Barcelo<.> Hotels & Resorts has recently signed an agreement with Sangho, the Tunisian hotel group, whereby five establishments of the latter will be joined Barcelo Hotel & Resorts under franchise. The commercialization of franchise hotels was started by Barcelo in May of this year. The first establishment to join the group under franchise was the Barcelo Riviera Resort & Spa, a 4-star top of the range hotel located in Malta.

The five newcomer hotels currently joining the Barcelo group are:

• Barcelo Sangho Club Zarzis hotel, located on a beach in the middle of 14 hectares (about 35 acres) of superb palm trees, 10 Km. from Zarzis (Tunisia), and one hour from the Djerba airport. It is a 3-star hotel with 361 rooms.


• Barcelo Sangho Village Djerba hotel, located at 25 Km. from the Djerba airport (Tunisia), and 6 Km. from the city centre. It offers 212 rooms and is classified as a 3-star hotel.


• Barcelo Sangho Privilege Tataouine hotel, located in Tataouine (Tunisia), one and a half hours from the airport and 5 minutes from the city center, a city famous for its Roman ruins. It is a 3-star hotel with 86 rooms.


• Barcelo Sangho Le Syphax hotel, in Sfax (Tunisia), five minutes from the city center and 6 Km. from the airport. Unlike the rest of the hotels currently acquired, it is an establishment with an urban character. It is a 4-star hotel with 124 rooms.


• Barcelo Sangho Club Privilege Marrakech hotel, located in an 11 hectares garden 10 Km. from Marrakech city center (Morocco). It is a 4-star hotel and has an accomodation capacity of 324 rooms.

This transaction has allowed Barcelo to expand to two North African countries where it was not present, counting from now on with more than 1,100 rooms in the area and, together with the Cape Verde hotels, to include ten establishments in the African Continent.

Barcelo Hotels & Resorts is one of the most important hotel chains in Spain. It is currently managing B142 hotels in 20 countries across four continents, offering to its guests nearly 32,000 rooms in the main destinations.

Barcelo is the leading hotel company in Central America, and has purchased this same year the North American operator Crestline, which has allowed Barcelo to reach the 45 hotel mark (40 of them in urban areas) and 4 convention centers in the USA, the main hotel market in the world. As a result, Barcelo is also the first Spanish hotel company in that country.

Barcelo is currently developing its 2001-2005 Strategic Plan, whose purpose is to reach the figure of 200 hotel establishments by the end of this period. Precisely the execution of that Plan already considered, as one of the goals, to expand the presence to the main tourist destinations in the Mediterranean where Barcelo was not yet present, as has occurred with the agreement now signed.