Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, as well as the COO, André P. Gerondeau and the Global Development Managing Director Maria Zarraluqui, have completed another annual tour of Asia Pacific accompanied by the Regional Vice President Bernardo Cabot. During this trip, they visited several key destinations in China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, amongst others. Whilst in the APAC, Escarrer signed agreements for severalnew hotels with major local partners, taking the total number of hotels in the region to 45. Meliá has grown quickly in Asia Pacific, adding more than 30 hotels over the last five years and multiplying its portfolio in the region by five.

Of the 44 hotels in operation or in the pre-opening phase, 16 are in Indonesia, 10 in China, seven in Vietnam, four in Thailand, five in Malaysia, one in Mongolia and one in Myanmar. Meliá Hotels International has also developed a service program adapted to Chinese guests to ensure hotels all over the world are better prepared to meet the needs and expectations of this increasingly powerful market. The company expects to add new hotels by the end of the year.

In China, Meliá Hotels International will add a new hotel under the Meliá Hotels & Resorts brand, Meliá Xueye Lake, which is in Shandong province next to the prosperous city of Ji’nan where Meliá already operates the Meliá Jinan. In Thailand, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, the company adds two new Meliá Hotels & Resorts: the Meliá Chiang Mai and INNSIDE Bangkok Sukhumvit.

In Vietnam, Meliá has signed another new property: Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat, situated in the beautiful Vietnamese countryside to the west of Hanoi. Gabriel Escarrer, Executive Vice President and CEO at Meliá also signed an agreement for the future Meliá Bukit Tinggi in the state of Pahang in Malaysia. The company’s portfolio and pipeline already includes four hotels in Malaysia.

Gabriel Escarrer said: “The size of this market, the strong organic growth we are seeing in China and Southeast Asia, and the progressive growth in revenues in the region, lead us to predict that in the medium term the region will make a contribution as important to company results as Cuba represented after its addition 30 years ago.”

Committed to alliances with major partners
The company has been operating in Asia Pacific for 30 years, and the region is a perfect example of its business model, focused on the addition of hotels under management agreements rather than through acquisitions. This is a key feature of the company’s growth strategy. Bernardo Cabot, Senior Vice President in the Asia Pacific said: “Meliá has an attractive value proposition for hotel owners and investors, thanks to its know-how, its extensive portfolio of leading brands, and its human potential and service culture, which increase its appeal in such a demanding market as Asia.”

The relevance of the APAC markets is developing for Meliá Hotels International year-on-year, considering both the inbound and the outbound travellers. In line with the company’s strategic commitment to and importance of the Asian market, the new management agreements signed by Gabriel Escarrer will strengthen the relationships of the company with important financial and real estate groups in the region, such as Greentown China, TCC-Land in Thailand and Aurelian Land SDN BHD.

Source: Melia Hotels International