Paradores de Turismo jako przykład państwowego łańcucha hotelowego

Abstract

Paradores de Turismo de España is a trademark of Spanish tourism industry. Its beginning dates back to 1926, when the first parador was opened in Gredos Mountains. At the initiative of the government, new establishments were being opened in scenic areas and in buildings of historical and artistic value. The Spanish touristic “boom” of the 1960s resulted in Paradores chain hotels being opened at an unprecedented rate – 47 establishments during the years 1961–1970 (Fig. 1). According to the trends of the sixties, the locations on the Mediterranean coast appeared: Aiguablava (Costa Brava), Nerja (Costa del Sol), El Saler (Costa del Azahar). In 1991 Paradores de Turismo was transformed into a public company and the state treasury became its only owner. Organizational changes resulted in creation of a profitable enterprise. In the middle of 2009, 93 hotels belonged to the network (Tab. 1). They comprised of 5900 rooms and over 11,300 beds. An average size of a hotel is 63 rooms. Paradores are establishments of great renown on the Spanish market. As much as 71% (66 facilities) are 4-star hotels, almost 25% – 3-star hotels and only 3 hotels were awarded 5 stars. Almost half of all buildings were constructed in the 20th century, including 30 modern establishments, which were built from the scratch or adapted for accommodation purposes after 1945. Every third 20th-century building is an urban or rural residence, which had previously belonged to aristocratic families. Buildings constructed between the 16th and 19th centuries compose almost 25% of all hotels. The vast majority of them include palaces and monasteries, located mainly in central Spain (Castile, Extremadura). They are situated in an area rich in historical monuments. Older buildings, erected before the 16th century (total of 25 hotels), have a particular historical value. The oldest establishment is the 8th century Moor fortress, located in Alarcon (Cuenca), on the border of historical regions of La Mancha and Levante. Two thirds of this group includes castles and fortresses, while the remaining part consists of monasteries and representative urban palaces (e.g. Cáceres in Extremadura and Zamora in Castile and León). The location of hotels is visibly dispersed (Fig. 2). Among 50 Spanish provinces, only the Balearic Islands and Vizcaya (Basque Country) provinces do not host any paradores. What is interesting, they can be found in 14 cities, which host sites from the UNESCO World Heritage List. Another feature of paradores’ location is their “provincialism”. Only a small number of them is located in large urban areas. Cities of 100 thousand inhabitants host only 10% of the hotels. The diversity of clients’ needs resulted in distinguishing 7 products by the company: beach and sun, health (spa), nature – hotels located in scenic areas, historic sites, family – facilities for families with children, sports and golf, business – product based on renting conference rooms of different sizes. Paradores can be distinguished from the competition by their F&B activity. It is based on traditional, regional cuisine, which uses original recipes and cooking methods and local, high-quality produce. During a year, hotel restaurants serve about 2.5 million meals and generate 37% of revenue. Tourist packages Rutas (theme routes) and Unique Rooms (accommodation in unique, historical-artistic atmosphere in specially designed arrangements) have a large influence on the volume of sales. Operational and financial results of the Paradores chain in the years 1998-2008 were solid. An average occupancy rate varied from 66 to 77% (significantly higher than Spanish hotel industry average). The revenue reached 170–286 million Euros, while net income varied from 7.65 to 25.3 million Euros. A large share of operational income was spent on investments and repairs (in the years 2001–2003, € 164 mil., while during 2004–2008 – € 204 mil.). Despite the financial crisis, which significantly affected Spain, the hotel chain will be implementing a daring investment policy (€ 168.9 mil. during 2009–2012). Spanish visitors compose 70.5% of all Paradores guests. They mainly come from large, urbanized, rich areas (Madrid, Catalonia, Andalusia, Valencia). Foreign visitors include mainly guests from Great Britain, France and Germany (Fig. 2). Paradores de Turismo is a company owned by state treasury, supervised by national tourism organization of Turespaña, which manages buildings belonging to a state organization Patrimonio Nacional – National Heritage. As a result, it became a tool of the state tourism policy, which comprises both, commercial goals and a social mission.