Spanish hotel group Meliá Hotels International plans to expand its luxury portfolio by 40% over the next three years. 

The brand said one in three hotel openings between 2023 and 2026 would be within its high-end portfolio, whose brands include Gran Meliá, The Meliá Collection, ME by Meliá and Paradisus by Meliá.

Key upcoming luxury openings include Palazzo Cordusio, a Gran Meliá Hotel in Milan; Ngorongoro Lodge, a Meliá Collection Hotel in Tanzania; ME Malta; ME Lisbon; ME Guadalajara in Mexico; Paradisus Gran Canaria; Paradisus Salinas in Lanzarote; and Gran Meliá Nha Trang in Vietnam.

A statement from the company, which launched in 1956, said the growth “echoes the brand’s key pillars of its Mediterranean legacy, a global and expanding footprint, sustainability, and creating travel experiences to truly discover the destinations”.

Meliá Hotels International chief executive Gabriel Escarrer said: “In today’s market, luxury and exclusivity can no longer be defined from one perspective, therefore our luxury brands seek to address the world of luxury in different ways. Our mission is to provide conscious travel for an enriching lifestyle. 

“We have an impressive pipeline and our prime luxury hotels will spearhead our continued upwards trajectory, not just in destinations of Meliá’s roots of the Mediterranean, but further afield to Africa and Asia too.”

The pipeline of new properties follows the launch of the brand’s first carbon-neutral ‘prototype’, Villa Le Blanc Gran Meliá (pictured) in Menorca, this year.

“Following the success of Villa Le Blanc, we are delighted to have this level of growth and positioning in the luxury market," said André P. Gerondeau, chief operating officer of Meliá Hotels International.

"We are proudly and deservedly becoming one of the main players in the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth space, and simultaneously reaching all corners of the planet”.