Having recently announced that it will be opening its first hotel in Malta, what does Barceló Hotel Group represent, and who are its target clients?
Globally, the group has 175 hotels spread across 21 countries and has established itself as a leading global hospitality company. As of the end of December 2021, Barceló Group has around €4.9 billion in total assets.
Locally, Barceló Hotel Group is set to arrive through the launch of the Barceló Fortina Malta Hotel, having reached an agreement with Maltese company Fortina Investments Limited.
The Fortina site, adjacent to Tigné Point in Sliema, is undergoing a massive redevelopment that will cover a built-up area of 60,000 square metres, and will include the 183-room five-star Barceló Fortina Malta hotel, together with 60 designer luxury apartments, a public open space, a retail area over two levels, an office block, parking facilities, as well as other services.
The hotel plans to open its doors in September 2023 and includes modern luxury amenities, such as a wellness space complete with a spa, a gym and an indoor heated pool, a newly built stylish lido with two restaurants and a chill-out bar, as well as fully equipped bars and restaurants within the hotel. It is surrounded by an open plaza which is fully accessible to the general public, and is within walking distance from Malta’s largest shopping mall.
Barceló Fortina Malta will also be home to a fully equipped conference area with a capacity to hold 250 people and four meeting rooms to host any type of event, making it the ideal hotel for guests visiting Malta for business purposes and who want to extend their stay to enjoy the historic city and the hotel's facilities.
So, what is Barceló Hotel Group?
Barceló Hotel Group is the hotel division of Spanish multinational company Barceló Group. Founded in 1931 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, by Simón Barceló, the company has an active presence within the hospitality and travel sectors.
The chain has almost exclusively four-star and five-star hotels, and targets a host of markets, including family tourism, tourism for adults only, and also business tourism.
The group started off as a family business specialising in commercial and goods transport, yet is now a leading tourism company through years of experience and three generations of the Barceló family at the helm. Barceló Group is currently led by Co-Chairmen Simón Barceló Tous and Simón Pedro Barceló Vadell, while Raúl Gonzales leads Barceló Hotel Group as CEO of its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, and James Carrol is CEO at Crestline Hotels & Resorts, a US-based hotel management company owned by the group.
Barceló Group marked its entrance in the travel agency sector in 1954 through the launch of Barceló Viajes, while its hotel business commenced in 1962 through the opening of its first hotel in Mallorca.
The group continued to grow over the following years, marked by the expansion to mainland Spain in 1970 through the opening of Barceló Pueblo Benidorm. This was followed by international growth through the acquisitions of tour operators and hotels. In 1993, Barceló Group expanded its operations in Europe beyond Spain through the acquisition of Barceló Praha, the group’s first hotel in a European capital.
A new multi-brand strategy?
In 2016, the group decided to launch a new multi-brand strategy under the name Barceló Hotel Group, with a number of brands being announced, allowing it to cater for different markets.
These are Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels & Resorts (Luxury), Barceló Hotels & Resorts (Upper Upscale), Occidental Hotels & Resorts (Upscale), and Allegro Hotels (Upper Midscale).
