Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is expanding its Super 8 Hotel brand expands into Spain and Portugal as global hospitality giants compete for Europe’s middle class travelers.
The hotel group has announced that they have signed a 10-year exclusive development agreement with Portugal’s Soliteight Hotel Projects, to open 40 Super 8 Hotel over the next decade.
The first Super 8 hotel will open in Leiria in Portugal in late 2027.
Wyndham is launching this campaign to attract budget-conscious travellers as Europe’s tourism sector enjoys a rebound. Spain had 94 million international tourists Portugal set several records in the last few years for tourism.
Soliteight cited CoStar data to say that Spain and Portugal’s post-pandemic tourism surge translated into strong performance in the hotel industry. Revenue per available room (RevPAR), which measures revenue generated by each room, has increased 142%.
“Spain and Portugal continue to lag other European markets in branded economy hotels, with a 10% gap in budget brand penetration,” said Alpalhão.
Wyndham’s new strategy may allow it to carve out its own niche on the fragmented budget travel market in Europe, notably in Spain. Spain was recently named as having one of Europe’s best performing economies in 2013. The Economist.
Wyndham operates 14 Super 8 hotels in Europe and Middle East. These include locations in Germany, UK and Saudi Arabia.
Soliteight is a joint-venture between FundBox Holdings, Estoril 8023 and Estoril Holdings that will develop new properties with asset-light models. Long-term leases are given priority. Pre-fabrication or modular construction will be used to build many of the new properties. This is a way to increase efficiency and sustainability.
This latest move fits into a trend of global hotel chains competing to attract middle-class tourists in Europe.
Just last year, Marriott and IHG each signed deals To open 100 hotels in the area, many of which will be through local development partnership. Wyndham has taken a similar approach, using its 114-million-member loyalty program in order to increase occupancy. Smaller independent hotels cannot do this without the help of expensive online travel agencies.
Super 8 is also aligned with one of Skift’s 2024 Megatrends — the rising importance of middle-class travelers in shaping the future of hospitality. Global chains are rushing to fill this unmet niche as travelers look for options that offer affordability and reliability, especially in secondary cities or transit hubs.
Accommodations Sector Stock Performance Year-to Date
What am i looking at? The performance of the hotel and short-term rentals sector stocks in the ST200. The index includes publicly traded companies across global markets. This includes international and regional hotel brands as well as hotel REITs and hotel management companies.
The Skift Travel 200 The combined financial performance from nearly 200 travel agencies worth more than one trillion dollars is summed into a single figure. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance.
Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
