HOLDING UP: Despite a general drop in Mexico, hotels like the Barcelo Tucancun in Cancun are managing to keep demand up. (Photo: Barcelo)
DOMINICAN RENOVATION: Barcelo spent 40 million euros on the renovation of Hotel Barcelo Bávaro Beach in the Dominican Republic, its second-largest market in Latin America. (Photo: Barcelo).
Spanish hotel group Barcelo sees volatile results in Latin America this year, but expects better times next year.
BY CHRONICLE STAFF
Latin America is the region that’s performing best forSpain-based Barcelo Hotels & Resorts – and doing so better than expected. “Latin America is seeing less of a decline than expected,” says Jaime Buxo, Barcelo‘s executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Although it has been impacted by the combination of global economic crisis and the avian flu, the decline has been less than other world regions. Revenues in Latin America fell between 10 and 15 percent in the first six months this year, he says. That compares with the United States and Europe, which saw declines of 20 percent in the same period.
Barcelo operates 35 hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with 84 in Europe and 67 in the United States (where it operates under different brands).
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