Barceló Hotel Group has appointed José Canals as the new managing director for the Middle East and Asia. With an extensive tenure and hospitality knowledge, Canals was already responsible for the Mediterranean and North Africa regions and will now spearhead the expansion of the Spanish group’s presence in the Middle East, East Africa and Asia.
Canals has been one of the top executives at Barceló Hotel Group for over 25 years, and has a wealth of experience in leading expansion plans for the Spanish hotel chain internationally. The hotelier’s leadership and contribution has resulted in Barceló Hotel Group becoming the largest Spanish hotel chain in the MENA region.
“We’re seeing that Barceló Hotel Group is being widely welcomed along with its four brands thanks to the group’s values, its flexible and personalized approach to the goals it sets,” says Canals.
Barceló Hotel Group brings a legacy of 90 years of expertise in the hospitality industry, currently operating 262 hotels in 22 countries worldwide. The group recently celebrated the opening of a new 4* property in Dubai. Guests were welcomed in to a unique and perfect blend between Spanish hospitality and Arabic heritage during the opening of Occidental Al Jaddaf two weeks ago.
Barceló’s current UAE portfolio showcases 5 hotels and 1,600 keys, consisting of Dukes The Palm, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, Barceló Residences Dubai Marina, Occidental Dubai Production City, Occidental Sharjah Grand and Occidental Al Jaddaf, with several project developments in the GCC region in the pipeline.
Furthermore, 2021 will also see the launch of 5 hotels and 720 keys in the Indian Ocean. Barceló Hotel Group will be opening two resorts in Sri Lanka -Occidental Paradise Dambulla 4* in June and Occidental Eden Beruwala 4*in October – plus two hotels in the Maldives and one resort in Bali (Indonesia) before the end of 2021.
