McLEAN, Virginia—When talking to Claudio Zboznovits about Barceló Hotels & Resorts’ expansion plans, you’d never guess the company was operating amid a global economic downturn.
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“We’re a brand that’s in a growing pattern,” said the VP of sales and marketing in the United States and Canada about the Spanish hotel company. “And we’re super stable financially.” Barceló’s growth plans include targeting the leisure market in Latin America and the U.S.
In December, it debuted a new, all-inclusive property in Los Cabos, Mexico, the Barceló Los Cabos Palace Deluxe, and a renovated property in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the Barceló Punta Cana. It also reopened the Barceló Tucancun Beach and Barceló Maya Tropical Beach, both in Mexico.
The company also plans to renovate the Barceló Bavaro Beach Resort complex in Punta Cana by the end of the year. In 2009, the Barceló Group, the parent company of Barceló Hotels & Resorts, invested more than US$65 million in the refurbishment and selection of new hotels.
“We’re well positioned in Europe (Spain, the Mediterranean region and England) and have been a pioneer in the Dominican Republic,” Zboznovits said. “Then we made our way into Mexico and Central America.”
The growth of Barceló Group’s hotel and resort division the past five years allowed the company to almost double its product offering. In 2009, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached US$159.1 million, a 30-percent increase compared to 2008. This year, the company plans to meet its portfolio objective for 2010 and comprise more than 200 hotels, all of which are forecast to be four- and five-star properties.
Presently, there are 186 Barceló properties in 17 countries throughout the world, 36 of those are in North and Central America. A complete directory of the company’s hotels can be found at http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/en-GB/NuestrosHoteles.
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Barceló Los Cabos Palace Deluxe |
To support the portfolio’s expansion, Barceló, the third largest hotel operator in Spain, has increased its presence in North America by launching advertising and public-relations campaigns (Say Hello to Barceló) targeting the North American leisure-travel market. With the new initiatives, the company intends to introduce the brand and simultaneously position the company’s offerings as the most valuable resort options, particularly for all-inclusive travel to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Zboznovits said Barceló wants to grow market share in the U.S. and it’ll take three to five years to brand itself in the U.S.
Additionally, Barceló Crestline, a division of the Barceló Group, acquired U.S. travel company Tidewater for US$21 million, which added 17 new hotels to the U.S. portfolio while strengthening Barceló Group’s presence in North America.
“We have the capabilities to purchase and develop product,” Zboznovits said, citing that the company still has land as part of its larger complexes to develop fourth or fifth phases.
Barceló’s top four markets outside Europe are Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Central America. In Cuba, Barceló has strong, significant all-inclusive products, Zboznovits said, acknowledging the country has its own peculiars that must be worked around.
“We have high-end, quality product that will meet U.S. standards,” Zboznovits said, adding the company will have a leg up on American hotel companies come the day U.S. citizens will be able to travel to the island just 90 miles off the Florida coast.
The Barceló brand is well known in Canada because it targets Canadian leisure travelers who vacation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Zboznovits said.
In addition to the Americas, further expansion is planned Europe and Asia, where no Barceló properties exist yet. The mix of resort (i.e., leisure focus) and hotel (i.e., business focus) properties depends on air lift and location.
“Right now, the world’s the stage,” Zboznovits said. “There’s a lot of intent to grow in Latin and South America. Europe is always a potential, and the door is wide open in Asia.”
Aside from opening new and renovated properties, Barceló, a family owned, privately held company, developed a new Web site, BarceloWeddings.com, for destination wedding and honeymoon planning. The growth of the wedding business caused the company to launch the site, as well as hire new people on property and at the corporate level to handle the boost in business.
More consumers are booking resort destinations for weddings because it’s economical, Zboznovits said.
Also, the company’s travel division created a joint venture with American Express that will drive business travel, which is a target of many of the company’s hotels in Europe.