IBEROSTAR HOTELS & RESORTS

1930

Establishment of Viajes Iberia, a company dedicated mainly to the organisation and sales of individual trips and incentives, which later extended its activity to incoming tourism traffic.

 

1973

Creation of the tour operator Iberojet in order to commercialise package tours to Spanish and foreign destinations.

 

1979

Start of international activity with the opening of Iberotravel, Ltd., a incoming travel agency with branches in London and Manchester. Later, this company changed its name to Iberoservice Internacional. The same name would be used some years later for national and international incoming activity.

 

1980

Creation of Visit US, Inc., an incoming travel agency with headquarters in the US and branches in Miami and Orlando, designed to cater to customers of Iberojet and the British travel group ILG.

 

1986

Opening of the first hotels under the IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts brand in Majorca and the Canary Islands to satisfy increased demand for family tourism coming from Central Europe.

 

1991

Creation of Sunworld, the first tour operator in the UK with Spanish capital mainly. This initiative also included the airline Airworld, operated initially with 4 Airbus 320 aeroplanes.

 

1993

Start of international expansion of IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts with the opening of its first hotel in the Caribbean: the 5-star IBEROSTAR Bavaro Resort, located on the beach of Punta Cana (the Dominican Republic).

 

1995

The tour operator Iberojet starts its international development, establishing itself in the vast number of Latin American countries in order to sell package tours to Europe and other destinations.

 

1998

Iberworld is created, an airline specialising in charter flights with bases in Palma de Mallorca, Madrid and Tenerife, in order to provide service to Iberojet as well as other European tour operators.

 

Iberworld's modern fleet consists of 8 Airbus 320 planes for medium-distance flights, and 2 Airbus 330 for operating transatlantic routes between Spain and the Caribbean.

 

2001

Creation of Iberojet Cruceros, a company consisting of two modern cruise ships aimed essentially at this segment of the market in Spain.

 

2006

Sale of the outgoing companies of the GRUPO IBEROSTAR: the tour operator Iberojet together with other brands such as Solplan, Turavia and Viva Tours, the airline Iberworld, Iberojet Cruceros and the network of retail travel agents Viajes Iberia with more than 500 points of sale throughout Spain. The purpose of the sale is to boost the development and expansion of the main business area of the Group, the hospitality division.

 

2007

Consolidation period of the hospitality division. GRUPO IBEROSTAR is deeply committed to technology in order to improve efficiency both at sales and management levels.

 

The launching of a line of top-of-the-range hotels, The Grand Collection, with exclusive services and facilities similar to deluxe hotels.

 

GRUPO IBEROSTAR has a 5% share in the corporate capital of the IBEX 35-listed company, ACS Actividades de Construcción y Servicios S.A.

 

2008

IBEROSTAR launches a new business division at an international scale, IBEROSTATE. Based on the real estate sector, it is dedicated to developing residential resorts (villas and condos) within its hotel resorts.