Industry Pro Shirley Hutchins launches Andaré, a complementary planning resource for luxury incentives.
During her years of industry experience both on the sourcing side and the hotel side, Shirley Hutchins saw a need for a website that was not only a curated database of hotels suitable for luxury incentives, but also a resource for destination activities around those hotels. So, she set out to create just that. A few months ago Hutchins launched Andaré, a one-stop-shop for initial destination research when planning a luxury incentive program.
“By combining hotel and image databases with information entered by partner DMCs, planners can easily and quickly get a feel for a destination to know whether it might be a good fit for a future luxury incentive trip,” said Hutchins in an interview with Prevue. “The site isn’t meant to include everything there is to do in every incentive destination, but it gives a quick overview to over 140 destinations and 2,900 hotels around the globe.”
Each destination and hotel is presented in a visually appealing and easy to read format that includes lots of photos, maps, all the basic information planners need to know, and helpful links to nearby activities, restaurants, DMC websites, hotel websites and more. One of these links—which has gotten great feedback from planners according to Hutchins—is to a sample incentive program itinerary. The 4-day Discover the Dominican Republic itinerary, for example, outlines a program for Caribbean Culture on day 1, Adrenalin Rush on day 2, Bring the Camera on day 3 and Stunning Scenery on day 4.
Hutchins curated the hotels to include the luxury brands of the major hotel companies such as the Ritz-Carlton and Reserve, St. Regis, JW Marriott, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Edition, Intercontinental, etc. She also includes top-tier hotels from independent hotel companies, all five-star and diamond-rated hotels, and others from lists such as Travel and Leisure’s Top 100.
There are two ways to use Andaré, as a free resource or with a paid membership. “All information on the site is available on a complimentary basis and there are no limitations to the number of searches one can do or to the filters that are available,” said Hutchins. “A membership is required to save hotels, activities or venues to folders for future trips or for specific clients. A membership is also required to email the hotels or DMCs directly.” As a new site, she concluded, Andaré will continue to grow and evolve with more destinations, activities, venues and other planner resources.
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