Spain's Melia expects holiday hotel rates to rise by 5% in 2026
Spain's largest hotel chain, Melia, expects room rates at its Spanish resorts to rise by around 5% in 2026, in line with its total projected revenue growth, Chief Executive Gabriel Escarrer said on Wednesday.
Spain the world's second most visited country after France, and the Melia forecast largely matches government expectations for continued growth in tourist arrivals, with the country on track to receive close to 100 million visitors in 2026.
The company, which has been focusing on expanding its luxury offering in recent years, has seen a 10% year on year increase in bookings so far this year, driven in part by a strong high season in the Canary Islands and at its ski resorts.
"The first quarter looks good," Escarrer told reporters on the first day of the Fitur Tourism Fair in Madrid, without providing further details on sales or profit figures.
Melia plans to invest 260 million euros ($305 million) in 2026 to complete the opening of 50 new hotels, many of them in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean regions, after investing 315 million euros in 2025 mainly in new luxury rooms, the CEO said. That would lift its total stable of hotels to more than 400.