Spanish hotel chain Hesperia said on Tuesday it has subscribed to a capital hike of up to 225 million euros ($314.7 million) by rival NH Hoteles (NHH.MC) so as not to dilute its 25.09 percent stake.
Spain’s tourist outlook for the summer is dismal with sales dropping between 5 and 10 percent as vacationers cut back on spending and the length of hotel stays, predicted Simón Pedro Barceló, president of Barcelo Corporacion Empresarial hotel and travel group. “This year is going to be very difficult as we’ve already seen from the 20-percent fall in industry sales during the first four months of the year, which was the low season,” Barceló said at an economic conference in the Spanish capital.
This article sets out to give the reader a picture of the Madrid hotel market up to the end of 2008 and our view on current tourism and hospitality trends and tendencies. The overall health of Spain's economy is under considerable pressure from the current economic climate. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Spain will face difficulties until at least the end of 2009 in recapturing the same degree of public support that existed before the general election.
W Hotels Worldwide, the hotel category buster and industry innovator, will mark its debut in Western Europe later this year with the opening of the new W Barcelona. An avant-garde icon of stunning architecture rising high above the Mediterranean in Spain’s most dynamic and stylish city, W Barcelona is designed by Barcelona-born and world-renowned architect Ricardo Bofill. Known for his architectural creations including the Shiseido headquarters in Tokyo and the headquarters for Cartier and Christian Dior in Paris, Bofill’s projects around the world demonstrate his capacity to act in harmony with different local cultures, combined with his great global competence.
EZYield.com, the originator of automated online channel management solutions for the worldwide hospitality industry, is proud to support the growth of High Tech Hoteles, a Madrid, Spain-based hospitality management company, and their two boutique brands: Petit Palace and High Tech. With 45 hotels in Spain, 14 of which recently opened or will open soon and nine more scheduled to open in 2010, High Tech Hoteles is executing a successful growth plan focused on strategically placing hotels in business and tourist capitals in urban settings near cultural, shopping and business areas.
Meliá Palácio de Lousã Boutique Hotel, el primero de su clase en Portugal de la cadena Sol Meliá, utiliza el innovador servicio de la empresa GuestCentric Systems para optimizar su presencia online e incrementar las reservas online directas. Los servicios integrados de GuestCentric proporcionan a hoteles con herramientas online de marketing y distribución a precios accesibles.
Spain's tourism sector will face further consolidation as structural problems and sharp falls in numbers of new visitors hit earnings, the co-chairman of the country's third largest hotel group said. "The sun and beach model isn't exhausted, but with low profitability, companies are increasingly less able to act and, in the long term, we will pay," Grupo Barcelo's Simon Pedro Barcelo said in an interview in Expansion on Tuesday.
Mr Marco brings over 40 years of hospitality experience to his new position, having held a number of senior management positions in famous landmark hotels such as The Hamilton Princess in Bermuda, the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco, and the Pierre Marques in Acapulco where he acquired numerous awards such as the first ever AAA Triple Five Diamond Resort rating. More recently, he was the opening General Manager of the renowned Hotel Arts in Barcelona taking over the Ritz Carlton in Cancun as General Manager where he was the recipient of the National Quality Award on three occasions.