Luis Riu Guell

Luis Riu Guell
Born (1960-12-30) December 30, 1960
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
CitizenshipSpanish
OccupationsHotelier, business executive
Years active1980s–present
Known forInternational expansion of RIU Hotels & Resorts
TitleChief executive officer, RIU Hotels & Resorts
RelativesLuis Riu Bertran (father); Juan Riu Masmitjà (grandfather); Carmen Riu (sister)

Luis Riu Guell (also spelled Luis Riu Güell) born on 30 December 1960. He is a Spanish hotelier and business executive who serves as chief executive officer (CEO) and co-owner of the RIU Hotels & Resorts chain of hotels.[1][2] A third-generation member of the Riu family that founded the company in 1953, he has played a central role in its international expansion since the 1990s, particularly in the Caribbean and the Americas.[3][4]

Early life and education

Riu was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1960.[3][4] He grew up alongside his sister Carmen Riu, with whom he would later share executive responsibilities in the family company.[2][3] His grandparents, hoteliers Juan Riu Masmitjà and María Bertrán, together with his father Luis Riu Bertran, acquired the San Francisco hotel in Playa de Palma in 1953, laying the foundations of what would become RIU Hotels & Resorts.[5][3]

He studied business administration, graduating in business and management from the University of Barcelona before joining the family firm.[2][6][4]

Career

Riu began working in hotel operations within the family chain in the 1980s and later took on responsibilities linked to new openings and expansion projects.[1] In 1985, aged 25, he was involved in the opening of the Riu Palmeras in Gran Canaria, the company's first hotel outside the Balearic Islands and its first property in the Canary Islands.[7][2]

During the 1990s, RIU began an international expansion in the Caribbean and the Americas, starting with the opening of the Riu Taino in Punta Cana in 1991 and continuing in destinations such as Mexico, Jamaica, Aruba, the Bahamas and Costa Rica; Riu held management responsibilities during this phase of growth.[1][3] In 1993 the company deepened its partnership with the German tour operator TUI through the creation of the RIUSA II joint venture, which operates RIU-branded hotels.[3]

Following the death of his father in 1998, Luis and his sister Carmen Riu were appointed joint chief executive officers (consejeros delegados) of the company, marking the transition to the third generation of family leadership. Under their co-leadership, RIU expanded further in the 2000s and 2010s in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, and in 2010 it introduced the Riu Plaza urban-hotel line with the opening of the Riu Plaza Panama, later adding city hotels in Guadalajara, Berlin, New York City and Madrid, among other locations.[1][8]

The chain subsequently entered new markets such as Sri Lanka, Dubai and the Maldives, while continuing to develop large all-inclusive beach resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean.[3] By the mid-2020s RIU operated around 98 hotels in 21 countries, received approximately 6.7 million guests a year and employed more than 38,000 people worldwide.[9][4]

In 2021 the Riu family acquired the 49% stake that TUI held in Riu Hotels S.A., making the family the sole owner of the group's main property company.[2] In 2024 Carmen Riu retired from her executive and institutional duties, after which Luis Riu became the company's sole CEO in the context of what trade press and the company itself described as a generational handover that brought members of the fourth generation into senior management roles.[10][11] In 2025 further changes in the distribution of responsibilities among the fourth-generation family members were announced, while Luis Riu continued as sole CEO overseeing expansion, construction and refurbishment projects.[12][13]

Personal life

Riu is married and has three children.[4] Members of the fourth generation of the Riu family, including his children Luis, Naomi and Roberto, hold management posts within RIU's operations, finance and development areas, while his sister's children have also taken on executive responsibilities.[12][14]

Honours and recognition

Riu has received various distinctions from tourism and business organisations, often jointly with his sister and co-CEO Carmen Riu. A 2003 feature in the Spanish business magazine Dinero listed the siblings among the leading business owners of the year in Spain.[15]

In 2009 Riu received a Business Leader Award from the newspaper Jamaica Observer for his role in the development of Jamaica as a tourism destination through RIU's investments in the country.[16] In 2010 Carmen and Luis Riu were named winners of the Spanish edition of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award (Premio Emprendedor del Año 2010), organised in collaboration with IESE Business School and BNP Paribas; as national winners they went on to represent Spain in the global Entrepreneur of the Year competition.[17][18]

In 2015 the siblings received the Gold and Diamond Insignia (Insignia de Oro y Brillantes) of the Conferencia Iberoamericana de Ministros y Empresarios de Turismo (CIMET), which recognised them as Pioneers of Spanish Tourism in Ibero-America (Próceres del Turismo Español en Iberoamérica).[19][15] In 2016 Riu was nominated for the Hotelier of the World award presented by the industry magazine Hotels in the corporate category.[20]

In 2021 the trade publication Hosteltur gave Carmen Riu and Luis Riu its Tourism Personality of the Year 2021 award (Premio Hosteltur a la Personalidad Turística 2021), presented during the Fitur (International Tourism Fair) in Madrid.[21][22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "What's New with Riu". TravelAge West. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Nuñez, Emilia (28 May 2021). "Nombre del día: Carmen y Luis Riu, consejeros delegados de RIU Hotels & Resorts". Forbes España (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Álvarez, Raquel (2 October 2018). "RIU: la empresa familiar mallorquina que se erigió en un emporio hotelero". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Luis Riu: el hotelero que desafía las reglas del turismo global". Diario del Hotelero (in Spanish). 10 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  5. ^ Manresa, Andreu (9 April 1998). "Luis Riu Bertrán, empresario hotelero". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  6. ^ "El empresario Luis Riu queda libre de cargos en una investigación por presunta corrupción en EE UU". OKDIARIO (in Spanish). 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  7. ^ "History of RIU hotels in Gran Canaria". Canaria.Guide. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  8. ^ "RIU Hotels & Resorts is undergoing a generational handover". Travel Courier. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  9. ^ "RIU supera por primera vez los 4.000 millones de facturación y refuerza su apuesta por México". Cinco Días (in Spanish). 21 January 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  10. ^ "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 13 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Spain's RIU Hotels & Resorts is undergoing a generational handover". Travel Courier. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  12. ^ a b "RIU acelera la sucesión y reparte nuevas funciones entre los cinco miembros de la cuarta generación familiar". Cinco Días (in Spanish). 7 February 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  13. ^ "RIU Hotels & Resorts takes the next step forward in its generational handover". TravelPress. 17 February 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  14. ^ "Luis and Roberto Riu Rodríguez: key figures in the generational handover at the RIU Group". TUI Group. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  15. ^ a b Tanaka, Lucrecia (12 November 2025). "Luis Riu, del hotel familiar al liderazgo de una cadena global". Reporte Asia (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Luis and Carmen Riu — Tourism's game-changers". Jamaica Observer. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Carmen y Luis Riu ganan el Premio Emprendedor del Año 2010". Hosteltur (in Spanish). 19 February 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  18. ^ "España: Carmen Riu y Luis Riu reciben el premio "Emprendedor del Año" de Ernst & Young". Caribbean News Digital (in Spanish). 22 February 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  19. ^ "CIMET cumple 18 años". Nexotur (in Spanish). 6 January 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  20. ^ "Fiskers kan bli världens bästa hotelier". Travel News (in Swedish). 20 April 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  21. ^ Hinojosa, Vivi (20 January 2022). "Carmen y Luis Riu reciben el Premio Hosteltur a la Personalidad Turística". Hosteltur (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  22. ^ "Estar en Fitur". Última Hora (in Spanish). 28 January 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
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