RIU Hotels & Resorts

ABOUT RIU

The international RIU chain was founded in Mallorca by the Riu family in 1953 as a small holiday firm
and is still owned by the family’s third generation. The company specializes in holiday resorts and
70% of its establishments offer its acclaimed All Inclusive by RIU service. With the inauguration of its
first city hotel in 2010, RIU is expanding its range of products with its own line of city hotels called Riu
Plaza. RIU Hotels & Resorts now has more than 100 hotels in 19 countries which welcome over 4
million guests a year and provide jobs for a total of 28,000 employees. RIU is currently the world’s
30th ranked chain, one of the Caribbean’s most popular and the third largest in Spain.

RIU Hotels & Resorts logo

Chief Executive Officers

Carmen Riu and Luis Riu took on the roles of CEO in 1998; positions they still hold today. They direct
the company together, complementing one another and each contributing their skills to the
company.

Who is Carmen Riu?

Carmen Riu Güell is the owner of the RIU Hotels & Resorts chain, together with her brother, Luis Riu
Güell. She was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1955. She is married with three children. She has a
degree in business administration from the University of Barcelona and undertook postgraduate
studies in human resources and finance at the IE Business School in Madrid. Carmen Riu has a strong
track record in the family company:

In 1978 she was named Director of Personnel at the chain.

In 1981 she took on direction of finance and administration.

In 1998 she was named CEO of RIU Group together with her brother Luis.

Currently, in her position as CEO of RIU, she is the head of the areas of finance, administration, legal,
IT systems and corporate social responsibility.

She is a board member of RIUSA II. She was also appointed member of the TUI AG supervisory board
from 2005 to 2018.

Carmen Riu, CEO RIU Hotels & Resorts

Who is Luis Riu?

Luis Riu Güell is the owner of the RIU Hotels & Resorts chain, together with his sister, Carmen Riu
Güell. He was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1960. He is married with three children. He has a degree
in business administration from the University of Barcelona and has always had a clear passion for
hospitality. He has wide experience in the Riu family chain:

In 1985 he implemented the chain’ s expansion to the Canary Islands.

In 1991 he was named president of the chain, and in this role he directed its international expansion.

Since 1998 he has been CEO of RIU Group together with his sister Carmen.

Currently, in his position as CEO of RIU, he is the head of the areas of Expansion, Sales and Marketing
and Operations.

Luis Riu is also the person behind the great team of people that forms RIU Hotels & Resorts. His
instinct and passion have been key to many of the projects that the chain has carried out.

Luis Riu, CEO RIU Hotels & Resorts

Opening of the first hotel

In November 1953, Juan Riu Masmitja and his wife Maria Bertran Espigule acquired, with their son
Luis Riu Bertran, the San Francisco hotel, a small 80-bed establishment located in Playa de Palma
(Mallorca, Spain). This was to be the first hotel of many in the future of the international hotel chain.
The 60s saw a real tourist boom in the Balearic Islands, which Luis Riu Bertran actively contributed to
through his partnership with the German tour operator, Dr. Tigges (known as TUI since 1968).
Following the consolidation of charter operations between Germany and Mallorca in the summer
months, Luis Riu went one step further in strengthening the development of tourism in the Balearic
Islands, by also promoting Mallorca as a winter destination. During the 60s and 70s, the company
underwent significant expansion in the Balearic Islands, consolidating its business partnerships all the
while. In 1976, Riu Hotels S.A. was established along with TUI (Touristik Union International) in order
to build new hotels.

1953

First hotel outside the balearic Islands

In the 80s, RIU began to expand into other destinations. Its first hotel outside the Balearic Islands
opened in 1985, on the island of Gran Canaria. The Riu Palmeras at that time gave a hint of the
successful initiative it was to become, as today the Canary Islands are one of RIU’s main destinations,
with over 20 hotels located there.

1985
First international hotel

With the 1990s came the opening of RIU’s first international hotel. The Riu Taino began to welcome
its first guests in November 1991 in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. This was the first step in
RIU Hotels’ impressive growth in America, where it currently has over 30 hotels. The partnership with
TUI was strengthened even further in 1993, with the creation of the company RIUSA II SA, with TUI
and RIU each owning 50%, which operates the RIU line of hotels.

1991

Generational change

Following the death of Luis Riu Bertran, his children Carmen and Luis Riu, the third generation of the
family, took on the post of managing directors of the chain, a position they continue to hold today.

1998

First urban hotel

During the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, RIU underwent great expansion in countries like
Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Aruba, Bahamas, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Morocco, and
Tunisia. After 56 years specialising in holiday accommodations, in 2010 RIU Hotels & Resort
embarked on one of its greatest challenges as a company: the launch of its Riu Plaza urban brand. In
September 2010, it opened the Riu Plaza Panama in Panama City, the first RIU hotel in the country
and the first under its city hotel brand. The company's commitment to this new line of business was
consolidated in 2011 with the opening of the Riu Plaza Guadalajara, in Mexico, and the Riu Plaza
Berlin, which it will be opening in the German capital.

2010

Great challenges for 2016: First hotels in New York and Asia

In 2016 the most emblematic project of the Riu Plaza line materialised: the opening of the first RIU
hotel in New York City, the Riu Plaza New York Times Square, located in the heart of Manhattan.
Internationalisation has been a key to RIU's success over the past 25 years, and will continue to be
one in 2016 thanks to the company's newest challenge: Asia. With the opening of the first hotel in Sri
Lanka, RIU is exporting to Asia the business model of holiday accommodations that it took to America
in the 1990s with the first hotel in the Dominican Republic. For the next few years, there are also two
other large projects underway on the Asian continent: Dubai, where it will open, with its partner
Nakheel, the first 24-Hour All Inclusive resort in the region; and, the purchase of two islets in the
Maldives, where RIU will build a 174-room Riu Palace hotel and a 248-room Riu Classic hotel. The
project is currently in the design stage, with the goal of bringing RIU's 24-hour All Inclusive model to
this exotic destination in 2018.