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Meliá invests €32M in Madrid hotels

Meliá Hotels International is investing big in its Madrid hotels, anticipating a growing influx of visitors as the city continues to recover from the global financial crisis.

Madrid broke tourism records in 2015 with more than 11 million visitors, and the number of international tourists grew by 11.8 percent (and spending by 14.9 percent) in the first 10 months of 2016. 

Meliá currently operates 22 hotels with more than 4,700 rooms in Madrid. The recovery, which began in 2014, has led to a RevPAR increase of up to 30 percent since 2013, especially due to price increases. The performance indicates a continued upward trend, placing them above RevPAR and occupancy figures for the other hotels in the city. 

Looking to capture both business and leisure travelers in Madrid, Meliá is “pursuing a positioning strategy in the upscale and premium segments,” and has allocated more than €32 million for hotel renovation and improvements in Madrid over the last four years. For example, the company turned the historic Ambassador Hotel into the Gran Meliá Palacio de los Duques, catering to the luxury segment.

For the upscale segment, the Meliá Madrid Princesa launched programming to attract Asian visitors, and has seen a significant increase in Chinese guests as a result. The Meliá Castilla, meanwhile, has focused on business travel and conferences, and is one of the largest hotels in the city at 915 rooms and capacity for more than 1,800 guests.