Francisco Crespí Recasens has been appointed General
Manager of the Meliá Barcelona Hotel, replacing Andrés Encinas
who has been named Vice President Operations for the real estate company
Inmotel Inversiones S.A.
Francisco Crespí was born in Palma de Majorca and successfully
completed university studies in economics, hotel management and law. He
began his career in the tourism industry in 1957 in the Viajes Ibero-Alemán
travel agency.
After several positions in hotels such as the Ritz in Barcelona and
the Fenix and Meliá Victoria Hotels in Palma de Majorca, Crespí
joined the Spanish hotel management company Sol Meliá in 1979, managing
the Sol Cóndores Hotel in Minorca.
After managing several other Company hotels in Cadiz, Bali and Bangkok
until 1995, Crespí then became General Manager of the Meliá
Gran Sitges until his recent appointment.
Renovation
The four-star Meliá Barcelona Hotel, built in 1975, has recently
completed the second stage of the total renovation of the hotel, involving
an investment of 450 million pesetas.
The renovation work forms part of a wider investment programme by the
hotel owners, Inmotel Inversiones S.A., with a total of 15,000 million
pesetas being spent on improvements in the company�s Spanish hotels.
The second stage of the project began at the end of July and has included
the renovation and refurbishment of 100 of the hotel�s 314 rooms, 42 of
which are located on the hotel�s �Royal Service� Executive Floor for business
travellers.
Amongst other things, to make it easier for guests to work in their
rooms, fax and modem connections have been installed. The renovation of
the remaining hotel rooms will be completed during 1999.
The emblematic Barcelona hotel has also installed a revolving door in
its main entrance and has totally refurbished the lobby area, using green
and white marble for decoration.
With the renovation process which began in 1997 with work on the hotel�s
9 meeting rooms, the Meliá Barcelona aims to strengthen its position
as one of the finest hotels in Barcelona, both for the superior quality
of its guest facilities and the highly personalised service provided by
its staff.
Sol Meliá, the company
which manages the Meliá Barcelona, currently operates three hotels
in the Barcelona region: the Meliá Barcelona, the Meliá Confort
Apolo and the Meliá Gran Sitges, with a total of 906 rooms.
Profile: Sol Melia
19 million persons annually stay at one of the over 59,000 rooms distributed
in 245 hotels
Sol Meliá is absolute leader in the Spanish hotel-sector ranking
of urban and tourist
hotels with more than 10,000 and close to 20,000 rooms, respectively. It
is third in Europe and 14th among the most important hotel chains in the
world.
It has 245 establishments distributed in 25 countries around the world,
with more than 59,000 rooms. 19th million persons annually stay at one
of its hotels. In 1997 the occupation rate was 71%.
Sol Meliá has achieved profits after tax of 1,475 million pesetas
in the first quarter of 1998, an increase of 21.6% over the same period
in 1997. During the first three months of the year, the Company generated
management fee revenues of 3,265 million pesetas, an increase of 15.1%
over the previous year.
These improved results are credited to the incorporation of new hotels
and improvements in management and sales, accompanied by healthy market
conditions in the tourism industry for both city and resort hotels.
Sol Meliá is the first and only Spanish hotel company quoted
on the stock exchange and has seen its share value increase by 18% during
the first quarter, reaching 7,200 pesetas per share and a total share capital
of 223,200 million pesetas. During the course of the first three months
of the year, the value of the Company�s shares reached a maximum 8,300
pesetas.
Sol Meliá, founded in 1956 by Gabriel Escarrer, its current president,
is present in Europe, America, the Mediterranean Basin and Asian Pacific,
through its eight brands Gran Meliá, Meliá, Meliá
Confort, Sol Élite, Sol Club, Sol, Sol Inn and Paradisus, covering
the varying market demands. Today, it has 23,000 employees.
The company is structured in five independent business areas which have
a general management status: European Urban Hotels, European Resort Hotels,
America, Cuba and Asian Pacific. Management is organized under five main
areas of activity: Economic-Financial, Marketing, Human Resources, Information
Systems and Works and Maintenance.
Fruit of this commitment to quality, Sol Meliá was founding member
of the Quality Management Club and received the 1993 Principe Felipe Prize
for Business Excellence. At the European level, it was the first hotel
company to obtain ISO 9002 Certification for hotel management services
in its eight brands and, at the national level, the Meliá Lebreros
in Seville was the first hotel to receive the ISO 9000 Quality Certificate.
The company is also pioneer in the hotel sector incorporating advanced
sales and marketing systems, launching the first loyalty programme in the
sector - the MaS card and Club Amigos - and signing strategic alliances
with other leading companies such as Iberia, Avis and American Express. |
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