Aperturas de hoteles

🏠 Gaiarooms, a digital hotel manager launched earlier this year, expands to Portugal by partnering with Blissful Suites Oporto, marking their first establishment outside Spain. Located in Oporto's metropolitan area, Blissful Suite features over 28 tourist apartments with equipped kitchens. This move is part of Gaiarooms' expansion plan in Portugal, aiming for new additions in key cities. They plan to manage 4,000 rooms by 2028, responding to the high demand for flexible, quality accommodations in Oporto. Enrique Domínguez highlighted Oporto's tourism potential and the fit of Gaiarooms' modern, efficient, and digitalized services.

🏠 Casual Hoteles opens its first hotel in the Balearic Islands, the Casual Bahía Ibiza, marking its expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Located in Sant Josep de Sa Talaia, near the Parque Natural de Ses Salines and five minutes from Port de Torrent beach, the hotel stands out for offering additional services such as a restaurant-cafeteria, chill-out, and a pool with solarium. Each of the 42 rooms is named after one of Ibiza's 80 coves. The hotel maintains brand features like triple rooms with three proper beds, Rituals bathroom amenities, and pet-friendly policies, offering free stays for pets booked via their website, along with a pet bed, feeder, drinker, and welcome snack.

🏨 In Mallorca, 92% of hotels are set to open for Easter, surpassing the 2024 figure by 20 points. Occupancy rates are expected to average 70%, with some areas like Palma and Cala Major anticipating around 80% due to a diverse tourism offering. The FEHM is optimistic, noting the sector's commitment to the hotel industry and talent retention. Sports events extend activity beyond Easter in Alcudia and Cala Millor, while other regions may see a post-holiday dip due to no school vacations in May. Renovated establishments are likely to see improved pricing for the coming holidays.

🏨 RH Hoteles, a Valencia-based hotel chain, expands to Murcia by adding its first establishment in the region, the 3-star RH Murcia Centro with 61 rooms, previously operated as Zenit Murcia. Located next to Mercado Central de Murcia, the hotel provides easy access to the city's key attractions. This latest addition brings RH Hoteles' portfolio to a total of 22 establishments. The company continues to seek expansion opportunities in holiday and urban destinations, with properties in Benidorm, Calpe, Gandía, Valencia, Castellón de la Plana, Peñíscola, Vinaròs, and now Murcia.

🏦 Accor hired 142,000 people last year, 70% of whom were without university education or prior employment. CEO Sébastien Bazin at the Hospitality Investment Forum in Berlin stated the company needs 50,000 more staff for 300 upcoming hotels. The World Travel & Tourism Council highlighted the global tourism sector employs 348 million people, exceeding North America's population. Accor is tackling challenges including catering to younger travelers and appreciating human value over artificial intelligence in hospitality.

🏖️ Imserso, the Spanish state agency for senior tourism, is in talks with the Portuguese public administration to potentially add Portugal as a destination for its program and allow Portuguese seniors to participate. The proposal, presented by Imserso Director María Teresa Sancho in February, has faced strong opposition from the tourism sector over low profitability. However, Ávoris' General Director of Social Tourism, Beatriz Varela, supports the move, noting it could attract 100,000 to 300,000 additional beneficiaries and benefit Spain's economy in the off-season.

🏨 Bestprice anunció la apertura de su octavo hotel, el Bestprice Alegría, con 53 habitaciones en el distrito tecnológico de San Blas-Canillejas, Madrid, diseñado por Marta González Arquitectos. La cadena ya opera hoteles en Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Valencia y Santillana del Mar y planea dos nuevos establecimientos en Barcelona y Málaga. Oscar Sánchez, presidente de Hoteles Bestprice, destaca el compromiso con la innovación y la excelencia del nuevo hotel boutique económico premium.

🌟 Overnight stays in non-hotel accommodations reached over 6.8 million in February, a 2.6% increase from February 2024, driven by a 7% rise in non-resident stays, while resident stays fell by 8.5%. Tourist apartments accounted for 66% of these stays. The average stay was 4.6 nights per traveler. Tourist apartment stays increased 7.2% to 4.49 million, with non-resident stays up 10.7%, and occupancy for tourist apartments was 36.5%. Canarias saw a 14.6% jump in tourist apartment stays, reaching more than 2.5 million. Campsite stays fell 2.7% to 1.51 million, with resident stays down 10.5%. The Comunidad Valenciana led campsite stays with 673,000, despite a 6.4% drop. Rural accommodation stays exceeded half a million, a 0.7% increase, with non-resident stays up 14.5%. Andalucía was the top rural stay destination with over 84,000 stays. Hostel stays declined by 21.1% to 339,486 in February, with the Comunidad de Madrid recording the highest number and occupancy rate (83,000 stays, 51.4% occupancy).

🛫 Travel between Canada and the US is expected to plummet by 75% in the coming months, an alarming drop revealed by the OAG study portal and reported by Canada's Toronto Star. March 2024 saw 1.2 million flight reservations for April, which drastically fell below 300,000 this year. May's figures also declined from 817,000 to under 230,000. Despite this, airlines haven't changed their summer flight plans, except for Transat and Flair from Canada, which reduced their US flights by 22% and 26%, respectively.

🏨 Meliá Hotels International announces the first "The Meliá Collection" luxury brand hotel in Costa del Sol, Estepona, set to open mid-2026 after a complete renovation. The Bahía Estepona will feature 134 rooms and suites, extensive outdoor spaces including a large pool, landscaped areas, a wellness center with spa and gym, plus three restaurants and two bars. The hotel's strategic location is 20 minutes from Puerto Banús and 30 minutes from Marbella's historic center. This addition brings Meliá's Andalusia presence to 30 hotels, with 16 in Málaga, including the upcoming ME Málaga opening later this year.