Another boost to transformation in Magaluf: Meliá announces the opening of the Calvià Beach Plaza Hotel and Momentum Plaza, a 5,000m2 shopping centre that will open all year round

After 6 years of intense renovation in which Meliá Hotels International has invested almost 200 million euros, this summer Magaluf will see another momentous step forward in its transformation into a superior quality, more sustainable and more balanced destination with the presentation of the Momentum Plaza shopping centre promoted by the hotel company.

Momentum Plaza occupies almost 5,000 square metres of land on which the old Jamaica Hotel once stood (the hotel was demolished and has been replaced by the new, avant-garde hotel), converting the entire area into a 3,500 square meters open space with rest and recreation areas for residents and tourists alike a large modern shopping area which will host major international fashion and restaurant brands as well as attractive and innovative dining concepts. This demonstrates the company's commitment to the deseasonalisation of the destination, guaranteeing the opening throughout the year.

Within the huge block on which the hotel stands, between the Avenida de Magaluf and Calle S'Olivera, the company has built a large open plaza with sales and leisure facilities to be operated by prestigious brands which, in the words of Mark Hoddinott, company Vice President Real Estate, 'will be the place Magaluf was missing, a space to be used by both residents and tourists who will no longer have to leave Magaluf in the afternoon to find quality shopping and dining facilities, and a place that will also raise the bar for shopping in a destination which has suffered from a shortage of quality shops, extending the process that has been already started by, for example, La Vila shopping centre.'

For Hoddinott: 'With the advances already materialized in our hotels, in the La Vila shopping centre and others, plus more renovation projects in progress, residents and visitors to Magaluf can now enjoy quality facilities along an axis that runs from end to end. If in terms of hotel offer we can say that Magaluf has become a quality destination in more than 70%, our intention is that the transformation is also widespread in terms of complementary offer, so that new tourists who visit us enjoy of a complete experience in the destination.'

Prestigious brands and underground parking, keys to success

Momentum Plaza will begin operations with a firm commitment to extending the tourist season and keeping the hotel and shopping centre open throughout the year, thus providing continuity to activity and employment in a destination where currently hardly any businesses operate in the low season. As indicated by Beatriz Ley, the new Director of Momentum Plaza, 'as the promoters of the project, for us the residents of Magaluf and Mallorca are as important or even more important than tourists. To complement the good work already done by the La Vila shopping centre and Katmandu Park, Momentum Plaza will further enrich the superior quality facilities in a destination designed for all the residents of Mallorca, whatever the time of year, and, of course, to revitalize Magaluf for its own residents'.

To achieve this, the Plaza will feature several superior quality fashion, catering, sports and decoration brands and will also offer almost 200 underground parking spaces to accommodate both tourists and residents from other parts of the island. This is one of the biggest commitments by the company to ensure the viability and success of the shopping centre. As Hoddinott explains, 'building the car park has been the most expensive and complex part of the project, but a shopping and leisure centre like this with grand ambitions is not going to work without sufficient excellent quality parking spaces for customers'.

Meliá announced that it has already reached agreements for almost all the commercial premises with top quality brands such as Mango, Springfield, Women'secret, Alehop, Heymo, Italian Loft, Koala Bay, UDON, Starbucks, Tast, TGB, Vermutería, Rivareno and Infopoint, as well as Urban Food, an innovative market-gourmet concept with numerous different types of cuisine in a fresh and informal atmosphere similar in style to many such places that have already had great success in cities all over the world. According to the Director: 'Momentum Plaza aims to become the central Plaza for Magaluf, a new meeting point for residents and visitors that will combine shopping with an extensive programme of activities, entertainment and culture for 12 months of the year.'

A 'hanging' pool which is unique in Europe

The importance Meliá attaches to the transformation of Magaluf is shown in the Calvia Beach The Plaza, which replaces the old Jamaica Hotel which had been closed since 2008 due to structural problems and was demolished in 2016. The hotel is a fine example of avant-garde hotel architecture which combines innovative design and the optimization of space with improvements to accessibility and pedestrianisation, bringing it closer to the beachfront through the connection between S'Olivera Street and the Avenida de Magaluf.

To create an icon for the transformation of the destination, Meliá has installed a huge 'hanging' pool which is unique in Europe between the roofs of two of the buildings, with its transparent sides and bottom creating a spectacular sight from the street below and offering bathers magnificent views over the sea and the island of Sa Porrassa as if they were floating in the sea itself.

Finishing touch to the transformation of Magaluf

The transformation of Magaluf is a project that has been promoted by Meliá Hotels International since 2012, when its hotel and leisure facility renovation project was declared a 'Project of Autonomic Interest'. Since then, it has also received other awards such as the 'Tourism Merit Award for the Renewal of Mature Destinations'. With the new hotel and the Momentum Plaza centre, (the 'icing on the cake' as explained by its managers) Meliá Hotels International addresses this 2018 season the last phase of its extensive performance in Magaluf.

Over the last 7 years, the company led by Gabriel Escarrer has invested almost 250 million euros with other international partners to modernise and raise quality levels in hotels and complementary facilities (shopping centres, restaurants, beach clubs and other leisure facilities) and extend the season to nine months by attracting more family and adult travellers and promoting diversification by focusing on the MICE and sports tourism segments as a complement to holidaymakers.

One of the basic premises for the entire project was the need to improve security, visitor behaviour and the reputation of the destination, which had suffered from a progressive decline over recent decades. This was made possible thanks to a magnificent public-private partnership that the Meliá management team stressed, at the same time demanding greater efforts in the modernization of public spaces, small businesses and urbanisation through greater investment.

As Gabriel Escarrer, Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, explains, 'the opening of the new hotel and Momentum Plaza is the last major milestone of a very bold project which is very closely linked to our family and our origins, to return to Magaluf the prestige and quality that it had lost. After seven years of activity and major investments, I can now say that we are extremely proud of the changes that have been seen in the destination, which is once again sustainable for its community and attractive for investors and small and large companies, such as the ones we have attracted to the new shopping centre, which would have been unthinkable only 5 or 6 years ago'.

Regarding the rest of Magaluf's commercial and leisure offer, the benefits that Momentum Plaza will bring will be the creation of a commercial critical mass, parking facilities, and communication, Social Networks and Marketing campaigns that will attract quality customers to the destination. Far from competing with the rest of the shopping opportunities in the area, the company is convinced that the arrival of prestigious new brands (as is the case with the La Vila shopping centre which has been operating successfully for some years) will 'drive up' the area with a positive effect on small businesses, in the same way that its other investments in the area in recent years triggered the opening of numerous beach clubs and superior quality bars and the progressive abandonment of businesses which were obsolete or inappropriate for a quality tourism destination.