LONDON — Meliá Hotels International’s revenues were up 4.2% and earnings grew by 13.8% in the first quarter of the year, boosting its “positive momentum” in the Caribbean where it will open more than 3,000 new rooms in 2018, specifically in Cuba, Mexico and the D.R. as well as Colombia.

MHI earned 22.1 million euros in Q1 2018, an increase of 18.9% when compared to 2017. The positive performance of the hotel business was negatively affected by the significant depreciation of the dollar, which decreased by 15% in comparison with the first quarter of 2017, given that a large part of the company’s revenue is generated in U.S. dollars despite accounts being stated in euros.

The resort chain is focusing on both direct B2C sales through melia.com (+8.9% in the first quarter on a constant currency basis) as well as B2B sales, noting that sales through travel agent portal MeliáPro increased by 6.9% in the first quarter.

The growth of Melia’s groups business through the new MeliáPro Meetings website was up 30.48%.

The company has launched eight new hotels in 2018 so far (four in Cuba, two in Spain and two in Vietnam) and to date Meliá Hotels International has signed seven new hotels in 2018: three in Vietnam and one each in Thailand, Portugal, Dubai and Morocco.

The pipeline for future hotel additions currently includes 63 hotels comprising 16,000 rooms as of March 31, 2018, 85% of which are undergoing management agreements.

MHI says it reaffirmed its commitment to the one of the world’s most dynamic travel destinations, the Caribbean, in Q1 with new openings in Cuba, including four of the seven hotels that are in the pipeline, adding more than 2,150 new rooms to its portfolio.

Five of the hotels are located in World Heritage cities including Camaguey and Cienfuegos. The other two hotels are major resorts in Cayo Santa Maria (Paradisus Los Cayos) and Varadero (Meliá Hotels & Resorts).

At the end of 2018 MHI will also open the new Paradisus Playa Mujeres resort with 392 rooms on the coast of Isla Mujeres, a few kilometres from Cancun, as well as the Grand Reserve in the D.R. with 432 rooms and an exclusive concept for luxury travellers, plus the Meliá Cartagena, the company’s first hotel in the Colombian Caribbean.