November,1999 - The founder and Chairman of Sol Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, has been named �Corporate Hotelier of the Year� by the prestigious US trade magazine �Hotels�. The award is in recognition for a brilliant career which has seen him build one of the largest hotel companies in the world. Gabriel Escarrer will receive the award today, the 8th of November, in an event to be held in New York, which is scheduled to be attended by the Ambassador of Spain to the United Nations, Inocencio Arias, and the Consul General of Spain in New York, Emilio Cassinello 

According to Gabriel Escarrer, �it�s a truly great honour to be named �Hotelier of the year� by a magazine as influential as �Hotels�, a point of reference for the world hotel industry. To receive this award right now, after our recent merger and acquisition activity and the creation of the new Sol Meliá is a sign of the success of recent decisions and the consolidation as one of the world�s largest hotel real estate and management companies.�.

In 1956, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá was only 21 years old when he started what was later to become Sol Meliá, renting and operating a 60 room hotel on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca, the site of the company�s current headquarters. In the six previous years he had worked closely with foreign tour operators and had gained an insight into the tremendous business opportunities that were about to arise in the Spanish and world tourism industries.

In 1998, Gabriel Escarrer was also chosen as �Tourism Personality of the Century� after a survey of 300 travel trade executives, while in March the International Hotel Investment Forum presented him with a "The Lifetime Achievement" in recognition of his long and successful career. 

Gabriel Escarrer now presides over a company that operates more than 250 hotels in 27 countries world-wide. Sol Meliá is the largest hotel company in Spain, the second largest in Europe and thirteenth largest in the world.