Iberostar Group
{{Short description|Hotel Chain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Iberostar Group
| logo = 100px
| type = Private
| foundation = 1956
| location = Palma, Majorca, Spain
| industry = Hospitality and Travel
| products = Hotels
| subsid = World2Fly
| key_people = Miguel Fluxà Rosselló (owner and chairman)
Sabina Fluxà (CEO)
| num_employees = + 28,000
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.grupoiberostar.com}}
|}}
Iberostar Group is a global tourism company and hotel group. The company has four areas of business: the hotel division, the core business of the company; the holiday club, called The Club; the inbound tourism and travel brands Almundo.com, World 2 Meet (W2M) and Iberoservice; and the property business. The company's trademark is "first line" hotels (meaning directly on the beach), surrounded by gardens. There are more than 120 Iberostar hotels worldwide.{{cite web|url=https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels|title=Iberostar Destinations|website=iberostar.com}}
History
File:Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso from Ocean, November, 2011.jpg, Mexico]]
File:Hotel Mencey 06.jpg, Spain]]
Iberostar Group is owned by Spanish Miguel Fluxà Rosselló, the third generation heir to a shoe-making business.Hernández-Barahona J, San Román E, Gil-López Á. Bricolage and Innovation in the Emergence and Development of the Spanish Tourism Industry. Enterprise & Society. 2023;24(4):1119-1161. doi:10.1017/eso.2022.28{{cite web|author=Keren Blankfeld |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerenblankfeld/2016/04/08/spains-newest-billionaire-transformed-shoe-fortune-to-hospitality-empire/#59e3f38a1782 |title=Spain's Newest Billionaire Transformed Shoe Fortune Into Hospitality Empire |work=Forbes.com |date=11 June 2017 |access-date=23 June 2017}}
Iberostar's head office is in Mallorca, Spain, and hotels that operate under their brand name are located in the continents of Europe, North America, Latin America,{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/15/DDGI1G80BG1.DTL&type=travel|title=Spanish mega-hotel chains compete in tropics market|last=Frommer|first=Arthur |date=15 December 2005|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=4 October 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dtcuba.com/shownews.aspx?c=27015&ref=dtcnews&lng=2|title=Iberostar Invests in Brazil|date=3 November 2008|work=DTCNews|access-date=4 October 2009}} and Africa.
The company temporarily closed the Rose Hall Beach Hotel (but not the adjoining Rose Hall Suites Hotel or Rose Hall Grand Hotel), one of its resorts in Jamaica.{{cite news|url=http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1043757&lang=eng_news&cate_img=35.jpg&cate_rss=news_Business|title=Spain's Iberostar temporarily shuts Jamaica resort|date=29 August 2009|work=Taiwan News|access-date=4 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/22033/52/|title=Home - RJR News - Jamaican News Online|website=www.radiojamaica.com|access-date=5 February 2018|archive-date=5 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005225156/http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/22033/52|url-status=dead}} It reopened in May 2010.
Travel Trade Gazette, a UK-based travel industry publication, named the company "Best Hotel Chain of the Year" in 2009.{{cite news|url=http://www.ttglive.com/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=61139&CMPI_SHARED_articleId=3023623&CMPI_SHARED_ImageArticleId=3023623&CMPI_SHARED_articleIdRelated=3023623&CMPI_SHARED_ToolsArticleId=3023623&CMPI_SHARED_CommentArticleId=3023623&articleTitle=TTG%20Travel%20Awards%202009%20winners%20revealed!&fromSearch=yes|title= TTG Travel Awards 2009 winners revealed!|date=23 September 2009|work=Travel Trade Gazette|access-date=4 October 2009}}
In 2004, the Iberostar Group purchased a large area of land in Praia do Forte in the municipality of Mata de São João in Bahia, state of Brazil, to build a resort. In 2006, Iberostar Bahia was inaugurated, which quickly fell in favor of Brazilian and South American tourists, in particular Argentine tourists, frequent visitors to the resort since then. 2 years later in 2008 the second resort was opened in the same place, Iberostar Praia do Forte, which recently came to be called Iberostar Selection.{{Cite web|title=Iberostar Bahia All Inclusive - Brazil|url=http://www.maisbahiaturismo.com.br/post-viagens/pacote-iberostar-bahia/|website=Mais Bahia Turismo|language=pt-PT|access-date=2020-05-13}} In the region, the Iberostar Group engaged in several social and environmental projects, they signed a partnership with the TAMAR Project and help in the preservation of sea turtles, they also built an educational center for children in partnership with UNICEF, which was named Dom Miguel Fluxá Rosselló.{{Cite web|title=Iberostar Group carries out sustainable tourism actions|url=https://www.promoview.com.br/categoria/geral/complexo-iberostar-realiza-acoes-de-turismo-sustentavel.html|website=Promoview|language=pt-br|access-date=2020-05-13}}
In April 2010, Iberostar announced that the actor Antonio Banderas would be the new face of a global campaign to promote the company's hotels and resorts.[http://www.travelagentcentral.com/conferences/antonio-banderas-iberostar-hotels-resorts-unite-global-campaign-20760 Travel Agent Central | Antonio Banderas, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts Unite for Global Campaign | (Accessed 2010-04-07)]/
Iberostar has received negative press related to resorts in Mexico suspected of drugging tourists. There have been... "numerous reports from others who have told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they experienced sickness, blackouts and injuries after drinking at Iberostar, and other resorts around Cancun and Playa del Carmen in recent months.".{{cite web|url=http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/resorts-in-mexico-suspected-of-drugging-tourists/458170922|title=Resorts in Mexico suspected of drugging tourists|last=TEGNA|website=wfaa.com|access-date=5 February 2018|archive-date=26 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126161413/http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/resorts-in-mexico-suspected-of-drugging-tourists/458170922|url-status=dead}} Iberostar's resort location in Playa del Carmen was also cited in other reports, by the Journal Sentinel and CBS News, regarding TripAdvisor and its controversial review guidelines. Red-flag reviews of two women staying at the resort in 2010 and 2015, who were allegedly raped, one by a security guard who worked for the resort, were taken down by the travel website.{{cite news|title=TripAdvisor accused of deleting reviews that raised red flags|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tripadvisor-accused-of-deleting-reviews-that-raised-red-flags/|work=CBS News|access-date=3 November 2017|date=2 November 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|www.iberostar.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iberostar Hotels and Resorts}}
Category:Hospitality companies of Spain
Category:Hotel chains in Spain
Category:InterContinental Hotels Group
{{hotel-stub}}