All-inclusive resorts don’t deserve the bad press they regularly get, according to easyJet holidays boss Garry Wilson, who says it’s not true they do nothing for local communities.

The easyJet holidays CEO said: “I hate the snobbery that’s attached to the idea of all inclusives and I hate the attitude that, for some reason, holidaying in an all-inclusive destination destroys local communities and business.

“There’s not a business case to show that.”

All inclusives have been criticised for denying local communities a share of tourism revenue, but Garry said: “The hotel probably would employ a good few thousand people. That hotel would be sourcing tons and tons of food, creating wealth.

“As long as the wages and standard of living that they are providing is good, it’s not a problem.”

He said the hotel group Iberostar is a good example of an all-inclusive hotel chain that works alongside the local community, adding it is ‘how all of us should approach all-inclusive hotels’.

Garry was speaking during a one-to-one session on Day 2 of World Travel Market London, with Professor Harold Goodwin, WTM’s Responsible Tourism Advisor.

EasyJet holidays has said it wants to ‘raise the bar, positively shake things up and lead the industry’ in sustainability and Garry said companies that embrace sustainability will have happy customers and a much higher repeat rate, which in turn leads to lower marketing costs.

He said he’d had meetings with representatives in Morocco, explaining: “We are looking to significantly grow our capacity into Morocco. We want to do that from a base of sustainability first, and they are keen to do it.”

Harold said he had been surprised when Garry moved to easyJet holidays, and asked why he made the move and whether he had regretted it.

“There was an opportunity for me to set something up from scratch in a way that I would like to set it up and build the culture and outlook in a way that I wanted,” Garry said.