RIU Hotels & Resorts

History

Refusal to deploy Russians amid Russia's special operation in Ukraine

In April 2022, it became known that hotels of the Spanish RIU network refuse to settle Russian tourists in the UAE, the Dominican Republic, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. 49% of the network belonged to the TUI tour operator, among its co-owners was Alexei Mordashov (under sanctions against the backdrop of Russia's special operation in Ukraine).

1985: Opening of the first hotel in Canary

first hotel outside the Balearic Islands In the 1980s, RIU began to expand in new directions. She opened her first hotel outside the Balearic Islands in 1985 on the island of Gran Canaria. The hotel called Riu Palmeras was the first experience in this successful initiative: the Canary Islands at the beginning of 2020 remain one of the main activities of the company, which has 20 hotels there at that time.

1960-1970s: Rapid development in the Balearic Islands

In the 1960s, a real tourist boom occurred in the Balearic Islands, which Louis Rio Bertrand very actively contributed to - thanks to an alliance with the German tour operator Dr. Tigges (since 1968 - TUI). After stable charter flights between Germany and Mallorca were established in the summer months, Louis Riu took another step forward in the development of tourism in the Balearics - the promotion of the island of Mallorca as a winter destination.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the company carried out intensive expansion in the Balearic Islands, strengthening its commercial ties. In 1976, together with TUI (Touristik Union International), the joint-stock company Riu Hotels S. A. was created, the purpose of which is to build new hotels.

1953: Opening of the first hotel in Mallorca

In November 1953, Juan Rio Masmitja and his wife Maria Bertrand Espigule purchased the San Francisco Hotel with their son Louis Rio Bertrand - a small institution with 80 seats located in Playa de Palma (Mallorca, Spain), which was the first in the future international hotel chain RIU Hotels.