Tag: Asia

RIU to Invest €2.5bn in New Hotels & Refurbishments Between Now & 2022

16 January 2018 – Expansión

RIU will spend €650 million this year on the refurbishment, construction and purchase of hotels, and will make investments of €2.5 billion in total between now and 2022, according to explanations provided yesterday by the group’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Pepe Moreno.

In this way, the Mallorcan chain is accelerating the rate of investment seen over the last five years, in which it committed to undertake investments amounting to €1.95 billion. Specifically, the company reached a record last year with investment of €600 million, which was €200 million more than forecast at the beginning of the year.

During 2017, RIU opened two new hotels – the RIU Dunamar in Costa Mujeres (México) and the expansion of the RIU República de Punta Cana– and it refurbished five hotels in their entirety. Moreover, in June, it purchased Edificio España from Grupo Baraka for €272 million.

RIU recorded revenues of €2.156 billion in 2017, up by 7%, and closed last year with 92 hotels, 43,135 rooms and 28,894 employees.

In 2018, the chain plans to open four hotels and undertake five major refurbishment projects.

In terms of the focus for growth, RIU wants to continue strengthening its urban business, which it inaugurated in 2010 with a hotel in Panama, and which nowadays includes six operational hotels. Moreno said that the company will continue to analyse opportunities in the main cities of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

The RIU urban brand has two new projects underway: the first urban hotel in Spain, located in Edificio España (Madrid), which is expected to open its doors at the beginning of next summer (2019) and its second hotel in New York, on which work is underway, very close to Times Square, which will also be inaugurated in 2019.

In addition, the chain wants to grow in Asia, where it already has two projects under construction, in the Maldives and Dubai.

Moreno said that RIU will continue to bet on growing its owned hotels – the firm currently owns 84% of the hotels in its portfolio – and he said that the chain is not interested in growing inorganically or debuting on the stock market.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

AC Hoteles Plans To Open One Hotel A Week

7 November 2017 – Expansión

AC Hoteles by Marriott, one of the main Spanish hotel chains, plans to open 57 new establishments around the world between now and the end of 2018. Moreover, 12 of them will be launched before the end of 2017, according to the company’s President, Antonio Catalán.

“We are opening one hotel a week”, explained Catalán (Corella, Navarra, 1948) in an interview with Efe, in which he described the “spectacular” growth of the chain, which plans to have 190 hotels in total between 2017 and 2018, mainly in the USA and Europe.

Marriot Internacional acquired 50% of the AC brand in 2011 and since then, has rolled out establishments around the world and has started expansion into Asia. The chain forecasts turnover of €400 million this year, up by 20% compared to 2016. The US group contributed 110 million loyalty card holders to the group. “Marriott was a real coup”, said Catalán, who added that “the group has shown that it is there (for us) when the going gets tough”.

“Now, the company is completely healthy following the crisis and has no debt whatsoever”. Catalán founded the NH chain in 1977 when he purchased a hotel in Pamplona. In 1997, he decided to sell his stake and create AC. That chain now has 3,500 employees in Spain and 7,000 in the rest of the world. “I always talk about the big AC family; we do unusual things when it comes to recruitment. We don’t use temporary contracts”, says Catalán, whose aim “is not to earn millions at the expense of his employees”. (…).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: Overseas Investors Will Spend $5,000M On Spanish Retail Sector In 2017

27 March 2017 – Observatorio Inmobiliario

The Spanish real estate sector will receive around $5,000 million of new foreign capital in its commercial spaces, according to the international Great Wall of Money report published by Cushman & Wakefield.

The study reveals that these figures remain at a similar level to those seen last year and place Spain in 13th position in the ranking of the leading destinations for real estate capital, ahead of countries such as Brazil and Italy.

At the global level, the real estate services company calculates that the volume of added capital for real estate investment in 2017 will amount to $435,000 million, a slight decrease compared to the peak of last year, but still the second highest figure since 2009. (…).

