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| Type | Public (BMAD: SOL) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Founder(s) | Gabriel Escarrer Juliá |
| Headquarters | Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
| Key people | Gabriel Escarrer Juliá (Chairman of the board), Gabriel Juan Escarrer Jaume (CEO) |
| Industry | Travel, tourism |
| Products | Hotels and resorts |
| Revenue | €1.351 billion (2007)[1] |
| Operating income | ▲ €236.6 million (2007)[1] |
| Profit | ▲ €161.9 million (2007)[1] |
| Employees | 35,200 (2007)[1] |
| Website | www.solmelia.com |
Sol Meliá, S.A. (BMAD: SOL) is a Spanish hotel chain which was founded by Gabriel Escarrer Juliá in 1956 in Palma de Mallorca. The company is the world's largest operator of holiday resorts[2] and the 13th biggest hotel chain worldwide.[3] Domestically the company is the market leader in both resort and urban hotels.[4] Currently Sol Meliá operates more than 300 hotels in 30 countries worldwide, employing over 35,000 people.
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History
The origins of the company reach back to 1956, when the then-21-year-old Gabriel Escarrer Juliá leased the Altair Hotel in Palma, Majorca.[5] Over the subsequent years Escarrer took advantage of the island's increasing popularity as a tourist destination for package holidaymakers, adding further properties to the portfolio of his company, Hoteles Mallorquines.[5] The company expanded geographically in the 1960s and 70s, acquiring hotels in the Canaries as well as the other Balearic Islands. After the decline of General Franco's dictatorship, tourism in Spain developed more rapidly and Hoteles Mallorquines aggressively moved onto the Spanish mainland, establishing a presence in much of the country by the early 1980s.[5]
In 1984 the company renamed itself Hoteles Sol (English: Sun Hotels), before establishing itself as the largest hotel chain in the country with the acquisition of the 32 location-strong Hotasa group.[5] Another merger followed three years later as the company combined with the upmarket Meliá chain to form Sol Meliá.[5] The deal increased the geographical scope of the company into the Caribbean, Americas and other parts of Europe.
A 1996 split of the company into two separate businesses, one for hotel ownership (Inmotel) and another for management (Sol Meliá, which listed on the Bolsa de Madrid), was reversed three years later amid major consolidation in the industry.[5] Gabriel Escarrer Sr. subsequently stepped down from the chief executive role, replaced by his sons Gabriel Jr. and Sebastian, who became deputy CEO.[6] The following year brief takeover talks were held with Hilton International,[5] but Sol Meliá instead chose to make an acquisition of its own, paying €360 million for smaller peer Tryp Hotels.[7] Tryp had come close to being purchased by rival chain NH Hoteles a year earlier.[8] Tryp continues to exist as a separate brand within the Sol Meliá group.
The company has recently sought to forge partnerships with other companies in the leisure industry, opening hotels based on the Hard Rock Cafe concept in conjunction with then-parent The Rank Group,[9] and Flintstones-themed hotels with Warner Bros.[5]
Although publicly-traded since 1996, the Escarrer family continues to control Sol Meliá, holding a combined stake of over 61% at the end of 2007.[1]
Operations
The company employs various commercial brands to offer their product, including Gran Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, ME by Meliá, Innside, TRYP Hotels, Sol Hotels, Paradisus Resorts and Sol Meliá Vacation Club.
The firm operates over 270 hotels as of August 2009, of which almost 150 are in Spain. Of the other 27 countries in which Sol Meliá operates, the largest numbers of hotels are located in Cuba, Germany, Croatia, Brazil and Portugal.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Annual Report 2007". Sol Meliá. http://inversores.solmelia.com/en/show_annex.html?id=2047. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Brandt, Nadja (4 June 2007). "Deutsche Telekom, Ryanair, Sol Melia: European Equity Preview". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a3mAN8YCYLUY&refer=europe. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Harding, Ben; Hetz, Robert (11 November 2008). "Spain's Sol Melia cuts capex, gloomy on 2009". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSLB19139720081111. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Harding, Ben (7 August 2008). "Sol Melia's H1 profit drops 41 pct, to miss target". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL772301820080807. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cohen, M.L. (2006). "Sol Meliá S.A.". International Directory of Company Histories. The Gale Group. http://www.answers.com/topic/sol-meli-s-a. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "Annual Report 2004". Sol Meliá. http://inversores.solmelia.com/en/show_annex.html?id=442. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "Sol Melia Will Pay $326.8 Million For Spanish Hotel Group Tryp". The Wall Street Journal. 22 August 2000. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB966852984842490468.html. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "Sol Meliá sella un acuerdo para la compra de Hoteles Tryp" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 1 August 2008. http://www.elmundo.es/2000/08/01/economia/01N0094.html. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "Rank Group Plans Hard Rock's Growth". Associated Press (The New York Times). 18 June 2003. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19HARD.html?ex=1228798800&en=1e05809a929f755a&ei=5070. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "Hotel directory". Sol Meliá. http://www.solmelia.com/solNew/html/directory/en/directory.html. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
External links
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