Luis Riu Güell

Luis Riu Güell
Born (1960-12-30) 30 December 1960
Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Alma materUniversity of Barcelona
OccupationsHotelier, business executive
Years active1985–present
EmployerRIU Hotels & Resorts
Known forInternational expansion of RIU Hotels & Resorts
TitleCEO and co-owner
Children3
RelativesLuis Riu Bertrán (father)
Juan Riu Masmitjà (grandfather)
Carmen Riu (sister)

Luis Riu Güell (also spelled Luis Riu Guell; born 30 December 1960) is a Spanish hotelier and business executive who serves as the chief executive officer and co-owner of RIU Hotels & Resorts. A third-generation member of the Riu family, which founded the company in 1953, he has played a central role in its international expansion since the 1990s, especially in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Early life and education

Riu was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1960.[1] He grew up with his sister Carmen Riu, with whom he would later share the executive leadership of the family hotel company.[1][2]

He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Barcelona.[2][1] After completing his studies, he joined the family business in 1985 and took on responsibilities connected with RIU's expansion, beginning in the Canary Islands.[2] In 1991 he was appointed president of the company and from that position led its international expansion.[2] Since 1998 he has served as chief executive, first jointly with his sister and, since 2024, as sole CEO.[3][4]

Career

Riu Palace Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, part of RIU's long-standing presence in the Canary Islands.

Luis Riu began his career at RIU Hotels & Resorts in the 1980s, first in hotel operations and later in new openings and expansion projects.[5] In 1985, at the age of 25, he was placed in charge of opening the Riu Palmeras in Gran Canaria, the company's first hotel outside the Balearic Islands and its first property in the Canary Islands.[6]

During the 1990s, Riu took part in the group's international expansion into the Caribbean and the Americas.[5][7] In 1993, he was involved in consolidating RIU's alliance with the German tour operator TUI Group, formalised through the joint venture RIUSA II.[7]

After the death of his father in 1998, Riu and his sister Carmen assumed the company's executive leadership as joint chief executives, marking the transfer of the family business to the third generation.[5][3] Under their co-management, RIU expanded further in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, and diversified into city hotels through the Riu Plaza brand.[8][5]

In 2024, Carmen Riu retired from executive and institutional duties, leaving Luis Riu as the company's sole chief executive.[4][3] In 2025, RIU announced a further redistribution of responsibilities among members of the fourth generation of the family, while Riu remained CEO and continued to supervise expansion projects, design, construction and refurbishment across the group.[9]

During the first 13 years of his tenure as chief executive, RIU grew from 62 hotels to 107 establishments.[10] In The List 2025, published by HOTELS Magazine, the company ranked 40th worldwide by rooms in operation.[11]

Personal life

Riu is married and has three children.[3] Members of the fourth generation of the Riu family, including his children Luis, Naomi and Roberto, have taken management roles in operations, finance and development within RIU, while members of his sister's branch of the family have also assumed executive responsibilities.[9][12]

Recognition

In 2003, the business magazine Dinero included Luis and Carmen Riu among Spain's businesspeople of the year.[13]

In 2010, the Jamaica Observer profiled Luis and Carmen Riu as "Tourism's game-changers" for RIU's role in the development of Jamaica as a tourist destination, and they were among the nominees in the newspaper's Business Leader awards programme.[14][15]

In 2011, Carmen and Luis Riu were named the Spanish winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2010, organised in collaboration with IESE Business School and BNP Paribas. As national winners, they represented Spain in the global World Entrepreneur Of The Year competition.[16][10]

In 2015, the siblings received the CIMET Gold and Diamond Insignia and were recognised as Próceres del Turismo Español en Iberoamérica ("Leading Figures of Spanish Tourism in Latin America").[17]

In 2016, Riu was nominated in the corporate category for the Hotels magazine Hotelier of the World award.[18]

In 2021, Hosteltur named Carmen and Luis Riu its Tourism Personality of the Year; the award was presented at FITUR in Madrid in January 2022.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rivera, Agustín (4 June 2017). "Carmen y Luis Riu: así son los hoteleros de moda, más ricos y... anónimos". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nuñez, Emilia (28 May 2021). "Nombre del día: Carmen y Luis Riu, consejeros delegados de RIU Hotels & Resorts". Forbes España (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "About RIU". RIU Hotels & Resorts. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Carmen Riu se jubila y deja todo el poder ejecutivo de la hotelera a su hermano Luis Riu". Cinco Días (in Spanish). 10 May 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "What's New with Riu". TravelAge West. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Riu Palmeras: the hotel that changed Luis Riu's life". RIU Hotels & Resorts Blog. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 Álvarez, Raquel (2 October 2018). "RIU: la empresa familiar mallorquina que se erigió en un emporio hotelero". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  8. ↑ "About us". RIU Hotels & Resorts. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  9. 1 2 "RIU Hotels & Resorts announces a new step forward in the generational handover process". TUI Group. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011" (PDF). Leaders Magazine. 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "The List 2025" (PDF). HOTELS Magazine. 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  12. ↑ "Luis and Roberto Riu Rodríguez: key figures in the generational handover at the RIU Group". TUI Group. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  13. ↑ "Los hermanos Riu han sido elegidos "empresarios del año" según la revista "Dinero"". Hosteltur (in Spanish). 17 January 2003. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "Luis and Carmen Riu — Tourism's game-changers". Jamaica Observer. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  15. ↑ "Hendrickson, Younis to be given lifetime achievement awards". Jamaica Observer. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  16. ↑ "Carmen y Luis Riu ganan el Premio Emprendedor del Año 2010". Hosteltur (in Spanish). 19 February 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  17. ↑ "El premio a Carmen y Luis Riu valora su contribución al turismo en Latinoamérica". RIU Hotels & Resorts (in Spanish). 28 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Fiskers kan bli världens bästa hotelier". Travel News (in Swedish). 20 April 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Carmen y Luis Riu reciben el Premio Hosteltur a la Personalidad Turística". Hosteltur (in Spanish). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.