The Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Real Estate Forum announced the winners of the inaugural Top Mediterranean Resort Awards, created to recognize outstanding mixed-use resorts and developments across the region. The popular public vote declared the following resorts as winners of the 2017 awards:
- Winner of the Top Mediterranean Resort–currently in operation: Ikos Olivia
- Winner of the Top Mediterranean Resort–currently in development: Club Med Marbella
“I send my wholehearted congratulations to both Club Med Marbella and Ikos Olivia on winning these awards," Alexi Khajavi, EVP, Questex Hospitality + Travel said in a statement. "There was fierce competition as all nominees are exemplary models of best in their respective class. We have been thrilled with the response of this award process from the industry. The number of people who engaged with us through submissions, nominations and voting clearly demonstrates an appetite for this genre within the sector, and I’m excited to be part of this continued interest as we look forward to our event, which focuses exclusively on resorts in the Mediterranean."
“Club Med Marbella is the result of a common ambition shared by Club Med and Magna Hotels and Resorts (the owner and investor of the resort) to create in Marbella the best upscale resort for families in Spain," Henri Giscard d’Estaing, chairman and CEO of Club Med, said in a statement on being announced as a winner. "For the Club Med teams involved, and for me, Club Med Marbella is a very meaningful project; it represents first the return of Club Med in Spain, birthplace of the brand with its first resort opened in the 50’s in Balearic Islands, and second, the rebirth of an iconic former Club Med, totally reinvented, modernized and upgraded. Club Med is strongly continuing its redevelopment in Mediterranean Europe, with the renovation of existing resorts, like Da Balaia (Portugal-€26 million invested over the last years) and Gregolimano (Greece–€3 million invested by CM in 2017/2018), and new flagships that will open in the coming months/years, like Cefalu (Sicily in June 2018), Marbella (in Summer 2019) and others to come in Italy and Portugal.”
“After only three years in operation, Ikos Olivia is continuing to delight us, demonstrating that the innovative luxury all-inclusive concept of Ikos Resorts is outperforming industry benchmarks in terms of customer satisfaction (having been awarded #2 rank globally by Tripadvisor in all-inclusive hotels in 2016), occupancy and profitability," Andreas Andreadis and Mathieu Guillemin, co-CEOs of Sani/Ikos Group, said in a statement. "The MR&H award further validates this success, which is built on relentless operational excellence, an innovative concept and an outstanding property designed for the modern families. Ikos Resorts is launching a new 400-room resort in Corfu in 2018, which we expect will take the brand a step further on its ambitious development program."
MR&H is the Mediterranean’s meeting place for mixed-use resort, hotel investment and development. Now in its third year, MR&H has become an established setting for business discussion, deal-making and discovering new and exclusive opportunities. The event takes place on Oct. 16-18, 2017 at the PortAventura Convention Centre in Tarragona, Spain.
The conference program for MR&H has talks on trend analysis, investor insight and funding patterns alongside more practical discussions, such as the most efficient operating structure and managing the sometimes complex relationships between the various owners and operators involved in mixed-use developments.
The host venue for MR&H 2017, the PortAventura Convention Centre, is on the Costa Dorada near the center of Barcelona. Complimentary shuttle buses will be provided to transport delegates to and from the airport.