RIU Hotels & Resorts is presenting a new brand image that is more modern, fresher and warmer, which will accompany the new style the hotel chain has been introducing in its hotels through major renovation projects and new openings.

The change in image was a natural step in this modernisation process. And it is taking place in a year of record investment in hotel construction, renovation and acquisition that in 2017 reached €600mn.

The new brand image was presented today in Madrid by Pepe Moreno, the member of the board of RIU, who posed for a group photo with his sales team on the rooftop of the future Riu Plaza España hotel, which offers impressive views of the city from the 26th floor of Edificio España.

The chain foresees changing the brand image in all the hotels over the next two years, introducing the new image in 50% of its properties in 2018 and the remaining 50% in 2019. 

€2.156bn in revenue, 92 hotels and 29,000 employees

In addition to presenting the new brand image, RIU today presented the main figures and projects for 2017 and 2018. Board member Pepe Moreno explained that the hotel chain closed 2017 with €2.156bn in revenue, 7% more than in 2016, while investment in openings, renovations, and land and hotel acquisitions represented €200mn more than projected at the start of the year, totalling €600mn.

As of 31 December, RIU has 92 hotels, which represent more than 43,000 rooms in 19 countries, with a total of 28,894 employees.

In 2017 two new hotels were opened: the Riu Dunamar, in Costa Mujeres, Mexico, and the expansion of the Riu Republica, in Punta Cana. Moreover, five hotels were completely renovated: the ClubHotel Riu Guarana, in the Algarve; the ClubHotel Riu Costa del Sol, the result of joining two beachfront hotels in Torremolinos; the Riu Festival, in Playa de Palma; the ClubHotel Riu Bambu, in Punta Cana; and the Riu Palace Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, which became a luxury Adults-Only hotel following its renovation in November.

In 2018: four new hotels and five major renovations

The year's openings will be kicked off with the presentation of the ClubHotel Riu Chiclana. The hotel, a favourite with families, located in Sancti Petri, Cádiz, will reopen in time for Easter after a complete renovation and new amenities, including a water park. Later, in April, the Riu Santa Fe located in Baja California, Mexico, will be presented, followed in June by the ClubHotel Riu Tequila, in Playa de Carmen. The Riu Palace Punta Cana will reopen in July, and the Riu Palace Tropical Bay, in Negril, Jamaica, will be presented in October.

The Riu Astoria, in Golden Sands, Bulgaria, will open in June with 530 rooms; the rest of the openings will be concentrated at the end of the year: The Riu Palace Boavista, on Boavista Island in Cape Verde, will open in early November; the Riu Palace Costa Mujeres will join the recently opened Riu Dunamar, in Costa Mujeres, Mexico, also in the month of November; the year will close with the opening in December of the Riu Palace Baja California, located in Los Cabos, next to the Riu Santa Fe, giving RIU a total of three hotels at this Mexican destination.

Over the year, RIU will continue studying opportunities in the leading cities of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, in keeping with its goal of expanding its Riu Plaza line of urban hotels. The brand already has two new projects in progress: the first hotel on the Spanish peninsula, located in the centre of Madrid in the emblematic Edificio España; and its second hotel in New York, a project that is underway in close proximity to iconic Times Square.

Another one of RIU's strategic objectives is to expand in holiday destinations in Asia. Construction is already underway of two hotels in the Maldives that RIU will present in 2019, a pair of hotels located on two uninhabited islands linked by a bridge. The Riu Atoll will have all the services RIU All-Inclusive customers are accustomed to, while the Riu Palace Maldivas will offer a more luxurious and sophisticated option. Also underway is a first RIU hotel in Dubai, a grand 800-room hotel located on the Deira Islands, which will also open in 2019.

*In the photo, from left to right, Laura Malone, Communications Director, Senén Fornos, Sales Director for Spain, Latam and Mexico, Pepe Moreno, Executive Director and Carlos Guindos, Branding Director.