According to company reports, Meliá’s 2016 performance results in Cuba improved thanks to a 10.3% improvement in RevPAR, largely attributable to improved rates (+17.1%), especially in Santiago de Cuba and Havana.
Meliá Hotels International SA specifically cited: the start of the normalization of relations between Cuba and the U.S.., the arrival from the 4th quarter 2016 onwards of 14 non-stop daily flights to Havana, and new non-stop connections to Varadero, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Santa Clara and Camagüey. These factors produced an increase of 176% in North American travelers to Cuba. According to the company, the island nation also met its annual goal of 4 million visitors – and, unless there are significant changes, the company has a positive outlook for 2017.
For 2016, the company did not break out RevPAR, average room rate and occupancy for Cuba. Applying its stated growth rates to last year’s results produces a RevPar of €65 and rates of €98. According to these figures, it appears the growth rates are declining but remain highly favorable.
RELATED: How Airbnb’s Experience in Cuba Could Impact Mass Tourism Everywhere
Earlier this month, the Spanish hotel announced plans for new hotels in three regional Cuban cities with historic significance and colonial origins. Trinidad and Camagüey (two of the first seven villages built in Cuba between 1511 and 1515) and the French, neoclassical city of Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South, founded in 1819 by 50 families from Bordeaux, New Orleans and Haiti. All three cities have incredible historic centers that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Last year, Meliá Hotels recently reported impressive 2015 financial performance from its Cuba revenue base of $435.4 million.
The Spanish hotel company was one of the first foreign hotel companies to begin operations in Cuba after the island national opened its hotel sector to outsiders in the 1990s. Today, the hotel group manages more than 30 hotels in Cuba with 12,500+ rooms.
The company reported 5.7 million overnight stays in 2015, with an average occupancy of more than 70%. Its Cuba hotel operation is primarily managing hotel assets under contract with local hotels owners, a group of three military-affiliated Cuban entities: Gran Caribe Hotel Group, Gaviota SA Tourism Group Corporation and International Trade and Tourism Cubanacan SA.
