It was autumn 2011 when the plans for the transformation of Magalluf began to circulate. The word was that this would make the resort like Miami Beach. It was a project that would need up to eight years to complete. The plans were those of Meliá Hotels International.
When you looked at the map of this scheme, you appreciated that Magalluf had more than just Meliá in its DNA. Its body owed much to Meliá. The positioning of the hotels to be renovated, upgraded and rebranded, allied to a new boulevard, gave the impression of a vertebra. The spine of Magalluf was to be remodelled, while its outer body was to be beautified. It would be given a new name. Or part of it would be. Calvia Beach.
Melia Hotels International presents Hotel Sol Wave House.
In 2012, the CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, formally presented the project. He highlighted what would be keys to the successful transformation of Magalluf - strong financial investment, tourism industry knowhow that had been gained over decades, and exemplary public-private collaboration.
It was to take six years and investment of some 250 million euros, which isn't to say that investment has since stalled, as Meliá don't cease in investing in ever greater quality, innovation and sustainability. But Escarrer was able to say in 2018 that the company had now produced the "icing on the cake". The one-time Hotel Jamaica had been demolished. In its place had risen the Hotel Calvia Beach The Plaza (now Hotel Innside Calvia Beach) together with the Momentum Plaza, a centre for international retail brands and a range of restaurants. This, moreover, had an all-year Magalluf in mind. Seasonality was being addressed with a specific project that placed sustainability to the fore; it was built entirely with criteria of environmental responsibility and energy efficiency.
The transformation was a change to the tourism model. It was a transformation to create 3,500 newly designed rooms in eleven hotels. There was a focus on customer segmentation - great emphasis on the family, adult and seniors markets rather than on a youth market that had been proving troublesome. There was the extension to the season, with four hotels in all earmarked to remain open all year.
CEO of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer.
Escarrer said in 2018 that "when we launched this project, we explained that our objective was twofold - to restore the viability and profitability of the businesses and to improve the well-being of the entire community, enabling us to once more feel proud of Magalluf". "Today, we can happily say that the 'new Magalluf' brings together all the ingredients that make a destination attractive - for tourists, for investors and for tourism sector workers."
Meliá were of the firm opinion that a change in the 'tourism cycle' was occurring, that resorts and destinations which did not undergo significant renovation would suffer from the competition from emerging destinations. Magalluf, thanks to the transformation effort made, was now in a position "to win" by constantly consolidating the progress towards a model of quality.
Hotel Meliá Calviá Beach.
There had been bumps along the road and not of Meliá's making. These were the bumps of highly publicised negative behaviour, but Gabriel Escarrer was to say of this that Magalluf had arrived at a turning point and when the resort began to overcome an "obsolete model" and to implant one that would be profitable and sustainable in the future. And this, he stressed, was thanks to support from other businesses and to the fundamental cooperation of the public sector.
By summer 2015, which was when he made these remarks, "the hardest part" had been done. The DNA of Magalluf was altering forever and for good.
