Projects & Tourism Enterprises: Towards an Ever More Competitive Destination - Exclusive Interview to Miguel Gomes, Manager of Construction & Development

As one of the most prominent investors in hotel development in Portugal, Mercan Properties Group will open four new hotels in 2024 and start building three more, choosing the Algarve as one of its investment priorities. And, in response to the growth of its portfolio, it is also increasingly focused on the area of hotel management, through Ace Hospitality Management.

Mercan Properties Grouphas been in the country since 2015, with 31 projects in its portfolio, nine of which are fully operational. "Our investments are located in various areas of the country, such as Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos, Lisbon, Amarante, Santiago do Cacém, Évora, Beja, the Algarve and Madeira. At the moment, our portfolio of assets represents an investment of around 1.2 billion euros, more than 3,400 accommodation units and a total of around 7,000 beds," according the group's general director of Construction & Development, Miguel Gomes.

With several projects in the development phase, the Holiday Inn Beja (95 rooms) and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Évora (75 rooms) and Porto (Boavista, with 91 rooms) are the next to open this summer, together representing an investment of around 54 million euros. Meanwhile, it already has eight new projects in the pipeline, spread across the Lisbon and Algarve regions, which together represent just over a third of the total value of the investment portfolio, around 450 million euros.

Strategically, "in terms of investment, the Algarve continues to be a priority for us", says Miguel Gomes, recalling that at the beginning of 2024 "we expanded our portfolio in this area, with the acquisition of the Hotel California, in Albufeira". On the real estate development side, among the projects in the pipeline for the region, the most advanced is the Hotel Indigo Faro Ribeirinha, with 127 rooms and scheduled to open in 2025, and "we expect to start building the main assets in the coming months", says the manager, stressing that "these are large-scale projects, such as the Curio Collection and the Hilton Garden Inn in Lagos and the Hard Rock in Portimão". The pipeline also includes the future Marriott Lagos, with 201 rooms planned for the Porto de Mós beach area.

Growing focus on asset management "With the year 2024, we can confirm the group's growth trajectory, which has allowed us to focus our activity on hotel asset management. If until now we were more focused on acquiring assets that could boost our activity in Portugal, now we are totally focused on managing them and on the daily success of our developments," explains Miguel Gomes.

Capitalizing on "the knowledge and experience of brands with high recognition in the market and with which we have worked since our entry into Portugal," the group decided to make its hotel management business area autonomous, creating Ace Hospitality Management (AHM). This company's "main focus is the management of the Mercan universe's hotel assets, but it is also attentive to new management opportunities outside the group", not least because "by associating ourselves with highly recognized brands, we prove the excellence of our management. The fact that we are a multi-brand platform makes us unique in the sector, which also allows us to contact and get to know the best hotel technologies and practices," he stresses.

Furthermore, he adds, "the Mercan Group's hotels have always attracted the interest of many investors, who want to invest in the hotel sector with us because they recognize in our brand the credibility and confidence to make that investment. Similarly, we feel that our assets are attracting the interest of end investors, even though it is not our usual policy to sell assets."

Hard Rock Hotel arrives on the Portuguese market

As this is the debut of the well-known American brand on the Portuguese hotel scene, "when we announced the Hard Rock Hotel Algarve project in the summer of 2023, we felt that it was received with great enthusiasm by our partners, investors and also by future guests and visitors," recalls Miguel Gomes.

With direct access to Vau Beach, it will have 275 rooms and suites and 150 apartments with personalized services from the Hard Rock brand, offering a wide range of amenities including the Hard Rock Roxity Kids Club, three restaurants, three outdoor swimming pools, Rock Spa, gym, Rock Shop, sports area, beach club and conference rooms. With expectations high, "we hope that the whole process goes ahead on schedule and that we can officially open the doors in 2026," says the manager.

Tourism ''is the most attractive sector for investment in Portugal"

According to Miguel Gomes, "At Mercan Group, we believe that tourism is not only one of the main growth engines of the Portuguese economy but that it continues to show signs of growth and is the most attractive sector for investment in Portugal". In addition, he continues, "in the urban rehabilitation market, the state and local authorities have promoted various investment policies in rehabilitation projects that have greatly benefited the country and the reconstruction of the main cities, making it an even more attractive sector for investment" in this field.

"Tourism has proliferated in recent years, with new records and multiple successes. And it is indeed a desirable sector, partly because of its leading role in the Portuguese economy. However, we believe that, if it is not to exhaust itself in the success we know, it must constantly reinvent itself." In other words, "tourism has to be closer to its guests, offer an increasingly personalized service that protects the regions in which it operates, taking advantage of the best and most attractive things they have and offering this to those who visit us," he concludes, guaranteeing that "this is the motto that guides us every day in the management of our hotel developments."