Groupo Posadas, Mexico’s largest independent hotel operator, is targeting Jamaica and Aruba for expansion as it pushes forward with plans for $850 million in development backed primarily by external investors.
“It’s going to be a busy year in 2025,” said Enrique Calderón, vice president of upscale and luxury and chief operating officer. “Our main focus of expansion internationally is the Caribbean.”
Posadas, which operates 198 hotels with nearly 30,000 rooms, is set to launch 40 new projects in 2025 and 2026, including 27 new builds and 13 renovations.
Most of Posadas’ nearly 200 properties are in mainland Mexico, though it has a foothold overseas in the Dominican Republic. The expansions will add over 4,000 rooms, for a 15% increase in room capacity—with a majority at beach destinations.
More projects are expected to be added to the pipeline. “We are looking for projects in Jamaica and Aruba,” Calderón told Skift. “We will continue in the Dominican Republic.”
Around two-thirds of Posadas’ nearly 30,000 rooms are managed, with the remainder evenly split between owned, leased, and franchise models. Its range of hotels includes high-service hotels, with two employees per room, and one with 126 rooms operated by just 18 staff.
Relaunching and Creating New Brands
Posadas is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Live Aqua brand in 2025, applying a refreshed program to all eight of the hotels, resorts and residences that carry the name.
By the end of 2025, Live Aqua will add over 1,000 rooms across new locations in Playa Mujeres, Riviera Cancun, the Historic Center of Mexico City, Valle de Guadalupe, and the Acapulco Private Residences.
Other brands in the portfolio include Grand Fiesta Americana and, at the budget end of the scale, One.
Does Posadas have too many brands? Calderón countered that it only has nine brands, where multi-national competitors (like Marriott and Accor) have 30 or more. Each Posadas brand, meanwhile, is carefully targeted on a specific segment.
Calderón said the company has to be conscious of the industry-wide trend of guests identifying with certain “tribes.”
Some guests prefer to associate with artistic themes, for example, so that is occupying Posadas’ strategic thinking at present. A sub-brand called “Fiesta Americana Collection” is in the offing.
Increasing Direct Bookings
Looking forward to 2025, Calderón said direct booking channels would grow by around 10% — to about 28 or 29% of the total (from the current direct share of 26% of total bookings).
He said that two-thirds of bookings for specifically resort hotels come directly from guests, with many guests using the group’s Travelty app. About a quarter of groupwide bookings currently come via wholesale or online travel agency channels.
Overall, around half of Posadas’ bookings come on globally negotiated corporate-client rates or from groups, meetings, and conferences.
2025 Optimism
Admitting that Groupo Posadas’ performance in 2024 was “a little erratic,” Calderón said: “We will start the new year on a strong footing.”
Calderón believed that guests were more willing to commit now that elections in Mexico last June and the U.S. Presidential elections in November were in the past. He said bookings for Posadas’ resort hotels were five times higher in the week after the U.S. elections than just before the poll. He said US travelers appeared to have confidence that they would enjoy better overall economic conditions.
“Our forecast for the first quarter of 2025 in resorts is looking great and is in pretty good shape in the city locations as well.”
The company’s property development plan shows Posadas contributing 2% of the capital for new hotels versus 98% from outside investors. The total investment value is $850 million.
Extreme Weather Risk
Calderón paid tribute to the authorities and hotel managers in many locations with weather risks and threats posed by climate change.
“They work pretty well when there are problems,” he said. “We are all vulnerable, and we are always concerned that these kinds of phenomena will become stronger,” Calderón said.
One way Posadas deals with the risks itself, Calderón said, is by investing in emergency shelters.
Hurricane Otis hit Acapulco and Posadas hard in October 2023, but Calderón noted that Acapulco’s bay location compounded the shock of the storm’s ferocity. Acapulco is mostly protected by high ground inland, and built-up areas suffered especially badly because the storm struck directly through the bay entrance.
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