FTI’s destination management subsidiary Meeting Point International and shareholder Samih Sawiris have bought the largest hotel on Fuerteventura and will invest €60 million in an extensive modernisation programme, fvw reports.
The Stella Canaris Resort, which has been closed for the last three years following the insolvency of a former owner, will re-open next year as the first Labranda World resort, the Munich-based group announced on Tuesday. Meeting Point has acquired the hotel through a joint venture with Egyptian hotelier Samih Sawiris, who owns a minority stake in the FTI Group.
Some €60 million will initially be invested in the renovation and modernisation over the next six months of the extensive resort, which covers some 600,000 sqm and is the largest hotel on the important beach holiday island.
The Stella Canaris Resort, which was popular with German holidaymakers in the past, will re-open in July 2017 as the first ‘Labranda World’ with 2,000 rooms in up to eight separate four- and five-star hotels, with capacity for up to 5,000 guests in total.
FTI said the hotel will become one of the most diverse and exciting holiday resorts in Europe. Instead of large buffet restaurants there will be a wide choice of stylish and diverse ‘dine-around’ restaurants spread through the complex. Extensive sport, wellness and fitness facilities are planned along with aqua-parks and other entertainment.
Roula Jouny, CEO of Meeting Point Group, said: “We’re delighted that together with Samih Sawiris we can illuminate the Stella Canaris Resort again after many years and open it under the Labranda Hotels and Resorts name.”
The FTI Group subsidiary currently manages 38 Labranda hotels with some 8,000 rooms that welcome more than 500,000 guests a year. They are located in popular holiday destinations, with various product lines covering premium, all-inclusive and mainstream holidays, as well as featuring regional and local characteristics.
FTI Group CEO Dietmar Gunz told fvw last month that a further 10 hotels will be added to the chain in the 2016/17 year, including three on the Canary Islands: the Alyssa Suite Hotel on Lanzarote, the Oasis Mango on Tenerife and the Corralejo Village on Fuerteventura.
Separately, the destination management company will set up a new unit offering hotel capacity for dynamic package holidays. The new Meeting Point Global unit will be a B2B supplier to tour operators and bedbanks in all major source markets. An FTI spokeswoman said it will complement the Meeting Point incoming agencies in various destinations.
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