Raúl González, CEO EMEA of Barceló Hotel Group, revealed yesterday the chain’s expansion plan. The Spanish group will thus continue its development with openings planned within the Iberian Peninsula and in Asia-Pacific.
The development plan began on February 11th with the opening of a new 4* hotel in Dubai, which is the group's fifth hotel in the United Arab Emirates and strengthens its position in the Middle East and Northern Africa, where Barceló is the most represented Spanish hotel chain with 19 hotels across four countries.
Openings in the Iberian Peninsula
Barceló is about to strengthen its presence in the Iberian peninsula with the opening of five new hotels in Spain, in the provinces of Alicante, Cadiz and Malaga, and two openings in Portugal.
- In the province of Alicante, two openings are announced in La Nucía, a city renowned for its sports tourism. These openings will add two 5* hotels to the group’s portfolio, one being scheduled for Easter and the other for July;
- In the province of Cádiz, one hotel will open by the sea in Conil before summer;
- At the same time, 2 new properties will open on the Costa del Sol in the province of Malaga;
- In Portugal, the development will take place overseas with 2 new hotels in Madeira and the Azores;
- In addition, Barceló Hotel Group is currently in negotiations to add properties to its portfolio in the coming days, in Mallorca and Menorca in the Balearic Islands.
Openings in Asia-Pacific
Through a joint venture with Browns Investment, a subsidiary of the LOLC group, a Sri Lankan business conglomerate, Barceló will enter the Indian Ocean market with the management of 2 hotels in Sri Lanka and 2 others in the Maldives by the end of 2021. The agreement also includes the future development and management of a new complex of three 5* hotels in Northern Malé Atoll in the Maldives.
To expand its presence, the group plans to set up in Indonesia with the management of a 261-room 5* complex in Bali.
In addition, Barceló is maintaining its strategic orientations in China thanks to its partnership with Betterwood, which will enable it to penetrate the market in the franchise model. This strategic partnership represents a double challenge for the group:
The commitment to the Chinese market has two main objectives: to obtain brand recognition in a strategic country to develop Barceló's expansion in Southeast Asia, and to increase the Chinese market share in some of its hotels in European destinations, in capital cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Prague, Rome and Budapest, as well as the United Arab Emirates, where China is a key issuing market with strong growth potential.
Raúl González, CEO EMEA of the Barceló Group
Reforms and strategic orientations
At the same time, Barcelo will invest €200 million to modernise its hotel portfolio, notably by renovating some of its assets in Spain but also abroad. In this sense, the reforms of the Barceló Tangier and Allegro Agadir hotels in Morocco were evoked.
We are working to make the company stronger. We must be prepared so that when the market recovers it will catch up with us with hotels in perfect condition.
Raúl González, CEO EMEA of the Barceló Group
Finally, the group has shown its willingness to move in a counter-cycle manner, selling when everyone wants to buy and buying when everyone wants to sell.
We won't sell anything; we are not discount sellers. If there is a possibility of making a transaction at a reasonable price, we will consider it. We are active, looking to buy with the help of a financial investor.
Raúl González, CEO EMEA of the Barceló Group