Fuerteventura magazine Interviews
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Francisco Rodríguez - Corporate Financial Director of the Hoteles R2 chain

"Just in Fuerteventura, we now have around 1.140 rooms that represent about 2.400 beds"

"I started in 2015 with the previous company and Schavinsland Reisen decided to keep me and gave me more responsibilities and additional tasks, as well as financial management and I am quite happy and satisfied with my job.. "

The Hoteles R2 chain has undergone changes over the past two years and in order to inform our readers, we met with their Corporate Financial Director, Francisco Rodríguez.

Can you explain to us the new situation of the hotels that we knew as belonging to the R2 chain?

It is a hotel brand that was created 13 years ago with the build of Hotel Rio Calma by the Rodríguez family, who are builders in Fuerteventura. At the end of 2016, the Schavinsland Reisen tour operator, one of the main German tour operators with over one and a half million passengers per year, purchased the Rio Calma R2 Hotel and rented the Pájara Beach and Bahía Playa. This company already had a hotel in the North-East of Mallorca and owned almost all the Mariven apartments in Costa Calma. Since 2016, although we are under the same brand name, we work completely independently. Over the past year and a half, we have grown by consolidating our cooperation agreements with tour operators, restructuring the company, etc.

How many beds does this new company have?

We have a total of 1.300 rooms and on this island, we have around 1.140 rooms that represent about 2.400 beds. Furthermore, we are opening an apart-hotel in Lanzarote. It was a building that had been closed for five years. We have refurbished it completely with an investment of over 5.000.000 Euros. It opened a month ago in Puerto del Carmen, it is called Bahía KonTiki. We are very excited about it.

We assume that because of the new directives, you had to increase the numbers of staff...

There are over 550 employees in total, which represents an average that is higher than most hotels in the Canaries. It is adapted to the structure and how the company works. This number also includes a high level of fixed contracts, because this company has chosen this type of contracts mostly, it brings stability in the employment of our staff, which helps planning on medium and long-term. However, in the Balearics, where hotels close in winter, we have fixed-discontinued contracts.

As the new owners are German, has it changed the type of clients in the hotels of the chain?

Really, it hasn't made any difference, we have the same agreements with other countries, but in Fuerteventura, German tourism has always been the strongest. If we noticed that one of the other tour operators lowered their quota, logically the first offer would go to the company itself. This is the ideal vertical company structure that includes the tour operator, the hotels and also the airline side.

This company has its own airline?

That's right, this year, we started working with three planes and we plan, over the next five years, to have another ten planes. This company will celebrate its 100 year anniversary this year, it has gone through two world wars, the unification of Germany and it survived all the periods of crisis. It has great company experience and now they have decided that it is time to grow and get a more complete offer with both hotels and air transport.

And with this transformation, has the R2 hotel chain experienced any changes or has everything carried on as it was?

We have changed mostly regarding services, we have increased the restaurant offer with a La carte restaurants and we have changed the menus so that they are more adapted to the season. A large investment was also made in the SPA that used to be run by an external company but it is now managed by our own staff, which means that we have more control over it. We have also adapted the hotel on a technological level, for company meeting requirements as well as for the hotel clients who benefit from the wifi. 15 years ago, when the hotel was built, the Internet was not that common. We are still a reference in the south of the island for all types of events such as weddings, baptisms, etc., and mostly for congresses and corporate events. In the hotel Bahía Playa in Tarajalejo, which is for adults only, we have also company groups and various types of meetings. It is a very quiet hotel that is quite successful.

When did you start working for this chain?

I started in 2015 with the previous company and Schavinsland Reisen decided to keep me and gave me more responsibilities and additional tasks, as well as financial management and I am quite happy and satisfied with my job.

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ENTREVISTA Francisco Rodríguez - Corporate Financial Director of the Hoteles R2 chain

Just in Fuerteventura, we now have around 1.140 rooms that represent about 2.400 beds

NOS GUSTAN