Nuestra Historia
1977.- Birth of HOTUSA (Hoteles Turísticos Unidos S.A), created by a group of 3 independent hoteliers who wanted to take advantage of the synergy of large companies, without giving up their own personality. Thus a new type of association was established in Europe. The company, under the Managing Director and C.E.O. Amancio López Seijas began with these first 3 independent hotels.
1978.- A mini Booking Centre was set up with only 2 employees in charge of it. The same year HOTUSA expanded its portfolio and released its first brochure.
1979.- The founding members invited the other partner hotels to join the corporate structure as shareholders. The first HOTUSA Board or Committee was established.
1980.- Hotusa’s first General Meeting took place in Castelldefels.
1981.- This year was a turning point in the history of the company, which attended the first FITUR (International Tourism Fair) in Madrid with its own stand; it began to expand abroad with its first partner hotels in Italy and Portugal.
1982.-.Hotusa's Purchasing Centre started to operate in Barcelona. Hotusa kept on increasing its activities abroad, working with even more establishments in Portugal and entering onto the French market.
1984.-Hotusa opened its first sales office abroad in Rome and introduced itself into the 4-star hotel segment.
1987.- The opening of the first sales office as well as a Purchasing Centre in Portugal.
1988.-France started to operate through its own Reservation Centre.
1989.-France became one of Hotusa’s most important markets, and Paris started its own Purchasing Centre. This coincided with another event: Hotusa surpassed the figure of one million bookings.
1990.- The Corporation DIANA HOTELERA was founded, with the aim of grouping together all of the establishments that are directly managed.
1993.-Hotusa launched its Business Training Program, a complete, elaborate program of theoretical and practical courses for associated hotels.
1994.- The 64 establishments of Familia Hotels joined the HOTUSA structure. The same year the company’s bookings reached 30.05 million euros.
The Chain's expansion policy took a turn towards the direct management and operation of its own hotels, a business that rounded out its traditional activities as a chain of partner hotels. That's how the first managed hotel became a part of the Chain: La Ciudad de Vacaciones Monte do Gozo (Santiago de Compostela- A Corunna), a residential complex with almost 500 rooms.
1995.- The company, which had already made more than 2 million bookings, decided to become a shareholder in KEYTEL, a hotel representative..
1996.- Creation of the new brand EURONATUR, consisting of mountain establishments with active and adventure tourism offers.
- London inaugurated its own Booking Centre.
1997.- HOTUSA launched the first Total Quality Management Plan for independent hotels.
The Commerce, Industry and Small and Medium-Sized Companies State Secretary chose HOTUSA to represent the independent hotel industry in Spain, as the company in charge of the development of this ambitious Program.
The company also introduced a new brand into its portfolio, A MARES, for HOTUSA’s beach establishments, with a clear focus on vacation and family tourism.
Booking turnover now reached 60.1 million euros.
2000.- HOTUSA kept on expanding in Europe, with new offices in Austria.
2001.- New sales office in Greece
2002.- HOTUSA celebrated its 25th birthday and its position as leader of the independent hotel sector in Europe, with more than 1,000 partner hotels in 19 European countries. As a matter of fact, gross bookings reached 92 million Euros, and an average of about 3 million nights booked per year.
On the special date 20-02-2002, the first 5-star G.L establishment opened its doors: the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel, located in the World Trade Centre complex of Barcelona, which is directly managed by the company.
2003.- Over the course of the year, HOTUSA significantly strengthened its hotel portfolio with the including of more than 200 new establishments into its network, and with the opening of 4 directly-run hotels-- the Ciudad de Córdoba Hotel, the Gran Madrid Hotel, Park Maximilian Hotel and the Regent Hotel. Likewise, the company consolidated its innovative portal project and the new brand Domus Selecta, created to cover the growing demand for charming hotels. In June, coinciding with its 25th Assembly, HOTUSA also celebrated its anniversary.
By the end of the year, the booking centre's gross bookings reached 230 million euros, with an average of 3 million nights booked per year.
2004.- HOTUSA began a process of modernisation by updating the design of the company’s logo and launching its new portal image. The partner hotel line now ran over 1,200 partner hotels, while the hotel managing division had 43 hotels already in operation and hoped to open 4 new establishments in the coming months.
Likewise, Hotusa Group joined the Alianza Exceltur and acquired 50% of the hotel reservation website hotelius.com, as well as the majority of shares in Viajes Baixas.
2005.- The company kicked the new year with great results. The portfolio of partner hotels reached 1500 establishments in 30 countries of Europe, Africa and Latin America. The group also increased its billing by 45%, to reach 385 million euros, and it officially launched the Eurostars chain of hotels, its directly-managed line of establishments, with a total of 29 hotels located in 5 European countries.
2006.- With an income of over 450 million for the 2005 fiscal year, the organisation began 2006 with the aim of continuing its commitment to internationalisation, globalisation and diversification.
In its Booking Centre division, HOTUSA possessed a portfolio of over 2,000 hotels in 84 destinations, of which over 360 establishments had joined during the past year. The hotel management line also surpassed 50 establishments and started to extend beyond the European continent, purchasing a hotel in Mexico City.
2007.- Total turnover for the companies belonging to the Group for 2006 recorded an increase of 32%, to reach the figure of 601 million euros. Worthy of note was the considerable growth of its direct hotel operation division in both the number of establishments and in turnover.
The organization made an entry into the U.S.marketplace with the purchase of its first two New York hotels in Manhattan, the Dylan and the Exchange. Both establishments belong to the Eurostars Hotels chain. Likewise, this division broke into the vacation segment by buying two resorts on the Caribbean coast of Mexico (Hotel Vista Real and Eurostars Blue Tulum) and in Argentina (Hotel Cataratas).
In October, the Group commenced a series of acts to celebrate its 30th anniversary, with a gala dinner at the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel, attended by 400 personalities from tourist, business and political circles.
2008. – The Group turnover for 2007 rose to 714 million euros, an 18% increase compared to the previous year.
In February, Hotusa reached an agreement with Elysées West Hotels, an independent hotel chain with 92 associated establishments in France.
In May, the first official visits were made to the Eurostars Madrid Tower, a five-star hotel located in one of the skyscrapers forming part of the Four Towers Business Centre in Madrid. This is one of the most important projects undertaken by the Group, which is slotted to open its doors in October of this year.
Also in May, the organization signed a loan facility agreement with twelve banks for the investment of 125 million euros to build three new five-star hotels in Germany (two in Munich and one in Berlin).
In July, the Group received the Prince Philip Prize for Excellency in Tourism, awarded by the Ministry, Tourism and Trade.
The rest of the HOTUSA Group companies also had positive results, growing around 20%.
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