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The chain, baptized Zel and inspired by “Mediterranean culture”, will launch in 2023 with a first hotel in Mallorca, in the Mediterranean archipelago of the Balearic Islands, where Nadal was born 36 years ago and Meli\u00e1 was founded in 1956.<\/p>\n
Nadal, holder of 92 titles including 22 Grand Slam, and the first Spanish hotel group, which operates more than 400 establishments around the world, will be co-owners of the chain, although the specific shareholding structure was not revealed.<\/p>\n
The goal is “for the chain to have “more than 20 hotels in all parts of the world in the next 5 years,” Nadal said at the press conference in Madrid, adding that “no limit” to growth has been set. after that term.<\/p>\n
According to Meli\u00e1, the new brand will be established “in destinations with a clear focus on premium leisure tourism”, especially in countries such as Spain, France, Italy or Croatia, but also in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
It will be equally present in the main tourist capitals, with openings already planned in London, Paris and Madrid.<\/p>\n
In a first stage, 80% of the hotels will use existing establishments “that will undergo a very resounding transformation” to adapt them to the “Mediterranean character” of Zel, stressed Gabriel Escarrer, general director of the Meli\u00e1 group.<\/p>\n
But the longer-term goal is for the hotels to be built especially for the Zel chain (heaven in Majorcan, the variant of Catalan spoken in Mallorca), said Escarrer, also originally from the Balearic Islands.<\/p>\n
“What we want” is to highlight “Mediterranean culture”, with “the good life, gastronomy, partying”, something “very attractive” for customers, Escarrer added.<\/p>\n
Consulted by journalists, Nadal guaranteed that this project does not mean that his sports career is coming to an end. “I try to make the withdrawal as late as possible,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n