MARIA ZARALUQUI:

Meliá Durrës - Set to be an Icon for the Albanian Tourism

Our company origins give us a deeply rooted family culture and values that set the tone for our behavior in all our locations.

By Rudina Hoxha & Jose Pinto

“We are extremely excited for the opening of Meliá Durrës. We believe that it is set to be an icon for the Albanian tourism due to its unique facilities and the first-class experience that offers,” says an upbeat Maria Zarraluqui, Global Development Vice President at Meliá Hotels International.

Soon after the inauguration of Meliá Durrës, TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE interviewed Mrs. Maria Zarraluqui who discussed about Meliá’s overall expansion, its strategies to be mostly presented in Albanian and global audiences, important agreements reached by the brands over the recent years as well as Meliá’s particular pipeline targets.

Meliá Hotels International is a company with more than 65 years of history in hospitality and leisure that has never stopped growing and innovating. Today, with more than 400 hotels in 43 countries, Meliá continues being one of the leading hotel companies in the world and a benchmark for Mediterranean hospitality.

“Having signed our first hotel in Albania in 2017, we are now very proud to have a portfolio of 8 hotels in the country (in operation and pipeline) having become the main international operator in the country, with many more opportunities to come in the near future,” she said.

Full interview below:

Meliá in Albania! A great achievement for Albanian tourism. What was the main motivation for this decision and how has it impacted the overall expansion of your brand? Please tell our readers a little about the Meliá brand and what makes it so special.

We are extremely excited for the opening of Meliá Durrës. We believe that it is set to be an icon for the Albanian tourism due to its unique facilities and the first-class experience that offers.

The main motivation for Meliá Hotels International is being part of a destination with great potential and in which we hope to continue growing and contributing to the development of tourism in the country with our know-how and experience, as we have done in other destinations where we have been pioneers in hotel development.

Meliá Hotels International is a company with more than 65 years of history in hospitality and leisure that has never stopped growing and innovating. Today, with more than 400 hotels in 43 countries, we continue being one of the leading hotel companies in the world and a benchmark for Mediterranean hospitality.

Our company origins give us a deeply rooted family culture and values that set the tone for our behavior in all our locations. Meliá Hotels International is unique in having an origin in leisure and the ideal size to combine exceptional hospitality with management that is efficient and close to its stakeholders.

We are committed to offering the most comprehensive quality services to make our partners’ investments profitable and safeguard their assets, operating with professionalism, seriousness and the confidence of a major brand, with international prestige. Finally, the fact that we are hoteliers at heart, means that hospitality is not just a business for us, it’s our passion. And that passion is what drives us to respond to the global challenges faced by our planet, viewing sustainability as a fundamental means by which we can create a positive legacy for our planet and for society. Thanks to this long- term commitment we have been awarded as the Most Sustainable Hotel Company in the world according to the Standard & Poor’s Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2022.

How can you describe the major developments in Meliá over the recent years when it comes to brand expansion?

Being one of the leaders in the leisure and bleisure segments we are very proud of our developments in the last years. Most of our signatures have been in the primary holiday and bleisure destinations around the world. We refer to these destinations as the “leisure axis,” which includes the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and South-East Asia. If I had to stand out some important agreement in the recent years, I would mention the following 3:

Agreement with Vinpearl in Vietnam, thanks to which we started to operate 15 hotels and 4512 rooms with the most important conglomerate in the country and became one of the main international operators in Vietnam.

The conversion of one of our hotels in Spain into our first Net Zero hotel on the Island of Menorca, the Villa le Blanc, a Gran Meliá Hotel, a spectacular hotel with a unique location and a wonderful design, and above all, a sustainable hotel that will become an example for new hotels to come.

The introduction in the Albanian market. Having signed our first hotel in 2017, we are now very proud to have a portfolio of 8 hotels in the country (in operation and pipeline) having become the main international operator in the country, with many more opportunities to come in the near future.

What are the strategies that have worked best to introduce Meliá into the Albanian & global audiences?

Over the last years the company has had a clear focus on an asset-light strategy, which will be maintained in the future. Both Management and Franchise agreements will represent more than 90% of the signatures of the company in the upcoming years.

We have clearly followed this strategy when entering in the Albanian market. Initially we were more focused on Management agreements, but we also realized that there were great opportunities in Franchising, adding value thanks to our global distribution and agreements with international tour operators.

