CANCUN -- When Ruben Beccera approached his board of directors about opening a mandatory all nude resort - au naturel in industry parlance -- they thought he was out of his mind. However, the Sales and Business Development Director with Karisma Resorts + Marketing, LLC insisted he was onto something.
With a little perseverance and a strong understanding of potential profits, Beccera insisted on going au naturel, insisting this was an increasingly popular lifestyle choice that had nothing to do with promoting a sexual or hedonistic experience.
While an established trend of clothing optional resorts has been gaining traction, Beccera knew there were several inherent problems going this route: A high rate of voyeurism from those not truly embracing the lifestyle, and, no ability to differentiate the new resort he envisioned from established competition.
By going au naturel, guests would have to shed both their clothes and inhibitions to stay at the proposed resort. However, the 42 room getaway would be the only resort of its type in the western hemisphere.
“It was very risky to do this,” Becerra told Hotel Interactive. “Everyone said I was crazy, but I wanted to create a safe haven for people who like to enjoy their holidays au naturel.”
Turns out, Becerra was onto something. Since opening in 2003, the Hidden Beach Resort has been catching on and delivering robust returns. Occupancy has been steadily rising since the first year when the property filled 60 percent of its rooms. This year the resort in on track to have a year end occupancy of 75 percent and Becerra sees the property tracking as high as 80 percent next year. Additionally, the hotel has pushed its per room rate from $500 a night in 2003 to more than $600 a night this year.
Emerging Trend
As more people are stripping down, this exploding niche is taking off. According to the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) estimates the nudist travel industry is a $400 million a year business, up $100 million alone in the last five years. In 1992 Forbes pegged it as a $200 million business. The AANR’s new President, John Kinman, said nude recreation is a decades old practice, but is only now stepping into the mainstream.
“We are seeing all around us how mainstream we are becoming. We are accepted in the communities where we are,” said Kinman, who has enjoyed the nudist lifestyle for more than 50 years and runs the Squaw Mountain Ranch, a 73 year old nudist resort tucked into the foothills of Oregon's Cascade Mountains. “The trend started some years ago, but it is really catching on now.”
Catching on might just be an understatement. In last year’s Yankelovich National Leisure Travel MONITOR, an equal number of poll respondents (14 percent) are saying nude recreation would be an “extremely/very desirable part of a leisure travel experience” as those looking to play golf. Only nine percent, the MONITOR notes, care to play tennis.
And developers are responding too. Since 1998 almost 50 new clothing optional resorts have opened globally, growing to more than 260 resorts worldwide. Pasco County, FL, for example, is home to half a dozen clubs associated with the AANR. The resorts are the second largest producer of tourism taxes in the county, according to the June 2006 issue of Florida Trend.
Kinman sees the trend continuing to spread, citing an example of Bare Necessities Tour and Travel, which has repeatedly filled cruise ships with vacationers seeking a clothing optional experience. In 2007, the company is running four cruises to places like Alaska and the Far East on ships flying under the Holland America flag.
“There is something here. People are more relaxed and comfortable in mixed settings and are finding it non threatening,” said Kinman.
Building at the Beach
When Karisma was looking to create the Hidden Beach Resort, the company worked for several years in tandem with the Mexican government and select unions to help the groups understand the resort would be a good fit for the conservative country. Becerra said that people tend to relate nudity to sex and part of the education process required to pass muster was to help the Mexican government and potential employees understand the distinction.
The philosophy of those seeking to practice this lifestyle is counter the world’s tendencies to be define others based on by appearance. “Once you take off everything, everyone becomes the same,” said Becerra. “When people have nothing to hide, people will accept you by your personality and it becomes the great equalizer between societal strata.”
At Hidden Beach, wealthy business magnates intermingle with the middle class everyman to great success. Lasting friendships are being built and the resort is becoming an annual retreat for many who start out as tentative first timers.
The resort is getting its lion’s share of its business from the United States and Canada, about 60 percent and 25 percent respectively. The remainder comes mostly from Europe.
People are attracted to the resort for its Mexican Caribbean location as well as all-inclusive gourmet meals such as tropical mango salad, seafood citrus soup and angus tenderloin. The resort’s luxury accommodations feature swim-up suites with direct access to an artificial river stretching the length of the property.
Becerra likes to boast about the high level of service and uncompromising quality of the resort’s food, while also waxing prophetic on the potential future of a Hidden Beach Resort brand. He said overall the company is thrilled to have this resort and Karisma executives are looking into opening up more, including one on the western side of Mexico adjacent to the Pacific Ocean.
To continue growing, Becerra sees opening up properties in very strategic markets; places with lots of warm weather and plenty of sun and surf.
Karisma Hotels + Resorts is also the operator of more traditional hotels such as a pair of El Dorado Resorts, the Mi Hotelito Maroma Beach and Azul Hotels. Its newest entrant, the 96 room gourmet inclusive Azul Blue Hotel + Spa opens November 1, 30 minutes south of Playa del Carmen.
