Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Meliá Hotels International
Gabriel Escarrer, chief executive, Meliá Hotels International
Meliá Hotels International is the leading hotel group in Spain and has over 50 new hotels in its current pipeline.
Here chief executive Gabriel Escarrer tells Breaking Travel News which are due to come to fruition next during World Travel Market in London.
About Gabriel Jaume
Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, chairman and chief executive of Meliá Hotels International, has emphasized sustainability, human capital, and digitalization as the pillars of tourism’s future, stating in a June 2023 interview that the three factors “van a ser los tres factores claves en el futuro.” He also discussed the company’s expansion in Mexico, where it operates nine properties and plans upcoming openings in Guadalajara and Nayarit, and expressed that the brand is “debemos mucho a México.” Escarrer described himself as “muy cortante, muy apasionado de lo que hago y amigo de mis amigos” and said he prefers to “cuidar muy bien a los amigos” when discussing the company’s social media strategy. In earlier 2018 interviews, Escarrer highlighted the group’s focus on Southeast Asia as a growth region, noting that more than one-third of 56 properties in its pipeline were in that area. He also discussed Meliá’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, noting it was one of only three hotel companies in the ranking alongside Hilton and InterContinental. Escarrer detailed a €248 million investment in the regeneration of Magaluf, describing the results as “above our feasibility study” and expressed a commitment to an asset-light management model, with the company owning 13% of its hotels while opening 25–26 properties annually.
Transcript (16 segments)
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Gabriel Jaume0:01
I'm Gabriel Jaume, CEO of Meliá Hotels International. Wait and welcome to breaking travel news.
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Interviewer0:10
So many hotels. Meliá Hotels International is a leading hotel group in Spain and has over 50 new hotels in its current pipeline. Which of these projects can we expect to come to fruition in?
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Gabriel Jaume0:16
2019? Oh, we're going to open an average of 28 to 29 properties for the next year, and that has been the case in the last three years. So that's an average of one property every two weeks, with a clear focus on the Mediterranean rim, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. At the end, we are the leading resort company worldwide, so if you want to be the leader, you need to focus in these three areas: the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
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Interviewer0:47
That's great, sounds exciting. And so the group has taken an active role in the regeneration of Magaluf with a pivotal new opening, the Plaza House. How has it been received by the market?
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Gabriel Jaume0:59
I feel great, actually. We've been investing a huge amount of money, 248 million euros, in the last seven years to give a second chance to Magaluf. It has not been easy. I keep saying that to have a new model, wow, I was expecting to do five or six years, and things, the results are there. We are above our feasibility study, and the last opening, the Plaza, actually, we've achieved more than we were expecting in terms of occupancy and in terms of our break-even. So we are really happy with the results of that project.
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Interviewer1:44
Great. And you're expanding into Asia Pacific as well, is that right? Where you're opening 20 new hotels before the end of 2020. A lot of companies have similar aspirations. What makes your properties unique?
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Gabriel Jaume1:57
In my opinion, as I said before, if you want to reinforce your leadership in the resort world, you need to be the leader in three parts of the world: the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. We are by far the leader in the Mediterranean. We are by far the leader in the Caribbean, in the Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean. And we have not, but I'm sure we will be in five years, the leader in Southeast Asia. So most of the resources, most of the priorities in terms of development are focusing in this part of the world. And as you said, among the 56 properties that the company is going to open in the next two and a half years, more than one third, 21 properties, are in Southeast Asia. So there is a clear commitment in this part of the world.
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Interviewer2:44
It sounds exciting. And then by 2020, are you looking to reduce water use per stay by 8% and 67% overall green energy use, including single-use plastics? So what other steps have you taken so far?
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Gabriel Jaume2:57
This has to do with being a family-owned company, and the values of the family are pretty much related with the values of the company. So the family and the company have always been really involved in sustainability. And actually, I'm very proud to say that for the first time, we are part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. And there are only two other hotel companies that are together with Meliá in this ranking worldwide: that's Hilton and Intercontinental. So together with these two, Meliá is part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. There are a lot of things that the company has done, and there is a clear commitment to reduce our impact on CO2 of the company worldwide.
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Interviewer3:53
Right. And you've recently adopted WhatsApp for business. What are your ambitions here?
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Gabriel Jaume4:01
Uh, WhatsApp for business? In my opinion, it's very important to have a clear strategy to enhance customer experience. And the customer needs to have the feedback the sooner the better. So WhatsApp has done a great job for us. So we use pretty much this tool for the pre-book stage, for the booking, for the during the stay of the guest, and the post-stay. And I think it's a great tool to enhance the customer experience and to keep in contact the whole time with them.
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Interviewer4:44
And you've developed a bracelet as well for the resort properties, which replaces the wallet, ID, and room key. How are guests reacting to this?
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Gabriel Jaume4:52
This is something that we have done and we have implemented in Magaluf, having already 11 properties, to create a sense of a macro resort. So what we want is that our clientele goes with the perception of not having to bring their wallet and to have the experience of not only one property but 10 properties next to each other. So they can use the bracelet to have food, to have beverage, to have spa access, or whatever, in whatever of our properties. So that's, I will say, worry-free or worry less. I mean, what we've done during this summer has been very positive.
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Interviewer5:41
Sounds great. And you recently took the title of Mexico and Central America's Leading Hotel Brand for 2017 and 2018, I assume, at the World Travel Awards. How important are accolades such as these?
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Gabriel Jaume5:52
Absolutely very important. And the company has done a huge effort to strengthen leadership either in Mexico and Dominican Republic. We've been there for the last 32 years, and we've been having an average of one property every two years. So there is a clear focus in this part of the world, and we want to keep this leadership.
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Interviewer6:13
That's great. Thank you so much for talking to us today.