CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism, the business lines created to consolidate the bank's leadership on the tourism market through a new personalised model for hotelier companies and businesses, has granted 2,186 million euros in loans to the Spanish hotel industry in 2018. This figure represents a 46% growth on last year, when 1.5 billion euros of loans were granted.
During 2018, CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism completed over 2,800 credit granting operations nationwide in Spain, 8.5% more than in 2017.
With these results, the bank, chaired by Jordi Gual and managed by CEO Gonzalo Gortázar, has substantially exceeded the goal that was set at the beginning of 2018 of growing by 20% and has undergone two consecutive years of significant growth in granting loans.
The autonomous communities receiving the highest volume of credit are the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Community of Madrid and the Canary Islands.
CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism has 8,930 customers from the sector of hotels and other accommodation with 5,010 million euros of turnover, establishing the bank as benchmark for this business sector.
Specialised products for the tourism sector
The purpose of CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism is to offer businesses in the tourism sector the personalised service they require, through a team of 30 professionals that offers each customer an added-value service, based on excellence, quality and proximity.
CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism provides the hotelier market a differential product and service offering to help companies to optimise the profitability of their businesses and to simplify their daily activities. The addition of new specific products and services for the hotelier market supplements the specialisation in the industry, taking into account the needs of the different subsectors: hotels, tourist accommodation and campsites.
The catalogue includes a file of specific products and financing adapted to suit hotelier projects, with a free prior analysis. Besides advising customers on their investments and fostering the modernisation of existing hotels, CaixaBank promotes financing for purchasing hotel assets and financing new construction projects, both in the urban sector and in the holiday industry.
During 2018 CaixaBank Hotel & Tourism signed more than 40 agreements with hotel federations and associations, including the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT); and it organised 45 meetings with benchmark employers in the industry nationwide.
Positive outlook for the sector
According to the CaixaBank Research report on tourism published in January, the tourism sector will uphold its positive performance in 2019. After several years of unprecedented growth, in which the numbers of international tourists broke records year after year, nearly 82 million international tourists visited Spain in 2018. This figure is similar to that of 2017 and, according to the forecast by CaixaBank Research, the industry will be able to maintain it in 2019. The main outcome is that the sector is entering a phase of consolidation of the excellent figures achieved in recent years.
Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that, although the number of tourists has stabilised, tourist expenditure continues to grow, strengthening the sector's strategy of attracting higher quality tourism. Thus, while the number of tourists in 2018 has remained stable compared to 2017, tourist expenditure has increased by 2.8% and daily expenditure is up 6.4%, both of which are highly positive figures.
The bank chosen by companies
CaixaBank has consolidated itself as the bank chosen by companies. According to the FRS Inmark market penetration study, 48% of Spanish companies that turn over between 1 and 100 million euros are CaixaBank customers. CaixaBank has a specialised network of 120 centres across Spain, where 1,245 highly specialised and continually trained professionals work, with a solid reputation in providing advice to companies.
