The Meliá hotels chain fully trusts what it considers powerful economic indicators and in the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, hence it endorses its investment plans for at least 75 million dollars in the next 18 months.
“50 million (of dollars) are destined to the Paradisus Cancun and probably about 25 million between updates and reforms smaller to the rest of the group’s portfolio,” says Meliá International Operations Director, André Gerondeau, within the framework of the inauguration of a Zel Hotel in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.
After the reopening of Meliá Casa Maya in February, the company of Spanish origin wants to accelerate its expansion in the Mexican market after seven to 13 hotels in two years, according to the CEO Gabriel Escarrer Jaume at the International Tourism Fair at the beginning of the year.
The hotel group, located in the World Cup 20, seeks to give a broad impulse in the country to its luxury brand Me by Meliá. It also foresees by 2026 the opening in Sayulita, Nayarit, of a ZEL, the brand where the ex -duty Rafael Nadal participates.
Lee: International tourism in Mexico grows 8.5% in January
“The Free Trade Agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States, is living a convulsive moment,” says Gerondeau.
However, he clarifies that the group has full confidence and hope in the management of President Sheinbaum and his Secretary of Tourism, Josefina Rodríguez, as well as in the governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, whom he refers to as a “true tourism ambassador in Mexico.”
“We believe that Mexico has had very powerful economic indicators in recent years for the reasons we know: tourism demand, Nearshoring and how the economy is evolving,” he says.
The arrival of international visitors to the country for 2024 grew 15.5% compared to the previous year, according to government figures, and the president has the goal that Mexico becomes the fifth most visited nation in the world.
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The Mexican Pacific is a priority for the Meliá group, Gerondeau underlines:
“We have expansion plans throughout the Mexican Pacific, because for us it is very important to bring marks and ZEL to both magical peoples and certain destinations that have a very particular opportunity to really be present.”
The assets owned by Meliá at the end of 2024 reached a value of 4,700 million euros. The firm has a portfolio of 91 assets, between hoteliers and others, of which 9 are in Mexico and represent 19.62% of the total, according to their financial report last year.
Gerondeau emphasizes that the company has 3,000 operational rooms in the country, and that it owns all assets in Mexico, except for Casa Maya.
“More than 20% of our investment is focused on Mexico and as you will understand we are Mexican in Mexico and very committed to the country,” he says.
He says that ZEL in Sayulita is a fairly advanced business opportunity, but that the group also explores opportunities in the Riviera Maya to introduce that brand.
“Definitely in Mexico we will be announcing very interesting things in the next 18 months. I believe that (…) we will be opening a Zel in Mexico, possibly in the areas of Mexican Pacific and Riviera Nayarit, ”he says.
Zel, the brand created together with Rafael Nadal
Meliá, whose income in 2024 grew 4.4% to 2,013 million euros, formalized last week the opening of Zel Punta Cana, the first outside Spain.
The brand, one of the nine that the group has, belongs to the Premium segment and is the result of a joint venture between Meliá and Rafael Nadal that started 18 months ago.
It is the only brand of the group where they share the property, as 50% is in the hands of the double Olympic and winner of 22 Grand Slam titles.
“He is a hotelier by nature because Rafa has been traveling for 20 years, visiting, knowing hotels,” says the director of Operations.
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André shares that working with Rafa has been an “extraordinary and very normal experience at the same time”, since he is a person whose values are greatly related to those of Meliá.
“What was important for Rafa? That the hotel reflects a bit this spirit of humility, this spirit of simplicity, that there is respect to nature, to the environment and the quality of the product. The sustainability principles are very reflected in the brand, it has a lot to do with that Mediterranean spirit, ”he says.
In the opening ceremony, Rafael Nadal declared that the brand began with a vision of two people originating in Mallorca – the CEO Gabriel Escrer and the extenist – in love with the Mediterranean who sought to bring to other parts of the world the life around that intercontinental sea.
“They have trusted me to be a traveling companion in this new development, which is Zel, and we really trust to give added value to an industry that is already very demanding,” he said.
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Nadal, who retired from professional tennis last November, participates in the real estate sector through the Holding Aspemir, a society that brings together the different firms in which he invests.
See Meliá a promising panorama
The Meliá group director points out that the world lives a very challenging moment, but also observes a great opportunity because the growth rate of the hotel sector and the hospitality industry has gone well above the growth rate of other sectors.
“And this has a lot to do with something we understand, which is that despite the entire context in the world environment, the client is not willing to sacrifice his personal time and will do everything necessary to continue traveling,” says André Gerondeau.
In such a competitive market, the Meliá group is forced to create differentiated experiences.
“What is the biggest challenge we have today? Probably create these experiences where such a competitive world where there is so much information, where people are educated on the Internet in a very short time to choose what trip, what a company where to go, ”says the manager.
Melia.com and the rest of their own channels already drive 50% of centralized sales, according to the 2024 financial report, the year in which the group opened 19 hotels and by 2025 anticipates a similar figure.
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