Meliá, BBVA bank to extend benefits of franchise model

BBVA will provide preferential financing to Meliá franchised hotels

Meliá Hotels International continues to boost its growth trajectory through franchise model. The company has reached an agreement with BBVA bank to offer potential Meliá franchisees access to preferential financing conditions to meet their cash needs, together with a wide range of complementary financial products.

The Meliá franchise model allows independent hotels to join the Meliá group, maintaining control over their operations, but also getting access to Meliá's sales and distribution platform and its 14 million loyal customers, as well as a wide range of optional hotel management services. The relationship with Meliá can be based on the hotel adopting one of the Meliá brands (depending on the nature of the hotel, its positioning and operating standards) or keeping its own name and identity under the “Affiliated by Meliá" umbrella.

"The agreement is based on the high degree of confidence that Meliá and its strong sales and marketing platform inspire among financial companies as they are the basis of our support for all those independent hotels that join the company's franchise network," said Gabriel Escarrer, Vice President and CEO, Meliá. An alliance with Meliá is an additional guarantee for financial companies and has encouraged the BBVA to offer beneficial conditions, which for many hotel owners is a fundamental requirement to face investments in renovating or repositioning their hotels or operational investments that will allow them to enhance their competitiveness in the new post-Covid business environment. 

Carlos Rodríguez Escudero, Eastern Regional Director at BBVA, highlighted, "This agreement reaffirms the BBVA commitment to the franchise industry in Spain, allowing Meliá franchisees access to all of the products and advice required to get their projects up and running."

The company already has a portfolio of 50 franchised hotels all over the world and another seven hotels scheduled to join in the near future. “It's a really attractive model, especially for hotels that are highly dependent on tour operators and are not up to speed on the digital side of things, many of which have suffered a great deal during the pandemic, and who will find Meliá the perfect partner to boost their revenues and become part of the hotel industry of the future,” said María Zarraluqui, Director of Expansion, Meliá.



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