Meliá Hotels International, which almost quadrupled its revenue in the first quarter of 2021, is revising its projections upwards and has set out a roadmap for 2024, with a focus on expanding its global portfolio.

Since the middle of last year, Meliá Hotels International has signed 45 new hotels, representing some 11,000 rooms, doubling the usual pace of signings in a pre-pandemic year. The goal now is to keep up the pace by signing no fewer than 40 hotels and 9,000 rooms by the end of 2022. And 90% of these openings will be through management contracts and franchises.

The group's geographic expansion strategy will focus on the "holiday axis", from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia, via the Mediterranean, the Middle East and East Africa. At the same time, Meliá will seek to continue to grow in key tourist cities and increase the penetration of its luxury brands.

To continue to gain volume and appeal to hotel operators, the group has set itself the challenge of 'management excellence' and strengthening its digital capability and distribution leadership, both of which have become attractive for brand expansion. Indeed, in 2019 direct sales represented 37% and are now around 50%. 

To be bigger and better managed, we have streamlined an expansion strategy with a more qualitative model and very low capital intensity formulas.

Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Meliá Hotels International