Allegiant transforms leisure travel space by opening new resort in Southwest Florida

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Dec 20, 2023, 13:00 ET

Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor marks major milestone in travel company's history

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) continues to re-shape the domestic leisure travel space with last week's opening of Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor, the airline's highly-anticipated hotel-resort located on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida.

The resort – spanning over 22 waterfront acres with 785 premier guestrooms – marks a major milestone in Allegiant's evolution as an integrated travel company, expanding opportunities it provides to its customers while setting the standard for the future of leisure travel.

"This is a transformational project for Allegiant," said Maurice J. Gallagher, CEO and founder of Allegiant. "It's a catalyst for our continued growth as an integrated travel company and an example of how the industry can adapt to continue providing customers with the products and services they want."

Sunseeker joins Allegiant's vast portfolio of ancillary products including rental cars, professional sports packages and more. The airline has been selling hotel rooms to customers on behalf of third parties for more than 18 years.

"We have helped pioneer selling ancillary products both inside and outside of an airplane, in turn, diversifying our revenue streams," said Gregory Anderson, Allegiant president. "Over the past five years, we have sold on average about 300,000 'third-party' hotel room nights per year to our customers. The opening of Sunseeker Resort is a key milestone in providing more customer offerings through our 'first-party' integrated resort."

Binding both the airline and hotel is ALLWAYS Rewards, Allegiant's aspirational loyalty program. Members can earn loyalty points by flying Allegiant, staying at Sunseeker, renting a car through Allegiant.com and more. Members can redeem those loyalty points on any service or amenity acquired through Allegiant Travel Company.

Allegiant first announced the resort in 2017, selecting the Charlotte County, Fla. region as the ideal location for the resort due to the airline's growth and success with air travel in the area. As of September, Allegiant has flown approximately 1.8 million passengers in and out of Punta Gorda Airport, a base of operations for the airline, located only minutes away from Sunseeker.

Many of those customers are what Allegiant refers to as "Avid Travelers," which make up about a third of Allegiant's total customer base. They fly Allegiant and other airlines nearly 10 times a year, choosing Allegiant for its nonstop, point-to-point flights.

Airfare is generally the smallest component of our leisure customer's budget, Allegiant's President Anderson said. The largest percentage of their vacation is spent on lodging along with food and beverage. With a world-class resort, 20 curated food and beverage brands and a retail shopping experience, Sunseeker Resort gives Allegiant the ability to provide enhanced experiences for our customers who visit Southwest Florida.

More than 85 percent of Allegiant's customers say that, after buying airfare, they purchase lodging, followed by activities such as dining, spa visits and golf outings. Sunseeker Resort offers a variety of those leisure activities which will make it a major draw for those traveling to Southwest Florida, Anderson added.

Since launching its first Florida destination in 2005, Allegiant's air service in the state has grown to 10 cities and more than 200 routes. In total, Allegiant flies nearly 8 million leisure travelers in and out of Florida every year, generating more than $2 billion in annual economic impact in the state. In addition to its service to Punta Gorda, Allegiant currently operates flights from nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) and Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) – all within a two-hour drive of Charlotte Harbor.

The travel company's presence supports nearly 21,000 jobs in Florida. Sunseeker will create more than 1,000 permanent jobs in the Charlotte County area alone, and is anticipated to spark an increase of 300,000 visitors annually to the area. Conservative modeling estimates up to $1 billion in economic impact at a ten-year horizon.

In addition to the F&B concepts, Sunseeker offers 60,000-square-feet of meeting and event space, two unique pool experiences and seven unique retail outlets. A state-of-the-art fitness center and spa are located in the main tower. The resort also features the guest exclusive Aileron Golf Club, with lush greens, year-round sun and distinctive course design.

For more information, visit Allegiant.com.

Allegiant – Together We Fly^™

Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com. Media information, including photos, is available at http://gofly.us/iiFa303wrtF

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SOURCE Allegiant Travel Company