Meliá Hotels International’s strategy to focus away from the Spanish market and sign more deals with online travel agencies has paid off with a 14.4% increase in net profit.
The Spanish hotel chain announced a net profit increase of 14.4% to EUR12.1 million for the first six months of 2013, with its earnings before tax and other charges (EBITDA) up 16% to EUR122m. Its strategy to reach out to international markets and not rely on the struggling Spanish consumer had helped to improve its results, alongside new OTA deals and direct bookings on its own website.
The company’s trends also suggest a return to numbers seen in 2007 for the Balearic Islands and mainland Spain, helped along by redevelopment and instability in Egypt.
RevPAR across the group improved 5.5%, led by its hotels in the Americas and Mexico. The group hailed its new ME London opening a success and is looking to close contracts for more hotels under the brand in the coming months. This year it has already signed contracts for 16 new hotels with its pipeline now totalling 53 hotels.
Meliá’s vice chairman and CEO Gabriel Escarrer said there was a positive outlook for the company going into the third quarter.
“The business performance to June and the current number of reservations on the books show that Meliá has benefited from its high resort component and its inbound / outbound strategy, facilitated by its presence in 39 countries to date,” he said.
Meliá opened a new property in Capri this week and will open another in Sicily as well as two in Brazil’s northern state of Pernambuco next year.
Comments are closed.