MADRID — After a strong 2018 with turnover worth more than three billion dollars, up 9% year over year, Iberostar Group says it’s now working on a raft of new projects and openings in destinations including Rome, Istanbul and Lagos in Portugal’s Algarve.

The Group’s international expansion continues at a rapid pace with seven new properties coming in 2019, in Spain (Majorca and Madrid), Portugal (Lagos), Italy (Rome), Tunisia (Monastir and Sousse) and Turkey (Istanbul).

The hotel chain will include 1,500 rooms in three new destinations to a portfolio that could expand over the course of 2019. This year will also be crucial for the consolidation of operations currently underway in Los Cabos and Litibu (Mexico) and advancements in other destinations such as Montenegro, Aruba, Albania and Cuba.

Iberostar Group says it remains firmly committed to its ambitious plans to reposition and expand its hotel portfolio. In recent years, the company has invested more than 570 million dollars and will continue until 2022 with further investments already allocated to Europe and the Americas. As result of these major investment efforts, all of the chain’s hotels are now in the 4 and 5 star categories, and over 70% of them have been recently renovated.

Throughout 2019, the company will also continue to invest in improving and extending its range of services, creating new concepts in gastronomy, personal care and wellness through its Fit & Fun program, developing its Star Prestige premium services and providing superior entertainment options for its younger guests through Iberostar’s new Star Camp program.

The company will also continue its policy of digitalization as a means of optimizing guests’ experiences with tools such as My Room Online, in which customers can view 360º images during the booking process to select their room; the mobile app, a direct customer communication channel; and the online check-in system.

Iberostar Group is also moving forward with its ‘Wave of Change’ movement, with achievements in all three of its key areas of action: reducing plastic consumption; promoting responsible consumption of seafood; and improving coastal health.

In 2019 the chain will eliminate single-use plastics from the rooms of its entire hotel portfolio, and by 2020, it will have also been completely removed these items from all areas of its hotels.