How do all inclusives make their money?

[DreamBream234]

We are currently on holiday in Tunisia and we paid £400 pp for 7 days. The amount of food available is insane: fresh fruit, veg, beef, turkey chicken, cheeses, fresh prawns, unlimited wine and alcohol, branded fizzy drinks...

And then the food is available 24/7...how do they make their money?!

Alcohol gets watered down and I suppose at the end of the day, for most people, there's only so much you can eat and you don't the whole day eating. Wages are considerably lower in Tunisia with even the highest paid hotel staff earning no more than £500 a month full time. Food and drink are also cheaper, a local beer is usually less than £1 a bottle.

Cost of living is much lower than uk.

www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Tunisia

Low wages
Low food costs
Paying little into the local economy
And the holiday company making a loss of quiet weeks, and counterbalancing that with July and August when demand is higher so they can charge more.

@DelilahBucket £500 a month! Gosh!

We had a lovelytime but I couldnt help thinking about their economy!

Most people don't eat or drink nearly as much as the price paid.

@MinervaMcGonagallsCat I certainly couldnt! Not used to eating like that! It felt very indulgent.

I know what you mean. Also, how on earth do they price it?! I wondered this recently in Mexico when my starter was lobster and steak tartar and my son's entire meal was a piece of watermelon and a bit of pasta.

The average salary is £100 per month so costs are low that’s why I tipped like crazy when I went last year. Especially the elderly ladies working in the toilets who didn’t look like they’d had many treats in their life.

Also the costs probably even out over the season - an AI in the summer holidays will cost considerably more but the cost to the supplier won't increase so there will be greater profit on some holidays

@YorkNew thats so kind of you ☺️ I tried tipping some of the cleaners at the Tunisian airport but they refused saying its not allowed....

Food, wages and COL are much, much lower there so the money goes further.

AI is generally much lower quality food than a local restaurant. Even at 5* hotels.

@YorkNew thats so kind of you ☺️ I tried tipping some of the cleaners at the Tunisian airport but they refused saying its not allowed

I changed at an extra £150 than I needed when I arrived at the hotel and asked for it in small notes. The hotel receptionist understood why and was very cooperative. I gave out loads of 10 Dinah notes which was around £2.50 last year.

I've been to a few AI..always thinking the next one will be better.. but it hasn't been.
Cheap cuts of meat ( tough and fatty) . The left over boiled eggs you got at breakfast are used for eggs in mayo at tea time.
People in the buffet queue picking food up with their hands.. I've seen people dipping their fingers into dishes of sauces then licking their finger to see what it tastes off.
People putting food on their plate.. changing their mind when they see something different... so putting the other back with their hands.
I'd never go AI ever again.

I think about this too. I've just come back from an AI trip, and in comparison to some guests I was very conservative! I don't tend to drink in the day, and certainly wasn't having platefuls of food - but looking back to when AI was first a thing, I definitely hammered the bar and buffet.

There's economies of scale particularly with large chain hotels, being able to buy in enormous quantity, spirits are local versions, there's sometimes less room amenities (no toiletries, less frequent linen changes etc)

In some respects, it's probably more cost effective for hotels to run as AI than have a la carte menu's.

We lived in Tunisia for a while. Wages are very very low as others say, but in season fruit and veg is also phenomenally cheap. Lots of fish is also very good value (especially sea bass, monkfish and red mullet). Beef is good quality and also cheap, along with mutton and goat. Local beers are limited but cheap and they have a decent wine industry with very low tax on it (rose can be very good).

We really miss the fresh produce although cooking can get a bit limited (don't miss fennel season).

Anything imported is very expensive though. They're also in economic crisis and prices of bread, sugar, oil and coffee have shot up, plus staples like olive oil. Please tip generously! Especially to cleaners and housekeeping who are usually women and don't get the bar tips. But yes basically it's because people and land costs are low; all beaches are public as well so hotels can't buy the beach which must lower costs.

Fresh food is actually cheap in other countries. I remember going to Turkey and talking to a guy who was horrified when I told him that amount of strawberries in the UK would be around £30 (it was equivalent to £2 there, plus much better quality than we would ever get here).

Some rich countries also keep food prices and essentials comparatively low even when other costs are normal to us/higher. E.g. we visited the Scandi countries and things like hotels and tourist tat and luxury items were a higher than here but food was lower, esp. essentials.