Palma. The Spanish hotel company Sol Meliá has shared its concern on a humanitarian level with the situation in Mexico, but has also been quick to deny rumours of a major impact of the virus on company performance. According to Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sol Meliá, the impact is expected to be mild given that “the problem has come about in what is the now the low season in the region, with the revenues from Mexican hotels in May and June making up only 1.04% of the total”.  Sol Meliá manages 9 hotels in México, 5 of them owned by the company and the others under management agreements. In total they provide 3,441 rooms which contribute 9% of company EBITDA over the year and 7% of total revenues.

Sol Meliá has experience of emergency situations similar to the swine flu outbreak in México. During the bird flu epidemic in Asia, for example, hotels in Bali, Banten, Jakarta, Java, Kuala Lumpur and Vietnam developed an extensive protection protocol and action plan. The most important actions involve information and training (hygiene education) to raise awareness amongst guests and staff, personal hygiene, cleanliness in hotel facilities, heightened supervision and strict compliance with the most rigorous food handling regulations, together with measures for isolation and disinfection if any case were to arise in the hotel. www.solmelia.com