“Hardest part has been done”: Magalluf’s transformation

Since 2011 and the start of the Meliá project in Magalluf, the group’s hotels, now all of four-star category, have realised growth in revenue of over 60% and have given a RevPar rating of 48% (RevPar being the ratio of average revenue per available room). On top of this improved hotel performance, there has also been a 40% increase in recruitment which has raised contributions to the social security system by just under 50%. In August specifically, the RevPar of Meliá hotels was up by 17% compared with August last year, while revenues rose by 14% and average occupancy was at 88%, with two hotels fully occupied. The transformation of Magalluf represents a real change in its tourism model.

The figures show how the youth segment - that part attracted by excess and drunkenness - is declining and being replaced by a traditional, family tourism. In addition, the overseas markets providing the tourism are more diverse. Hence, there has been growth in the Swedish, German and Italian markets, which are reducing a dependency upon the British market.

The non-hotel complementary offer has an important role to play in this changing model. As Mark Hoddinott, Meliá’s director-general of real estate, points out: “the more affluent client who is interested in Magalluf needs to have a complementary offer whose quality is at the level of that of the hotels, because if not, this client base will go somewhere else.”