PLAYA Hotels & Resorts NV has completed the sale of its Jewel Palm Beach hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for US$68 million ($10.64 billion).

The deal, which was announced last month, closed on Monday with the hotel management and resort operator set to collect US$64 million in net proceeds from the sale of the 500-room property. Although the buyer has not been named, Playa noted that the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes.

This is the second Playa resort sale to occur in the Dominican Republic within the last year. Playa sold its Jewel Punta Cana resort in December 2023 for US$82 million but collected an estimated US$70 million in net proceeds. That hotel has 620 rooms and continues to be operated by Playa under a management contract.

These sales occurred after Playa transitioned the management of the resorts from third-part management to proprietary management in December 2022 – January 2023. Playa used this opportunity to début its proprietary Jewel Resorts brand. However, the company was unable to capitalise on the key 2023 summer selling season and did not make up those sales in that market.

The resort company also had to close some of its other resorts in the Dominican Republic during the second half of 2022, due to Hurricane Fiona.

Following these transactions Playa will now operate four proprietary resorts in the Dominican Republic, totalling 1,524 rooms between the Hilton and Hyatt brands. It also operates Wyndham Alltra Samaná and Jewel Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic under management contracts which cover 1,024 rooms. This also leaves the Jewel brand even smaller within the Caribbean, with the only other two resorts being Jewel Paradise Cove Beach Resort and Spa and Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Playa previously owned Jewel Dunn’s River Beach Resort and Spa and Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Resort and Waterpark, which were sold to Sandals Resorts in May 2020 for US$60 million of which US$58.7 million were the net proceeds.

Despite the convergence of its hotel portfolio Playa is growing its hotel management contracts portfolio, with the company to operate Paraiso de la Bonita — a luxury collection, all-inclusive resort — in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The 14-acre resort will open in late 2024, after Playa signed a management contract during the second quarter with Marriott International. The 100-room property is an adult-only resort and is situated 20 minutes from Cancun International Airport.

Playa also announced on Monday that Kimpton Tres Ríos Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, had officially begun reservations for stays in early 2025. This is the first all-inclusive resort for the IHG Hotels and Resorts luxury and lifestyle portfolio. Playa entered into a management contract in the second quarter of 2022 but the resort was undergoing renovations in the interim. The property spans 326 acres and 355 hotel rooms — an additional 100 more rooms than what was reported in Playa’s second-quarter 10-Q as the renovation saw the addition of newly designed rooms.

“Kimpton Tres Rios redefines the luxury experience in the Riviera Maya, offering guests an all-inclusive retreat where every detail has been carefully designed to provide tranquillity, comfort, and an intimate connection with nature. It has been an honour to partner with IHG Hotels and Resorts to bring this first-ever Kimpto, all-inclusive, property to life. The result is a true benchmark in high-end hospitality,” said Fernando Mulet, executive vice-president and chief investment officer of Playa Hotels and Resorts, in the press release.

Playa’s total room count between the managed and proprietary portfolio was listed in the release as 8,627 rooms across 24 resorts.

Playa, which also manages The Yucatán Playa del Carmen All-Inclusive Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, under the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, owns five resorts in the Yucatán Peninsula and two on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

The company’s third-quarter results should be released at the start of November. Its current guidance is for adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of US$250 million-US$275 million for 2024. Its adjusted EBITDA was US$177.17 million at the end of the first half of 2024.

However, there was some weakness in the Jamaican markets from the United States travel advisory, disruption caused by Hurricane Beryl in the third quarter, and renovation work in the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

According to Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, SAB de CV’s (Pacific Airport Group) August 2024 traffic report, Sangster International Airport (SIA) experienced a 9.4 per cent dip in passengers which totalled 424,600. Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) saw a 1.7 per cent improvement to 198,900 passengers for August, but SIA processes about 70 per cent of air traffic into Jamaica. August 2024 also represented the second-consecutive month that SIA had seen a nine per cent year-over-year decline in air traffic and fifth-consecutive month of lower passenger traffic.

For the first eight months of 2024 SIA’s air traffic was down 0.8 per cent to 3.61 million passengers while NMIA had a 1.6 per cent decline to 1.19 million passengers.

Playa operates five proprietary resorts in Jamaica, totalling 1,428 rooms.

The resort group’s stock price traded around US$7.82 on Tuesday, which leaves the stock down nine per cent in 2024 with a market capitalisation of US$1.01 billion.

Playa had repurchased US$84.9 million of its ordinary shares under its US$200-million share buyback programme up to July 31.