Q & A with Luis Riu Guell, High-ranking Executive with RIU Hotels & Resorts

Over the past couple of years, RIU has kept up a steady pace as far as hotel investments are concerned. The company’s entry in Costa Rica, Aruba and Cape Verde speak volumes of its vision of future. “We’ve managed to go our customers’ desires one better and find out those places that can be interesting to them,” said Luis Riu Guell in an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital.

Q.- In 2007 RIU churned out over 1 billion euros worth of revenues for a solid 7.5 percent increase. Are you pleased with these outcomes? What’s your overall assessment for this ongoing year?
A.- We’re happy because we’ve achieved the objectives we had set out at the beginning of the year, even in spite of the U.S. dollar depreciation against the euro because a considerable chunk of our earnings are reckoned in greenbacks.

Q.- You’re planning to come up with $1.14 billion worth of revenues in 2008. In line with current circumstances in the market and the way Europe has been faring so far this year, this is quite a conservative goal. Why?
A.- We’re realistic. As we speak, those goals are being met and it seems we’re going to be able to put those numbers on the board.

Q.- How many hotels does RIU now have in Spain and overseas and what are the company’s projections for coming years?
A.- We wrapped up 2007 with 102 hotels in 17 countries, with 47 of those lodgings in Spain and the rest of the establishments scattered in the Caribbean, Mexico, the U.S., Portugal, Cape Verde, Bulgaria, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Cyprus and Malta.

As far as the ongoing year is concerned, we’re planning to beef up our presence in Jamaica, in Mexico’s Pacific coast, on the Canary Islands and in Cape Verde. Also for 2009 we’ve got some new projects in the pipeline and we’ve already announced the grand opening of our first hotels in Costa Rica and Mexico’s Mazatlan.

Q.- You made some good investments last year. How have you fared so far?
A.- 2007 was a year of new and great investments, as you put it. The 900-room RIU Santa Fe in Los Cabos, in Baja California, has turned out to be the largest resort in the history of the company, following a massive investment of $167 million. In the same breath, we’re planning to open our first hotel in Aruba. The RIU Palace Aruba with 450 guestrooms and a $120 million investment is a luxury resort outfitted with the Krystal Restaurant serving fusion cuisine.

Both hotels have caught on pretty quickly among our customers and partners, so we’re very confident in the potentials of these two travel destinations that are increasingly going stronger with each passing year.

Q.- What do you make of Aruba as a travel destination?
A.- Aruba is a destination that captivated us at first sight, a destination highly coveted among American and Canadian travelers that has also seduced a faithful bunch of European tourists, like the Germans, the Dutch and the Swiss. The response of our clientele has been very positive, even though it’s an extremely pricey destination for European travelers due to the limited number of flights and the high demand.

Q.- You’re reaching out to Costa Rica with a five-star facility of your own. What made you pick this country as a destination of choice?
A.- Costa Rica is the perfect complement to our destination portfolio. This is a sought-after travel destination among both American and European travelers that’s blessed with amazing infrastructure. All major tour operators our of Europe are working there, so we’re confident that our RIU offerings could make their job expand a whole lot more.

Q.- On the flip side of the coin is Cuba, a destination you decided to pull up stakes from due to “strategic reasons” and because your plans are focused on other travel destinations. Is this actually the reason behind your decision or are there any other considerations to make?
A.- This is a decision we’d already made back in 2007 when the management contracts for the two facilities we had on the island nation expired. Cuba continues to be a highly attractive country with a flavor and cultural values that few destinations has to offer. Cuba is still a major piece for RIU but decisions are made on a project-by-project basis and right now we’re determined not to renew our contracts there.

Q.- How do you characterize the differences and advantages that RIU has to offer as a hotel company compared to what other chains have? What aspects are you planning to work on and give a top priority to?
A- Our service makes the difference and our employees continue to be the key players in our successes. Their way of realizing our service philosophy is actually one of a kind. Even though all hotel companies brag about top-notch services, the kind we offer at the RIU resorts actually makes the difference, make no mistakes about it.

In addition, the fact that we build our own hotels gives us the possibility of putting our own experience in each and every new project as we meet the ever-growing demands of our guests. Thanks to that service and expansion philosophy, we’ve managed to keep high levels of repeating guests in our hotels, currently in the neighborhood of 45 percent.