Following the international tourism hiatus caused by COVID-19 (coronavirus), RIU Hotels is gradually taking up operations again. In Spain, the chain has scheduled the opening of 15 hotels in all the destinations where it is represented; these include Madrid, Mallorca, Formentera, Cádiz, Málaga, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. The hotels will open between 15 June and the first week of July. RIU is implementing strict safety and cleaning protocols to protect the health of guests and staff.
The first Spanish hotels to open are the RIU Bravo and RIU Concordia hotels in Playa de Palma, Mallorca. They are working in partnership with the Balearic government and RIU’s partner, TUI, to carry out the safe tourism test that started on the island on June 15. RIU Plaza España in the center of Madrid opened on the same day.
In the Canary Islands, the first hotel to welcome back its guests will be RIU Gran Canaria, located in the south of the island. It opens on June 19, along with two of the chain’s hotels in Andalusia, RIU Chiclana and RIU Costa del Sol, as well as RIU La Mola in Playa de Migjorn on Formentera.
On June 26, these hotels will be joined by the RIU Palace Meloneras and RIU Palace Tres Islas hotels, located on Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura respectively, while July 1 is the scheduled date to reopen the RIU Calypso hotel, also on Fuerteventura, and RIU Paraiso Lanzarote. The following day, Tenerife will return to action with the opening of RIU Palace Tenerife, shortly followed by RIU Palace Palmeras (Gran Canaria), RIU Arecas (Tenerife) and RIU Nautilus (Torremolinos).
The chain has also reopened operations in a total of 15 more countries, with hotels open or about to open in Germany, Mexico, the United States, Bulgaria, Portugal, Ireland, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Morocco, Zanzibar and Sri Lanka. All the reopening hotels will strictly follow the 17 safety protocols set out in the RIU Manual for Post-COVID Hotels; RIU has written this guide in partnership with the consultant Preverisk.
In addition, RIU has developed a specific training program to help its staff apply these new protocols. The measures include limiting hotel occupancy to 50 or 60 percent, unless the country’s legal limit is lower, to offer maximum safety and peace of mind to users and employees. The measures will be relaxed gradually as the health authorities impose new regulations.
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