RIU & Sunwing celebrate partnership with hotel openings & Jamaica push

Cold day, warm welcome. That summed up Wednesday's (Dec. 3) 10th annual VIP festive luncheon at Arlington Estate in Vaughan, where RIU Hotels & Resorts and Sunwing Vacations gathered about 50 travel trade professionals for a celebration before the holidays.

Ten years in, the duo shared the partnership is stronger than ever – and what makes this relationship work?

Nicole Brown, RIU's senior manager for partner marketing, business development and romance, said it comes down to one word: family.

"We are not only focusing on business and numbers, but more in growing each other," Brown told PAX during an interview.

According to RIU, both organizations support each other through new destination launches and challenges while maintaining constant communication

The partnership runs deep. Sunwing is RIU's number one account, representing 22 per cent of the hotelier's business and filling more than 5,000 rooms daily during the peak January to March winter period.

With the 100 hotels worldwide that RIU owns, builds, and operates itself, the brand explained that this is how it delivers consistent experiences across all destinations.

According to Sunwing, it’s because of this consistency that customers know exactly what they're getting – quality food, entertainment, rooms and properties.

"It seems like it's almost like a very easy sell to Canadians, because they know the product and they love the product," Dave Wright, Sunwing's director of sales for Ontario and Atlantic Canada told PAX.

Above and beyond the consistency, Eric Rodriguez, Sunwing’s executive vice president of strategic partnerships, shared that RIU is "a great hotel chain that delivers hotels on time.”

What's opening (and reopening)

RIU had lots of updates to share. First up - RIU Ventura, the brand's sixth Cancun property, opens December 6 (an earlier date than the previously announced December 25 opening).

This newly built family hotel is a 5-minute walk to Playa Delfines in Cancun's Hotel Zone with features including a rooftop bar with pool and panoramic views, swim up room and Friends & Family rooms.

Brown told attendees that whenever RIU announces a new hotel or major renovation, bookings come quickly.

"It's like this expectation that, 'Oh, RIU is opening a new hotel,' or 'RIU is renovating another hotel. I want to go down there, and I want to experience that,'" she said.

Already next week (on December 7), Sunwing and RIU have a three-day FAM trip lined up for around 25 Canadian travel advisors to tour the new property.

RIU Jalisco in Riviera Nayarit is also set to reopen December 20 following a complete overhaul – all-new rooms and common areas, more Friends and Family rooms, new dining including the "Sport Bar," "American Country" restaurant and "Candy" ice cream parlor, a redesigned pool area with swim-up bar, a brand new "Splash" playground for kids, plus a revamped gym and updated RIULand Miniclub.

Niurka Garcia Linton, RIU's director of sales for Jamaica, said RIU’s transformations are always dramatic.

"The renovation is such that it looks like a new hotel. RIU's repeat clientele gets excited with each announcement, eager to see what the brand delivers next. RIU is very good at doing next level stuff over and over again, always elevating."

Wright noted that momentum is strong. Coming off Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, "sales were rocking," with RIU bookings "very, very strong as always."

During the presentation, Alan Lizarraga, RIU’s BDM for Ontario and Western Canada, gave attendees a preview of what’s in store for 2026:

RIU Palace Peninsula in Cancun begins renovation April 6, reopening July 25, 2026.

RIU Palace Mexico in Riviera Maya starts its transformation May 4, reopening September 5, 2026, as an Adults Only property.

New openings include RIU Palace Costa Mujeres (February 13, 2026) and RIU Palace Riviera Maya (January 30, 2026).

RIU Palace Costa Rica has a major renovation scheduled from August 31, 2026, through March 13, 2027.

Closer to home, the RIU Plaza Toronto opened this past September in downtown Toronto.

“This property has been performing incredibly - out of our 353 rooms, they sold out in the first 72 hours (of opening),” he said.

He added that the positive response “shows the commitment (RIU) has in Canada - not just in the leisure market, but in supporting Toronto and the rest of the country as well.”

Friends travelling together

RIU is seeing a trend in room design for groups of friends, especially women travelling together.

The "Friends and Family" rooms feature three beds - either three Queens or one King and one Queen - sleeping up to five adults comfortably, including sofa beds (varies by hotel).

Brown explained the name change from "family room" to "Friends & Family" to PAX:

“If you are travelling with your girlfriends and you say the category family room, you think about kids, and family stuff. You can share. You can gossip about what you saw (at) the pool during the day. It's, you know, like a perfect ambience, also for being together as friends.”

Garcia Linton is also seeing this trend and shared that “the Friends and Family rooms have become especially popular for quick four or five-night Jamaica getaways.”

New tool for travel advisors

With RIU operating properties across multiple destinations, Brown shared that a new tool – the Travel Advisor Handbook - was recently introduced to help advisors navigate the portfolio.

The digital version lives on RIU's Travel Agent Portal (brand center) here and in the RIU Travel Agents Canada Facebook group. It's also being emailed directly to agents as a “cheat sheet” for booking RIU hotels.

"When you start talking about RIU and so many hotels around the world, different destinations, Palace hotels, RIU hotels, it can sound confusing for the agents and for the clients," Brown said. "So, we designed this tool."

Need to know which hotels offer RIU Parties, which have swim-up rooms, or where the Elite Club is available? Brown said all this information is at the advisor’s fingertips, eliminating the need to read through individual fact sheets.

Jamaica's recovery and hotel reopenings

It got emotional in the room when Garcia Linton addressed Hurricane Melissa's impact on Jamaica in late October 2025.

Her message to the trade was direct: the best way to help Jamaica right now is to visit Jamaica.

"The tourism industry is crucial for the development of the economy," Garcia Linton said, which is why RIU worked hard to make all inventory available as quickly as possible.

RIU's largest Jamaican property, RIU Ocho Rios (901 rooms), never actually closed.

When flights were grounded during the hurricane and guests couldn't leave, RIU kept them at the hotel free of charge until the airport reopened.

According to RIU, the recovery moved swiftly.

The team shared that three properties are already open as of December 3: RIU Ocho Rios, RIU Montego Bay and RIU Palace Jamaica. 

RIU Palace Tropical Bay opens December 4, RIU Negril and RIU Reggae on December 10, and RIU Palace Jamaica on December 15. 

RIU also shared that its response went far beyond reopening hotels. The company dispersed over $1 million USD to help staff rebuild their homes, providing hardware store vouchers, care packages, grants (not loans) for repairs, and interest-free credit options.

"We recognize, as a company, that the human resources is the most important aspect of our business," Garcia Linton said. "Without our staff, we cannot do anything, so we have put them all first from the very beginning of this tragic situation."

RIU also partnered with a non-profit to serve 3,000 hot meals daily to communities near Montego Bay and west toward Negril – the hardest-hit areas.

Brown noted that true partnerships show themselves in difficult times and Sunwing Vacations was there.

"The first company that says we are continuing operations, regardless of how many seats we were able to sell was Sunwing Vacations," she said.

"In times of need is when we really know who your partners are, and Sunwing Vacations has proven over and over again that they are a partner to Jamaica and that they are a partner to RIU,” Garcia Linton added.

As for Sunwing’s message to the trade - "Sell, sell, sell RIU. Get yourself being a RIU specialist. Know everything you can about the product, and it'll just make (your) job easier,” urged Wright.

Brown echoed this sentiment with gratitude to the trade.

"RIU is what we are today because of the travel advisor community," she said, adding that the company is "evolving with our product every single day" to offer the best options for clients while supporting advisors' sales growth.

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