Melia Hotels : Meliá Hotels International celebrates its 60th anniversary with the presentation in FITUR of the 25 hotels it will open in 2016

Meliá Hotels International has presented the results of an intense 2015 at the FITUR Tourism Trade Fair in Madrid, together with an overview of the key areas that will guide its performance over the coming months. The Vice Chairman and CEO, Gabriel Escarrer, highlighted the challenging hotel opening schedule for 2016, which foresees the Spanish company opening 25 new hotels in 15 different countries on 4 continents, adding a total of more than 6,000 rooms to the company's portfolio.

Escarrer explained that group strategy for the year will focus on three key areas: international expansion, brand, product and process innovation, and the strengthening of company leadership. With regard to expansion, Escarrer recalled how over the last six decades the company has grown from its first hotel in Mallorca to a presence today in 40 different countries, and how internationalization has now become key to the growth and diversification of the company. Meliá currently earns 56% of its operating profit in the Americas, 23% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 20% in Spain. In 2015, Meliá added 25 new hotels, 36% of them in Asia, one of the main focus points for expansion and with 30 hotels already open or signed up, 40% in EMEA and the Mediterranean, and the remaining 24% in the Americas.

Escarrer welcomed the Queen and the Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Jose Manuel Soria, to the company stand, along with the company Chairman, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, explaining to them the most immediate challenges the company faces this year, amongst them highlighting the imminent opening of the Innside NoMad New York, near Times Square and in one of the most trendy neighbourhoods in the Big Apple, as well as the spectacular ME Miami with which Meliá reinforces even further its presence in the most important cities with Hispanic influence in the United States.

The Meliá CEO later explained to assembled visitors at the stand the sustained Meliá commitment to Spain ever since the beginning of the economic crisis, a period during which the company has invested over 500 million euros and opened 25 new hotels. He also described the projects to renovate and transform mature destinations that Meliá is carrying out together with international partners and official institutions, such as the project in Magaluf, where the company will have invested 190 million by the end of 2017, and which has already achieved significant improvements in quality, profitability and the reputation of the destination.

With regard to the outlook for the year, Gabriel Escarrer explained that 'our challenges and objectives for 2016 will be reflected in the Strategic Plan we will be presenting during the first half of the year, and they will aim to further enhance the digital and cultural transformation that we need to accompany international growth, the transformation of mature hotels and resort destinations in cooperation with major partners and public-private partnerships, and the strengthening of our balance sheet and assets.'

Innovation and leadership

In the words of its CEO, throughout its 60 year history, Meliá Hotels International has been at the forefront of the hotel industry both in product and service, as well as in the creation and evolution of its hotel brands. Innovation remains a hallmark of the company and a factor which will allow it to retain its international leadership.

Meliá has transformed the idea of a traditional luxury hotel, creating different concepts to cater to the diversity of contemporary, discerning and affluent travellers. The Gran Meliá, ME by Meliá and Paradisus by Meliá brands all now compete in their respective segments with the top 10 premium brands managed by other international hotel chains. Even more innovative and disruptive changes are being driven by Meliá in the resort hotel industry, which Meliá is transforming from a commodity product to a lifestyle hotel experience that meets the diverse needs and expectations of different types of guests, and provide new experiences and added value to the traditional 'sun and beach' vacations.

Escarrer went on to describe the leadership of the company in the international resort hotel market, particularly in Spain and the Mediterranean region. 60% of the Meliá room portfolio is in the resort hotel segment, generating 73% of operating profit for the group. Melia is also strongly positioned in a new market segment which is revolutionising the urban hotel industry worldwide, the so-called 'bleisure' market which is driving the development of city hotels which cater to both business and leisure travellers. According to Gabriel Escarrer, 74% of the hotels in Asia will cater to the 'bleisure' market, compared with 44% in the Americas and 29% (and growing) in cities in Spain and Europe.

Solidity and future outlook

The Meliá CEO explained that the company ended 2015 with double-digit growth in RevPAR (revenue per available room), including an extraordinary third and fourth quarter in Spanish resorts. In Europe, both in Italy, where Meliá has continued to grow with the opening of the ME Milano il Duca and the Melia Campione, and in Germany, where it will open three Innside hotels in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Aachen in 2016, the company will continue to grow, while the contribution of new hotels under management in Asia Pacific (8 openings scheduled) and the United States will further increase the importance of these regions.

Meliá's senior executive also described the excellent outlook for 2016 in company resort hotels thanks to a number of international macroeconomic and security factors, together with the Meliá strategy to renovate and transform products in traditional coastal destinations in Spain and the Mediterranean. In urban hotels the 'bleisure' segment in first and second-tier cities in both EMEA and Asia Pacific are growing in importance, while city hotels in Spain will benefit from the upward trend in domestic consumption this year at least, pending greater visibility around the political stability needed to ensure continuity in the country's recovery.

'In 2016 we are celebrating our 60 anniversary, and we are proud to be doing so in a position which is stronger than ever before. 2016 will be a very important year for consolidating our international presence, and, thanks to the exceptional market conditions, will also open up a vast field of opportunities for our business in Spain, in terms of investment, profitability and employment, provided that the country continues to strengthen its attributes as a stable, safe and modern travel destination. '

The Chairman and Vice Chairman of Melia thanked the Queen and Minister for their visit and conveyed to Her Majesty the appreciation and trust of the entire tourism sector present in FITUR for the efforts being made by King Felipe VI to ensure the unity, stability and prosperity of our country; political obligations which meant that the King was unable to personally inaugurate the Tourism Trade Fair this year.