Iberostar has pledged to continue spending at least €200 million a year over the next three to five years upgrading and extending its hotel portfolio.
The Spanish-owned hotel chain spent €210m on investments and new projects in 2025, including the opening of the Selection Montenegro and the Selection Es Trenc in Mallorca.
Earlier this month, it added the Selection Riviera Cancun in Mexico to its portfolio. Much of Iberostar’s growth in the next few years will be targeted at the luxury end of the market, said Chief Commercial Officer Finn Ackerman, with more hotels planned for its five-star Selection and JOIA brands.
It opened a JOIA hotel in Aruba (pictured above) a year ago and has plans for more on the Caribbean island. UK agents who visited the upscale property on a recent fam trip gave ‘fantastic’ feedback, said Iberostar UK & Ireland Business Development Director Aishling McLoughlin.
A recent survey by Iberostar showed demand from agents for more fam trips. “We have always had them and we will continue next year,” said Finn. Iberostar is running two more this year – to Fuerteventura and Marrakech – and Aishling is working on Iberostar’s fam trip programme for next year.
More than half of Iberostar’s bookings are from agents, said Finn, with the UK overtaking Germany as its biggest source market this year. “We are definitely maintaining our level of investment in the UK trade because we see its added value,” he added.
Iberostar will also continue with its new ‘For Travel Agents, By Travel Agents’ video series, where agents are filmed reviewing its hotels. “We have more planned for key hotels, it works very well on an international level” said Aishling. Agents with a strong presence on social media are most likely to be selected for the YouTube series, she added.
