The Amérian Hotels chain opened two new hotels in the last month: the Merit Parque Leloir and the Amerian Chacras de Coria; the latter opened its doors to the public on July 3. Roberto Amengual, president of the Hotel chain, spoke with this newspaper about the current situation of the sector and the company’s projections.Amérian expands with the opening of the Mérit Parque Leloir Hotel)
REPORTUR.com.ar: What are your upcoming openings planned?
Roberto Amengual: In the first half of the year we opened three hotels: one in Río Cuarto, in the province of Córdoba, the Merit de Parque Leloir in the province of Buenos Aires and the Amérian Chacras de Coria in the province of Mendoza. The latter is a proposal close to the wineries, more aimed at recreational tourism, immersed in the luxury area of Mendoza. There are projects that are still under construction, such as the one in Jujuy, and there are about eight projects in the pipeline, of which two will probably open their doors in the second half of the year and the rest, most likely, in 2025.
A: What is special about the Amérian chain in each location where it is established?
RA: Our promotion is aimed at two large audiences. On the one hand, the guests, the consumers, the chain starts with this purpose, to be able to offer international standards with a local idiosyncrasy. What Argentines look for in hotels is different from what Americans look for; they have a different way of traveling, of getting around; and from that point we are very oriented towards the Argentine and Latin American public. From that point on, in each of our formats, three, four or five stars, we focus on ensuring that the rest is always very good and, in that sense, it has attracted a lot of attention when we incorporated the three-star format, and we were able to demonstrate that it is an alternative for those who want comfortable accommodation and rest in a four-star service room.
On the other hand, our strength is that we are also owners, so we understand very well the owner’s need to have a return on investment, to make a project that is sensible at the time of investment and that yields the maximum without having over investments that are not valued by the guests. Many times, international chains have demands that are valued by guests elsewhere but not necessarily by Argentines. That feeling of what it means to be an investor and what it means to be an entrepreneur in Argentina has been one of the factors why more and more people who want to get involved in the Hotel industry choose us.
A: What is your view on the current situation in Argentina?
RA: Argentina is going through a very difficult situation and the impact on the Hotel industry was felt more in those areas that depended on both the corporate and recreational sectors. The last few months have been very difficult. I think we all need a break. I do think that people will want to make the effort to take a few days off to clear their heads and relax with their family and enjoy a winter vacation.
A: What are the booking levels for the winter season?
RA: It depends a lot on the destination; I always distinguish between recreational and corporate, and between national and international. Those that are purely international destinations are having a very good season, very oriented towards the south, Tierra del Fuego, El Calafate. Mendoza is a destination that has, for example, a part of national demand and an international part and it compensates based on the exchange rate, so it has good demand for these winter vacations. Termas de Río Hondo, with the reopening of the Spa and word of mouth recommendations, has good levels of reservations. The same as in Iguazú, where we have a three-star Merit format and a four-star Amérian format; therefore both are having a lot of demand. However, the more corporate locations in the capitals, such as Buenos Aires and Córdoba, are still not in such high demand.