Our international presence, as of today in 43 countries, dictates the level of flexibility we are willing to assume in some markets, trying to find the best operating structures to drive the best results to each particular hotel on a win- win approach.

With so much competition in the industry, how does Meliá stand out?

We have a clear strategy on the areas we want to grow in. We have a vast experience managing leisure and bleisure hotels and we have been strengthening our operational proposal around the pillars of digitalization and sustainability.

We have become a benchmark in sustainability (being named the world’s most sustainable Hotel Company in 2022 in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment CSA). We believe that the growth of our company, and of our sector in general, must be done in a sustainable way, not only economically, but also socially and environmentally, that is, generating the maximum positive impact on the destination (creation of quality employment, support for training and professionalization of the sector, redistribution of wealth in the destination, reduction of our carbon footprint through exploitation models that are more respectful of the environment and with more efficient management of resources, etc.).

On the other hand, we have seen that the post-Covid environment has given a competitive advantage to companies that have known how to transform digitally, relying on technology to improve operational efficiency and adapting to increasingly digital consumption models of customers. At Meliá, we have been intensifying our digitalisation strategy to be more competitive, as reflected in our distribution and marketing capacity -with renewed direct channels for both B2C and B2B clients, which already channel close to 50% of our sales- and also in the transformation of our front and back office processes (to be more efficient), as well as in the client’s own experience, introducing the “digital stay”, which seeks to provide our clients with autonomy and flexibility to manage their stay (as check in and check out, reservation of services, etc.)

What is Meliá’s current pipeline and how has this figure progressed recently? What are Meliá’s particular pipeline targets?

Our Pipeline currently holds 63 hotels and 14.448 rooms in 21 different countries. It aims to consolidate our strategic position in countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Albania, UK, Germany, Dominican Republic, Latam, Cuba, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, we are thrilled to introduce our portfolio of brands in new markets such as Malta, Saudi Arabia, Montenegro and the Seychelles. These new market introductions present exciting opportunities for our company.

Which segments is the company focusing on for its upcoming hotel projects?

Among our brands we have proposals for various segments, we have developed a strong brand portfolio that offer unique experiences and cater the different travelers’ needs and also hotel owners’: Luxury brands (Paradisus by Meliá, Gran Meliá, The Meliá Collection and ME by Meliá),

Premium brands (Meliá Hotels & Resorts, Innside by Meliá, Zel hotels, in partnership with Rafa Nadal, and Falcons’ resorts by Meliá), and Essential brands, such as Sol by Meliá and Affiliated by Meliá.

We have a very clear strategy for all of them, but in recent years we have witnessed exponential growth in demand for our premium and luxury brands (to which 65% of our portfolio already belongs) and we have deployed a very special commitment to these brands, focusing on its development, with 80% of our development pipeline for the next 3 years belonging to Premium & Luxury brands. Our vision of luxury is based on values and aspects such as our powerful Mediterranean heritage and a lifestyle influenced by Spanish fervour and sophistication, the priority we give to experiences that enrich a trip and give it a “purpose”, as well as a strong awareness and commitment to the environment and the community of the destinations in which we establish ourselves, their sustainable development, and their prosperity.

How do you see Meliá portfolio developing over the coming years?

Our current Strategic Plan 22-24 is focused on the “leisure axis,” (the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and South-East Asia) and our next Strategic Plan will be focused on further strengthening our position in those markets, being very attentive to new upcoming leisure destinations to further diversify our portfolio and trying to become a benchmark in hospitality in as many countries as possible.

Written by Rudina HOXHA

Imet Chef Ashley Coleman from Australia at the newly inaugurated premises of Marriott Tirana Hotel, more precisely at M Club an exclusive space to retreat and recharge. Since April 2022, he has moved to Albania with his German wife and 17-year-old daughter who are in love with Albania.

Ashley is so warm and good-hearted because he loves people and he tries to deliver the best for them.

In 1996, at the age of 25, he left his own country to travel the world and do what he loves most: cooking and meeting some amazing people along the way. “In a way, for me, it has just become as much as an adventure what it is not much work anymore. I come to different countries, I come to Albania, I meet new people, I see different cultures and embrace different new ways of thinking,” Ashley says in this exclusive interview with TRAILBLAZING MAGAZINE

So, he adds, “I am always experiencing something new, discovering new cuisines, it has been for me a fantastic way to live. My wife and my daughter always travel with me. Family is always there.”

His philosophy is “you always give away something to gain something else. It is good. It works for us.”

