Allegiant (ALGT) Enhances Leisure Travel Space With New Resort
Allegiant Travel Company ALGT is enhancing domestic leisure travel space with the opening of its hotel resort, Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor, located on the Gulf Coast in Southwest Florida. Sunseeker Resort joins Allegiant's wide portfolio of ancillary products, including rental cars, professional sports packages, and more. ALGT has been selling hotel rooms to customers on behalf of third parties for more than 18 years.
The resort was first announced in 2017, with Charlotte County, FL region, being chosen as the prime location for the resort owing to ALGT’s air travel demand in the area. As of September 2023, ALGT has flown almost 1.8 million passengers in and out of Punta Gorda Airport, an airline base of operations located a few minutes away from Sunseeker Resort.
The resort is spread over 22 waterfront acres with 785 premier guestrooms. Additionally, Sunseeker Resort provides 60,000 square feet of meeting and event space, two pool experiences, seven retail outlets, and a guest-exclusive Aileron Golf Club. A fitness center and spa are also located in the main tower.
How Will the Resort Benefit Allegiant?
A combination of airline and hotel stays has always been a lucrative offer. Considering that more than 85% of ALGT’s airline customers prefer buying lodging, followed by events such as dining, spa visits and golf outings, the latest move is expected to strengthen Allegiant's competitive position as an integrated travel company in the industry.
Sunseeker Resort provides a variety of leisure activities that will help Allegiant attract more customers in Southwest Florida.
Maurice J. Gallagher, CEO and founder of Allegiant, stated, "This is a transformational project for 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."
Gregory Anderson, Allegiant president, stated, "We have helped pioneer selling ancillary products both inside and outside of an airplane, in turn, diversifying our revenue streams. 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."
Additionally, ALGT provides almost 21,000 jobs in Florida. Sunseeker Resort is expected to generate more than 1,000 permanent jobs in the Charlotte County area alone and is likely to attract 300,000 more visitors annually to the area.
So far this year, shares of Allegiant have gained 22.2%, outperforming the industry’s rise of 14%.
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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Allegiant carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, operating as Wabtec Corporation WAB and SkyWest, Inc. SKYW. Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Wabtec has an expected earnings growth rate of 22.43% for the current year. WAB delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.11%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WAB’s current-year earnings has improved 4.9% over the past 90 days. Shares of WAB have gained 26.1% year to date.
SkyWest's fleet-modernization efforts are commendable. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SKYW’s current-year earnings has improved 38.9% over the past 90 days. Shares of SKYW have surged 209.7% year to date.
SKYW delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.57%, on average.
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