is the right opportunity. We’re ready to expand all of our brands, but we’d rather do it with Breezes.

What happened with Hedonism III?
We reconsidered the operation of two Hedonism resorts on the same island, and we decided to maintain the Hedonism II in Negril. So we reconceived Hedonism III, we closed it last summer and we reopened it under a new name, Superfun Beach Resort.

Does it target families?
It’s not for families, it’s just for adults over 18 years old, but it isn’t for hedonic vacations, it isn’t a Hedonism resort.

Why didn’t you simply make it a Breezes resort?
We considered it, but if we would’ve done it, we would have had this one and other four resorts under that brand, with short distances among them in some cases. It wouldn’t be wise adding a new Breezes and having so many Breezes resorts so close to one another, on the same island. So, we’re trying to build a more suitable resort in terms of prices, and, in that respect, we introduced some changes in the offer: for example, no motorized watersports, no water skiing, no diving; the transfer from the airport is not included, and, instead of Premium brand drinks, it serves international drinks.

Are you thinking of opening another Hedonism resort on any island near Jamaica?
I think it might work. We don’t have plans so far. But if any opportunity comes up we’d study Cancun, Dominican Republic, Central America or any other destination.

What’s the situation of hotels in Brazil?
The Breezes Buzios, located next to Rio de Janeiro, opened this summer, and the Breezes Costa do Sauipe, based in the Costa de Sauipe complex, has been operating for over ten years, along with other four international brands. All those international brands have left the project because it didn’t work for them, but Breezes is still there. That project has a contract renewal deadline for this year and we’re not planning to retake it, so the last international brand in Sauipe, Breezes, will be out of the picture in December. But we won’t leave Brazil, as we have Breezes Buzios with positive results.

What’s SuperClubs’ marketing focus on Latin America?
First of all, attracting more customers for Breezes Panama, Breezes in Curacao and the one based in Brazil, and afterwards, increasing business flows from Colombia, Central America, Mexico and other countries to facilities in Jamaica, the Bahamas and Cuba. We also want to take advantage of the potential market Hedonism has in countries such as Colombia.