Full interview below: the ones who in the early 70s, mentored me, guided me and played a major part in my being out to live the life in the way I do.

What

originally sparked your passion for food?

Actually, I grew up in an area outside the country. My mom was working in a little small hotel there. As a child, around 6 years old, I grew up spending my time in the weekends in the kitchen with my mom cleaning carrots. Looking back at that time, it makes me laugh, because I had to stand on a chair to reach the sink. It would take me two hours to have a bag of carrots. With those pocket money, I would go to the shop to buy some candy. Then I started my apprenticeship early. I was lucky enough to get my first apprenticeship at the age of 15. I was working full time in the kitchen, some 14-15 hours a day. There were a lot of pressure to make sure that the guests were happy with the food. This is the reason why chefs are chefs: to deliver to people something that they enjoy. You can realize that from their faces. This is the reward.

So, when I was young, I was so excited to learn and create something new with our team who were people from different walks of life. Once we were all in the kitchen, having to do what we had to do, we built a strong friendship. They were people with know-how who had travelled the world. Today I am calling friends in the United States, Germany or Vanuatu to wish “Happy Birthday” and have a chat. So, we still keep in touch. I have friends everywhere like in Egypt, in Thailand, Vietnam and others. When we travel for holidays now, it is always like we are back somewhere because we are somewhere where we meet people we know. They live or work there. So, we always catch up with them.

What are your earliest kitchen memories?

It is very much about people. It is always good to remember and have contacts with some of the first chefs that I had. They were

Now let’s shift a bit to the Menu of this Hotel. Can you tell us about the cuisine features on the Marriott Tirana Menu? What inspires such creations? We like to refer to “Terra” Restaurant concept in Marriott Tirana Hotel as Middle’Terranean. I think the real inspiration behind it and both in terms of how have been designed the menu and the style of the restaurant, it is the Communal Dining. We really want people to come to “TERRA” with friends or colleagues for an EXPERIENCE. It is casual in a way that we want people to sit there and just enjoy. The menu is designed in a way that it allows you to enjoy many options. Having said that, you may want a snack and a drink or you can choose something like a big and beautiful group of meats that you can share among friends, it is really great. Therefore, the menu is designed in a way that you can taste 5,6,7,8 items to share. Instead, you are not confined to only one dish that you have ordered. The dishes come with a couple of salads or nice little bites such as oysters or Japanese scallops etc. So, everybody gets a full experience when they come.

Every chef has a kitchen hobby. What is yours?

Kitchen hobby…For me, it is learning about new products. I was lucky to work in Maldives for three years and a half where all food was imported. It was that time when I got the passion to find out more about food. I started to understand how much control chef has over the food that you give to your guests. If you are willing to put some extra effort to where your food is coming from, how it is produced, you can make sure that you can get the best of everything. Since I came here in Tirana, you see that the products you use are right from the soil to the table. We spend a lot of time into talking with our suppliers and local farmers to make sure about the quality of the produces and make changes in our menus, so we can stay in season. When you get a tomato here, it smells like a tomato, you can see the freshness in the flavor. As a chef, I make sure to source the best of these items.

Albania has a very rich gastronomy culture. To what extents are you using it? It is mostly about its products. We have surveyed the dining style and the food tastes of our guests. Before we opened the hotel, we spent a lot of time talking to people, to find out what they like most when it comes to food and how they like to dine. For example, among others, we found out that they like salads a lot, they tend to dine in groups and late.

For me, it is important the seasonality of products. We follow the seasonal produce and some of the cooking methods and techniques that you use in Albania. We have been a couple of times to the local farms which are producing everything. We have seen the cheese produced there; the animals and the vegetables have been all grown there. So we have followed that experience.

For me, Albania is very interesting in terms of dining experience. Say, in Asia, people get out to dine, to eat. Whereas in Albania, people are living. They have to eat but what is more important for them is to catch up with their acquaintances and meet up with friends. This is life here. It is vibrant, it is very cool.

Albanians are very keen on trying different gastronomies. What plans you have to introduce special nights, gastronomic festivals and other events?

We actually do. We have planned for the rest of the year. Recently we have started a business lunch which demonstrates some communal cuisines. Moving forward with the Asian fusion nights. I have spent 12 years working in Asia, so it is an occasion to bring some of my knowledge.

In addition, we will be doing a couple of guest chef dinners. Together with some other chef from another country, we will design a menu for a couple of weeks. Dinners and events will be organized to demonstrate various styles of cuisine from these famous chefs.