23 November/ 2004

Spanish hotel chains consider
investing in Tela Bay

Representatives from two of Spain’s largest hotel chains will be visiting Honduras in December and January to find out more about the Los Micos Beach & Resort tourism complex slated for development in Tela Bay.

Both of the chains - Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and Occidental Hotels & Resorts - are widely known throughout Europe and the Americas. “These chains have showed an interest and will be coming to get to know the project in December and January,” said Tourism Minister Thierry de Pierrefeu.

Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is a division of the Iberostar Group, one of the world’s largest hotel chain owners. The company opened nine new establishments in 2003 for a grand total of 74 hotels in 11 countries - Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

In 2005 Iberostar expects to open additional hotels in Salvador de Bahía, Brazil, Montego Bay, Jamaica and Cuba.

Occidental Hotels & Resorts is another of Spain’s largest hotel chains with more than 80 hotels at 58 destinations in 13 countries throughout Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.

“These companies are coming thanks to contacts we have made over a period of several months,” said Pierrefeu, adding that the Punto Cana Group - a leader in hotel chains from the Dominican Republic - has announced an initial investment of $9 million for the first phase of the Tela project.

The Los Micos Beach & Resort complex will house eight 4- and 5-star hotels, a 27-hole golf course, a marina, a shopping center, restaurants, a convention center and an employee housing area. The completed complex will have a price tag of more than Lps. 320 million and will take seven years to complete. The first phase is slated to begin in 2005 with $145 million in capital.