The amount of capital invested in the EMEA region will decrease by 9%, to $130,000 million, whilst the amount invested in the Americas region will rise by 2%, to $173,000 million. Meanwhile, the continent of Asia will also experience a slight increase in its level of investment, to $132,000 million, whereby exceeding that seen in the EMEA region. (…).

In addition to the new investment strategies, new sources of capital are expected to open up in several different parts of the world, with countries such as China, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Africa leading the way.

More concentrated investment strategies

Investors are increasingly focusing on single countries rather than deploying capital across multiple borders. Investment in single states now accounts for 61% of available capital, up by 55% over the last three years. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s estimates, the United States will likely remain the largest target investment market in 2017. Although activity there slowed during 2016, the volume of money is still high and many investors continue to have a low allocation of resources in the sector.

China is expected to continue as the second-ranked destination country, with the majority of capital invested there coming from domestic funds. (…). The third most attractive market is the United Kingdom, although Cushman & Wakefield expect the volume of capital being directed there to decrease somewhat, due to the prudence of some investors in light of the Brexit negotiations (…).

The USA exceeds the EMEA region

For the first time, the Americas ($79,000 million) have more equity available for investment than the EMEA region ($72,000 million). (…). The decrease in the volume of equity available in EMEA is to a large extent, the result of the high dollar. Almost 80% of the funds focusing on Europe present their results in Euros or Pounds Sterling, and so the currency effect represents a key component. (…).

Original story: Observatorio Inmobiliario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Palladium To Invest €450M In New Openings & Renovations

23 January 2017 – Cinco Días

Palladium, the hotel group controlled by the Matutes family, is planning to invest more than €450 million in new openings and renovating its existing establishments, both in Spain as well as in the Caribbean.

The hotel chain, which recorded a turnover of €558 million in 2016, up by 14% compared to the year before, said that it had completed a good year. It also appeared optimistic about the performance of the holiday market in Spain this year, especially in the Balearic Islands, where it has a larger market share.

Abel Matutes Prats, CEO of the company, said that the firm’s growth strategy in terms of number of hotels now involves managing establishments owned by third parties. “We are ready to grow quite a lot in the urban and holiday segments as a hotel manager”, he said.

The company, which has signed an agreement with Hard Rock to bring the hotel brand to mainland Spain – the US firm already has two establishments on the islands, one in Ibiza and another in Tenerife – acknowledges that it has some plans on the table that have not been finalised yet. Not so long ago, Hard Rock was mentioned as the best positioned player to manage the hotel in Edificio España in Madrid.

“There are a couple of hotels in the pipeline, but nothing has been decided yet”, said Matutes Prats, who defends this alliance as “a well-matched marriage”, which is choosing to focus on its latest addition, the opening in Tenerife, at the moment, but which is not ruling out future developments in urban destinations.

The businessman highlights the arrival of Palladium in Asia. “One day we will have to make the jump, but right now it does not form part of our plans. When we move over there, it will be to launch something big”, he said.

Original story: Cinco Días (by L.S.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotusa Incorporates 
More Than 400 Associated Hotels

9 February 2016 – Expansion

Hotusa strengthened its hotel portfolio in 2015 with 403 associated establishments. Out of these, 130 are in Spain and the remaining 273 are spread over 29 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. With these incorporations, the consortium of independent hotels of Hotusa Group totals more than 2,700 associates worldwide. 
Most hotels oncorporated outside Spain are located in Europe. Specifically, 210 establishments in 15 countries. Ahead are Italy and France, with 73 and 68 hotels, respectively. 
The company chaired by Amancio López also had a good growth in North Africa, especially in Morocco, with 11 new associates. Its evolution in Chile is also significant – with 12 new associates, and in the US, where it has added 10 locations. 
Hotusa is the largest tourist group in Catalonia, with a turnover of EUR 744 million in 2014, a figure that includes own hotels, marketing of third parties establishments and the division of tourism services. 
Hotusa has 147 hotels in 17 countries under Eurostars and Exe brands. And also Keytel booking central and Hotelius on-line portal.

Original story: Expansion

Translation: Aura Ree