Amancio López Seijas (Chantada, Lugo, 1955) has placed the Hotusa group as the first hotel chain in Spain by number of establishments and the sixth in Europe, in addition to the provision of services. With more than 250 hotels, six commercial brands and a presence in 19 countries, it closed 2023 with revenues of more than 1.4 billion euros and 6,000 workers. The president of the group, very involved in the public debate through the La Toja Forum, advocates redefining the country's tourism model.
This last year they obtained record results and have repaid part of the SEPI loan early. How is this year heading?
We have the wind at our back, everything is going in our favor and the forecasts we have are good. We are aware that at any moment this will change, but we must seize the moment and think about the future, when circumstances are less favorable. Obviously we have been advancing the SEPI loan and our intention is to continue doing so. As for the results, we hope to surpass those of the last year. We anticipate growth above 10%.
Its hotel offering has increased greatly in recent years. How far do you want to go in Spain? And on an international scale?
As for the hotel chain, the focus is on Western Europe for obvious reasons, but we also continue with development in America, both Latin America and the US and Mexico, and also with explorations and some operations planned in North Africa. The group's other two subareas, Keytel (providing services to independent hotels) and Restel (bed banking), are also growing at a good pace.
They plan to launch a new brand in the luxury segment, when will it be operational?
Yes, we are in that phase of reclassifying, first as a general orientation, of improving the positioning of the chain's hotels. Partly as a consequence of market trends and the fact that we are a country where we can no longer compete on costs or cheap prices, but on quality. And within this reclassification, our intention is to present a new brand in the line of large five-star hotels. We hope it can be up and running by early next year at the latest.
He commented that his intention is above all to grow in Europe. Is tourism demand becoming even more concentrated on the continent given the conflicts in other parts of the world?
Yes, tourism wants, like any activity, street safety and health safety. Everything that is away from conflict guarantees it better, and this contributes to a sweet moment in Western Europe for the tourism industry. And we assume that this trend will continue in the future, because a part of security, good infrastructure, a lifestyle that will allow it to be our main activity has been created around tourism.
Is demand for luxury tourism increasing?
As always in history, a certain hedonism emerges after a difficult time. Europe and our country in particular must reposition itself at that level. With current trends this process can be accelerated and probably all companies are going a little in that direction.
Anti-tourism discourse has increased lately. There have been protests in Barcelona, in the Balearic Islands and now in the Canary Islands. How do you see this movement?
We should focus the topic well. 60 years ago this was a poor country, of migrants. Today some of these areas of Spain from which the population was forced to emigrate are among the richest. As a whole, the tourism industry has been very positive. Now, I want to think that this rejection that we have seen is towards a certain type of tourism, not tourism in general. If, as a destination, we are considered the most competitive tourist country in the world, if we are the most visited, it is assumed that we could choose what tourism we want and that the administrations themselves could define a strategy in accordance with those possibilities. And the first question is: do we want five-star and four-star superior hotels? Or do we want three or two star hotels? Or do we want apartments, even in individual buildings, which in principle do not have a major problem, although they create less wealth? Or do we want to use the homes as tourist destinations? What seems clear is that the number of visitors that enhance a tourist destination is limited. We have to define strategies to choose what tourism we want.
How do you see the economic situation in Spain?
If I focus on my sector, I would say that it is favorable and that we are doing well. All decisions made must be sustainable over time and have advantages in the future.
Does the political situation help?
I am going to express myself indirectly as a businessman, because my opinion as a businessman has value, but as a citizen, at the end of the day, I am one more. Business activity needs trust, in the present and in the future. And trust is influenced by factors such as political stability, certainty, legal certainty and then other competitiveness factors such as having taxation that is in line with our neighbors and also with our competitors. Training and employability are also very relevant. Anything that involves confrontation, polarization and generating uncertainty is obviously a threat to business activity.
The Catalan business sector has mobilized in favor of the expansion of Barcelona airport. What do you think?
In life and in business, one of the greatest success factors is knowing reality and taking advantage of opportunities when they exist, because opportunities pass. The El Prat airport must be expanded to be able to have more intercontinental flights, and it may even be a hub in the future, no one can question that. If the hub with Asia is not done in Barcelona, it will be done at another airport in southern Europe. At this moment Barcelona is the city best connected to Europe, something that was unthinkable 40 years ago. Now we have to bet on the connection with Asia. It's a huge opportunity. There is nothing more important than communications today for the development not only of tourism, but also of the economy and the internationalization of large companies.
