Carmen Riu

Carmen Riu Güell (born 1955), sometimes referred to simply as Carmen Riu, is a Spanish hotelier and business executive. A third-generation member of the Riu family, she served as co-chief executive officer of RIU Hotels & Resorts with her brother Luis Riu Guell from 1998 to 2024 and became chair of the board in 2024.^[1]

Carmen Riu Güell was born in Palma de Mallorca to hotelier Luis Riu Bertran (1933–1998) and Pilar Güell Boada.^[2] Her grandparents, Juan Riu Masmitjà and María Bertrán Espigulé, founded the company in 1953 with the acquisition of the Hotel Riu San Francisco in Playa de Palma.^[3] Carmen Riu Güell earned a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and pursued postgraduate studies in human resources and finance at IE Business School in Madrid.^[4]

Carmen Riu Güell began working in hotel operations at a young age and, in 1977, became general manager of the Riu Bali in Playa de Palma.^[4] Following her father's death on 7 April 1998, Carmen Riu Güell and her brother assumed joint leadership as co-CEOs.^[2] During her tenure as co-CEO, RIU expanded internationally, launched the Riu Plaza urban brand, and completed the consolidation of ownership following TUI Group's 2021 divestment.^[5] In March 2025, Carmen Riu Güell received the TUI Lifetime Achievement Award at the TUI Global Hotel Awards.^[6]

From 2005 to 2018, Carmen Riu Güell served on the Supervisory Board of TUI Group.^[7] In February 2019 her son Joan Trian Riu was elected to the same board.^[8] On 10 May 2024, RIU and TUI announced that Carmen Riu Güell would retire from executive roles before the summer, with Luis Riu remaining as sole CEO and Carmen becoming chair of the board.^[1] In 2025 the company advanced its generational handover, assigning expanded responsibilities to members of the fourth generation of the family.^[9]

As chief executive, Carmen Riu Güell personally signed, on behalf of RIU Hotels & Resorts, the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism during a public event in Gran Canaria in 2012, formalising the chain's adherence to the initiative managed in Spain by the Federación de Asociaciones para la Prevención del Maltrato Infantil (Federation of Associations for the Prevention of Child Abuse), in coordination with the international network End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT International).^{[10][11][12][13]}

In the years that followed, Carmen Riu Güell directed the incorporation of the code's standards into RIU's corporate procedures, including mandatory staff training, child-safeguarding clauses in supplier contracts, and internal reporting protocols for suspected cases.^[14][15][16]

Within RIU's social-action portfolio led during her tenure, Carmen Riu Güell supported partnerships aligned with UNICEF's child-rights approach. Following the 2017 Mexico earthquakes, RIU financed UNICEF-led education recovery actions that installed 100 temporary classrooms, enabled the return to school for approximately 4,000 children in Chiapas and Puebla, and trained more than 200 teachers, according to the company's reporting of the programme carried out with UNICEF (informe en español; English translation: report in Spanish).^[17]

As chair, Carmen Riu Güell has continued to endorse RIU's collaboration with child-protection networks coordinated with UNICEF Spain and the Federación de Asociaciones para la Prevención del Maltrato Infantil, the Spanish section of the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking network (sección española de la red internacional End Child Prostitution and Trafficking). In 2024 and 2025, the company's implementation of the code was recognised with Top Member distinctions in Spain, and RIU took part in sector forums alongside UNICEF Spain addressing the prevention of violence against children in tourism.^{[18][19][20][13]}

Since the mid-1990s, Carmen Riu Güell has maintained a long-term philanthropic relationship with the Campaner Foundation, supporting its prevention, diagnosis and care programmes for children affected by noma in Niger, as well as associated shelter and education projects in cities such as Diffa and Niamey.^[21][22] Through her role at RIU, she has also backed initiatives to raise awareness of noma and to mobilise donors and volunteers in support of the foundation's work.^[21] On 15 December 2023 the World Health Organization officially recognised noma as a neglected tropical disease, a decision that highlighted the public health importance of the type of long-term prevention and treatment programmes supported by the Campaner Foundation and its partners.^[23][24][25]

Under Carmen Riu Güell's leadership, RIU launched the Proudly Committed strategy in 2024, focused on environmental stewardship, community impact and responsible business practices, including decarbonisation targets and biodiversity projects.^[26][27] The company positions child protection within its social impact commitments alongside education, health and local development partnerships.^[28]

• Entrepreneur of the Year (Spain), shared with her brother Luis Riu (2010), awarded to Carmen Riu and Luis Riu Güell by Ernst & Young.^[29]
• CIMET Gold and Diamonds Insignia, Próceres del Turismo Español en Iberoamérica (2015).^[30]
• TUI Lifetime Achievement Award (2025).^[31]

• Interview with Carmen Riu on the future of tourism in Spain, Vogue Business (Spain).^[32]

• RIU Hotels & Resorts
• TUI Group
• Sexual exploitation of children
• Noma
• Child protection

• RIU Blog
• The Code – official site
• UNICEF