– Easter has been very positive, and the prospects at the income level -knock on wood- are good for this summer.
– Very well. In March we were already at pre-pandemic levels in hotel reservations. We believe that this summer is going to be similar to that of 2019. Regarding that year, we are right now around 80% of reservations, and in some areas we are close to 90%.
– In March we already touched pre-covid levels and April has been very good. The global figure for 2022 will not be the same as 2019, but we expect to reach the pre-pandemic level in a few months. We will see how the months of September to November behave, which is when we have less income.
“In a pandemic there should have been more specific aid for the hotel sector”
– In 2020 we recorded tens of millions in losses, yes. In 2021 we no longer lost, we won, and this year we expect profits to be at the level of 2019. We can be optimistic as long as new events such as the war in Ukraine do not break out.
– Yes. Mexico has been the locomotive of the company during the crisis. Our business in this country has performed very well. American customers continued to travel to Mexico in the pandemic and the local customer has continued to enjoy vacations. In 2020 Mexico was an oxygen ball. Our salaries in the rest of the world were paid with the income generated in this country, which is very important to us.
– In places like the Dominican Republic, Dubai or the Maldives we had quite a few Russian and Ukrainian clients and we have lost them. The war has had a downward impact. It generates uncertainty and uncertainty in tourism always retracts the will to travel.
– We are concerned about the situation. We want to analyze it carefully and carefully, and see how events evolve. We have not made long-term decisions on this.
“We have lost Russian and Ukrainian clients in places like Dubai or the Dominican Republic”
– The ERTE and the ICO have been of great help, and we are grateful because they have sustained the economy, but there should have been more specific aid for the sector proportional to its relevance. And the statements of some members of the Government have not helped either…
– This sector, on which between 11% and 13% of GDP depends, has been undervalued, and its workers have sometimes been undervalued. Of a receptionist it cannot be said that his work has little added value. A receptionist, for starters, speaks Spanish, English, French and German.
Joan Trian Riu poses smiling at the headquarters of Riu Hotels & Resorts in Palma de Mallorca.
Photography: Bartolomé Ramón
– I don’t know if they are essential -we are not food or health-, but we are strategic. Sometimes empty and baseless words have been spoken, facing the gallery. The work carried out by professionals in this sector has value. It cannot be underestimated, as has been done.
– No. Only from some members of the Government of Spain who have made inappropriate comments. The Balearic Government has shown greater sensitivity.
– It has a double effect for us. On the one hand, it erodes our margins and, on the other, it reduces the disposable income of families, which causes them to travel less or not travel at all.
– The electricity company we work with is not complying with the prices set in the contract since June. Right now we are in the middle of negotiations, but the question we have is whether our spending on electricity, for example, is going to double or triple.
– The Riu Palace Aquarelle, yes. It is a commitment to a country, Jamaica, in which we have been very satisfied for more than twenty years and where we have seven establishments. We are the largest non-Jamaican hotel chain there. The Riu Palace Aquarelle will be a 500-room hotel on a magnificent beach, offering a good product to customers and generating employment at the destination.
– Yes, the five-star Riu Baobab. It is an important bet and with some uncertainty, some risk, because tourism is not very developed in Senegal and there are few air connections. But we are satisfied with our work and our results in the Cape_Verde archipelago, where we landed in 2004 when there was not much tourism either, and we believe that we can replicate the model in Senegal. In Cape Verde we already have five hotels and we have achieved a strong foothold.
– Very well, and for many years. We open a first hotel in Miami; then another in New York, which works very well and which we later replicated in San_Francisco, and now we want to open a new hotel in Chicago. We are very satisfied with our journey in the United States, where we are increasingly recognized. Hopefully we can continue to grow there.
– This year 2022, in addition to those opened in New York and Senegal, we are going to open our second hotel in Zanzibar and another two in Cancun, Mexico. These are openings that were already planned before 2020 and that the pandemic forced to postpone.
“The Hotel Riu Plaza España in Madrid has surprised us and has been a success that, at first, we did not expect”
– We are exploring in the Indian Ocean. We are already in the Maldives, which is a destination top in Asia, but we are studying the possibility of growing also, for example, in Thailand, where we do not have a presence. And, of course, in the Caribbean. We are already in Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and Aruba, and we want to be in Colombia, an important destination that we are also studying.
– Our growth, as a general rule, is organic. The hotels that we build ourselves are much more profitable than those that we buy from third parties.
– In some cities better than others but, in general terms, it’s going well. We do not have the objective of being in a certain number of cities, but our desire is to be in the great tourist cities of the world.
– I must admit that Madrid has surprised us a lot, and for good. It was an opportunity presented to us, not without risks, as everyone knows. We are Majorcans, we did not know the city well and we have been pleasantly surprised by what this great building represents for the people of Madrid. The hotel has been a success of a dimension that at first we did not expect. We have done a good job there in product development -the rooftop terrace of that hotel is spectacular- and the city of Madrid is also developing a great job for its tourism development. The decisions that have been made there have turned Madrid into a city of leisure top-3 in Europe.
– London, Berlin, Dublin, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Panama…
– We would like to have a hotel in Barcelona and, if the opportunity arises, we will get on with it. The same I say of Paris, Amsterdam and other great cities of the world.
– In the business model, urban hotels can already represent between 10% and 15%. We are a vacation chain, and we will continue to be, even though we have an important urban business division. Vacation hotels have a lower real estate value, but give rise to a higher generation of results.
– Everything. Our holiday hotels are by the sea and must have enough space for swimming pools, lounge bars, restaurants and even water parks in some cases. In them we have developed spectacular pool parties. These are hotels where the client goes on vacation, to rest and have fun on a fantastic beach and in very good weather. While in the city we have two types of product. The hotel with meeting rooms and halls for events, like Madrid, and the hotel conceived as a bed&breakfast very large with very good quality rooms at very reasonable prices, as is the case in New York.
– TUI has been a good travel companion since 1959 and we hope it will continue to be so for many years to come. He is a partner with whom we are very comfortable. After the blow caused by the pandemic, it wanted to sell assets and buying them was not in our plans, but before it was sold to a third party, we preferred to buy its part ourselves to remain independent.
– We have acquired 100% of one of the companies, yes. But we share another very relevant society, with other hotels, in which we are 50%. We are still partners.
– We want to continue being a hotel company both for vacations and for tourist cities. Customer satisfaction, good value for money and the best locations at destination will continue to be our three main axes.
IN A PERSONAL KEY
Cooking and sports in nature
Joan Trian Riu, who has not yet turned 40, is a young businessman proud of his Mallorcan origin. Son of Carmen Riu, CEO of the company, he smiles that he will soon be a father.
He studied business administration and began his professional career in London, as an investment banking analyst, in the midst of the economic crisis. An experience, prior to his joining the family business, that tanned him.
On a personal level, he confesses that sometimes it is unavoidable for him to take problems home, but in general he knows how to disconnect.
In his free time, he claims to be “a little cook”. He enjoys going to the market on Saturday mornings to buy food with which he prepares a paella as well as a barbecue. He does everything. He even dares with oriental food. He loves to cook at home for family or friends.
His other great passion is running in the mountains. He takes the car and goes to the Sierra de la Tramuntana to play sports. He is one of those who values contact with nature.
In figures:
- 1.375 MILL. OF INCOME
- 100 HOTELS
- 49.832 BEDROOMS
- 20 COUNTRIES
- 4,2 MILL. CUSTOMERS PER YEAR
- 28.004 EMPLOYEES
Data: 2021