Work Begins On The New Hotel And Shopping Mall In Calviá Beach in Spain.

Meliá Hotels International (MHI), Calviá City Hall and the Balearic Government celebrated the start of construction work today on the new hotel and shopping mall in Magaluf (Mallorca), the most relevant milestone within the reconversion project that has been promoted by MHI and will be the largest private investment made to date to renew the destination, improve its international positioning and enhance the profitability and sustainability of the local tourism industry.

After the demolition of the old Jamaica Hotel located in a street parallel to the Magaluf beachfront, work began today on the construction of a modern hotel, parking area and more than 5,000 square metres of shopping facilities and terraces for which MHI and its partners will make an investment of almost 45 million euros. This will be one of most outstanding features of the project, which will promote a quality retail, food & beverage and leisure offer in Magaluf according to the profile and needs of the new customers. The attraction of new quality brands will be a trigger for commercial regeneration - the biggest challenge pending of the project - essential in ensuring that visitors spend more time in the destination.

The inauguration of the new facilities is planned for 2018 and will complete the Calviá Beach project which began in 2012 after a public-private sector cooperation agreement. As part of the agreement, Meliá has renovated all of its hotels in the destination (more than 3,500 rooms) with the introduction of new brands and experiences, all of which have received international recognition and generated the best results in the Company's history in Magaluf.

The new four-star hotel will be the only newly-built hotel after the renovation of all of the other Meliá hotels in the area, providing state-of-the-art facilities between the second and third streets back from the beachfront. The hotel will provide more than 270 rooms, public areas and hanging pools on the rooftop and upper terrace overlooking the sea, a restaurant at street level open to both guests and other visitors and residents, and 200 underground parking spaces for public use.

Calviá Beach is a strategic project for the Company and a strong commitment to all of its stakeholders. The conversion of its hotels has allowed Meliá to improve its business results while also having a positive impact on the image of the destination, the revitalization of other visitor facilities and the creation of new jobs. The new hotel itself and the shopping mall are expected to create 260 new jobs and the elimination of the former "all inclusive" service will boost local consumption.

"This new development is the best way to end a project in which the Company has worked tirelessly to make Magaluf one of the best destinations in the Mediterranean," added Mark Hoddinott, Executive Vice President Real Estate at Meliá Hotels International and senior executive on the Calviá Beach project, during the ceremony to mark the beginning of construction. The Meliá executive also expressed the Company's satisfaction with all the achievements since the launch of Calviá Beach and added that "we will maintain our commitment to making Magaluf a world leader in innovative tourism that generates value for society as a whole. This is the responsible tourism model to which we are committed and which frames our future growth".