6/03/2008: Hotusa Hotels adds 19 new establishments to the list in February

The chain of independent hotels belonging to the Hotusa Group has added to its portfolio an additional seven establishments at international level and a further 12 on Spanish territory

Hotusa Hotels has enlarged its portfolio over the past month of February, with the addition of 19 new associated establishments, thus reasserting its privileged position amongst the major hotel consortiums in the World. Of these 19 establishments now included on the list, seven form part of the international network while the remaining twelve are to be found spread over Spanish territory.

As detailed on the attached table, in Spain the new associated hotels are located as follows: Catalonia (4), Valencia Community (2), Andalusia (1), Asturias (1), Castile La Mancha (1), Castile & Leon (1), Galicia (1) y Navarre (1). At international level, the seven new establishments are in Italy (4), Andorra (1), Argentina (1) and Portugal (1).

Apart from the above-mentioned new additions, the company chaired by Amancio López Seijas in February purchased the chain of independent hotels, Elysées West Hotels (EWH), which has 92 establishments in France and which turns Hotusa Hotels into one of the main operators in France, with a portfolio of over 200 associated hotels.

The organization’s objective is to enlarge and diversify its portfolio with the addition of establishments in both the traditional destinations as well as in the emergent tourist markets on a world-wide scale. In this context, the company has added to the list at the beginning of 2008 its first associated hotels in India and Colombia, as a follow-up to the strategy deployed throughout 2007 when it made its entry into marketplaces such as The Balkans, Mozambique, Cuba, Venezuela and China. Hotusa Hotels has plans to continue expansion on the continent of Asia over the following months, with new additions in China - given the enormous tourist interest that this destination arouses as host to the 2008 Olympic Games – as well as in India and other South-East Asian countries

The third largest hotel consortium in the world

Hotusa Hotels is in the lead at European level and is third worldwide with regard to the number of associated establishments it controls on the prestigious ranking of the 25 major companies throughout the world devoted to marketing and booking services for hotels, drawn up by the U.S. HOTELS Magazine (www.hotelsmag.com) and which is based on 2006 figures.

The chain’s portfolio contains more than 2,000 associated establishments distributed over 27 European destinations: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey; 10 Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela, 4 African countries: Morocco, Mozambique, Tunisia and South Africa; 2 Asian countries: China and India; plus the United States of America and Canada.

The Hotusa Group, a booming organization

Created in 1977 with its headquarters in Barcelona, the Hotusa Group is currently a booming organization comprising an important number of companies connected with the most diverse spheres of activity in the tourist sector. The group encompasses two chains of independent establishments: Hotusa Hotels and Elysées West Hotels; the hotel representatives Keytel; the central reservations office Restel; the technology firm IGM Web; the portal for data management and on-line bookings Hotelius.com and a division of directly operated hotels comprising 81 establishments, of which 46 belong to the Eurostars Hotels chain.