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Riu Hotels and Resorts- all inclusive

The Riu Hotels and Resorts chain is a multinational chain of hotels and resorts owned by the brother and sister duo of Carmen Riu Güell and Luis Riu. It is primarily based in the Caribbean. The Riu chain was founded in Mallorca by the Riu family in 1953 and is still operated by the family’s third generation today. It is currently operated by the brother and sister duo of Carmen and Luis Riu who took charge of the company in 1998. The company’s specialty is based on holiday resorts and 70% of its hotels offer the acclaimed “all inclusive by Riu service” . Riu has greatly expanded its range of products and hotels boasting over 100 hotels in 20 countries. The chain of hotels and resorts welcomed 2.3 million guests in 2020 and provided jobs for a total of over 24,400 people.

A brief history of Riu Hotels and Resorts

RIU Hotels & Resorts is a Spanish hotel chain founded by the Riu family as a small holiday firm in 1953. It was founded in Mallorca, Spain, and is currently 49% owned by TUI and run by the third generation of the family. The company’s business is focused on the holiday hotel sector and over 70% of its establishments offer an all-inclusive service.

With the opening of its first city hotel in 2010, RIU extended its range of products with its own line of city hotels called Riu Plaza. RIU’s press dossier for the year 2020 reported that it had 98 locations in 19 countries (apart from the planned RIU Plaza in London), 31,270 employees, and 4.9 million customers. RIU Hotels & Resorts is a Spanish hotel chain founded by the Riu family as a small holiday firm in 1953, the first hotel being Riu San Francisco in Mallorca. The RIU Hotels & Resorts chain is still run by the Riu family’s third generation.

In 2011, RIU Hotels & Resorts launched their new line of Riu Plaza city hotels. These are located in the centre of large cities and cater for both business travelers and tourists. RIU has hotels in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, United States, Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas, Aruba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Cape Verde, Mauritius, St. Martin and Sri Lanka (2016). It is the 30th largest hotel chain in the world according to Hotels magazine’s 2014 ranking.

The Biggest RIU hotel is an Adutls Only Resort

The biggest hotel of RIU Hotels & Resorts opened in June 2016 under the name of Hotel RIU Republica, and it is a new Adults Only Hotel. With 1007 rooms, this hotel is at the moment the biggest hotel that RIU have ever build.  

The Hotel Riu Republica, is located on Macao Beach in the Dominican Republic, and the guest staying there will enjoy a fabulous location on first line of the beach, with two infinity pools and various open air Jacuzzis. The hotel will be 24 hours all inclusive, and you may enjoy romantic dinner on one of the three thematic restaurants located on the complex.

With this new establishment, Riu Hotels & Resorts have already 15 hotels dedicated to the Adults Only segment, demonstrating the clear strategy of RIU for increasing their share on the Children Free hotels.  At the moment, you may make a reservation, but you can see a bit more about this hotel following the latest news updates.

Riu Hotel Locations

According to RIU’s official magazine, RIU operates 98 locations, of which 30 are in Spain and 5 In the Dominican Republic. Recently, RIU closed or partially closed a number of their locations for expansion or renovation. This sheer amount of hotels makes them one of the largest hotel chains in the world.

The Riu Hotel and Resort chain’s owners

Who is Carmen Riu Güell?

Carmen Riu Güell is co-owner of the Riu Hotels and Resorts chain. She was born in Palma de Mallorca in the year of 1955. She had a strong passion for hospitality and business administration from a young age. She studied Business Administration at The University of Barcelona where she obtained her degree. Carmen completed her post graduate studies at the IE Business School in Madrid where she obtained a degree in Human Resource Management and Finance. She has held very important and influential titles within the family business. Carmen was first The Director of Personnel at the chain and worked her way up the chain eventually getting promoted to positions like director of Finance and Administration , CEO of the Riu Group and RIUSA II board member.

Who is Luis Riu?

Luis Riu Güell is co-owner of the Riu Hotels and Resorts chain. He runs the luxurious Hotels and resorts business along with his older sister Carmen. Luis Riu was born in the year 1960 in the resort city of Palma de Mallorca. He implemented the chain expansion of Riu Hotels and Resorts to the Canary Islands in the year of 1985. He was assigned to the role of President in the year 1991 and was at the helm of the company’s expansion. In 1998 he took up the post of CEO of the Riu Hotels and Resorts along with his sister Carmen and still presently occupies the position. Luis Riu has a clear passion for the hospitality industry which is evident due to his degree in Business Administration which he obtained at the University of Barcelona. He has many years of experience due to being at the helm of operations at the Riu family chain. The great team that makes Riu Hotels and Resorts what it is today is due to the implementations and strategic planning of Luis and his Sister Carmen.

The expansion of the Riu Hotels and Resorts.

The Riu family opened the doors of their first hotel in November 1953. The hotel was acquired and established by then owners , Juan Riu Masmitja and his wife Maria Bertran Espigule. Their first acquisition was a small 80 bed room establishment located in , Playa de Palma. The city is located in Mallorca , Spain. In the 60s their was a huge tourism boom on the  Balearic Islands which was impacted by Luis Riu Bertran due to his partnership with German tour operator Dr. Tigges (now known as TUI). After the consolidation of charter operations between between Germany and Molorca in the Summer of that year Luis Riu went on to strengthen the development of tourism on the Balearic Islands, due to his promotion of Mallorca as a Winter destination. The 60s and 70s was good to the Riu Hotel and Resorts chain as they expanded their operations and hospitality businesses within the Balearic Islands.

First Hotel out of the Balearic Islands

The 80s saw Riu expanding to other destinations. 1885 marked the opening of the first hotel outside of the Balearic islands. It was located on Gran Canara. The Riu Palmeras was giving a very strong indication of how successful it would become. The Canary Islands of one of Riu’s most popular destinations today as it boasts over 20 hotels in the popular location.

Their First International hotel

The Riu Taino was Riu’s first international hotel. It is located in the Dominican Republic was opened in the month of November, 1991. The exact location of the Riu Taino is in Punta Cana. The growth of the Riu Hotels and Resorts within the Americas was as a result of this move. The hotel operators now boast over 30 hotels within the American region.

The first set of Urban hotels

In the 1990, which heralded the beginning of the 2000s, Riu started to undergo expansions in countries like Mexico, Jamaica , Costa Rica , Aruba, Cape Verde , Morocco and Tunisia. They embarked on their biggest challenge yet after 56 years of only specializing in holiday accommodations. In the month of September, 2010 the Riu Hotels and Resort launched their Riu Plaza Plaza Urban brand. The Riu Plaza opened its doors in Panama City, Panama. It was the first Riu hotel in the country and the first Riu city hotel. The company swiftly made a huge commitment to this line of business which has lead to them having hotels in some major cities of Europe and America today.

2016’s progress and challenges

The year 2016 saw the opening of the first Riu hotel in New York City. The hotel was called the Riu Plaza New York Times Square. This hotel is located in the heart of Manhattan. The international expansion of the Riu business empire has been the key to their success for over 25 years. The company has now launched a new challenge to conquer the Asian hotel and hospitality industry. Riu opened their first hotel in the Asian region in Sri Lanka. It was opened in 2016.

The Riu Hotel and Resorts chain continues to expand its operations and grow as a giant in the hotel and tourism sector. It put Mallorca on the map a a major tourism destination and continues to endorse many popular destinations. Infoblog hopes you found this to be an informative read. We would like to wish you the best in all your endeavours.