The president of the Mallorca-based Iberostar Group, Miguel Fluxà, has been named Forbes magazine's CEO of the year in Spain. This is in recognition of his contribution to the internationalisation of Spanish hotel companies and for having sealed an alliance with the InterContinental Hotels Group. He will receive the award at an event at the Mandarin Oriental Ritz Hotel in Madrid on May 4.
Fluxà, 84, is a member of a family business dynasty that dates back to 1877 and to when Antoni Fluxà established a footwear business in Inca. Camper and Lottusse are two of the Fluxà family brands. Diversification into tourism started in 1956 with the acquisition of the Viajes Iberia travel agency. Alliances were formed with leading tour operators in Europe and North America at a time, as Fluxà recalls, "when not many people understood what tourism was going to mean for Spain". "Some excellent businessmen, for example, didn't see the phenomenon of tourism coming. They didn't invest in this business, despite having had the cash, the possibilities and good contacts."
The Iberostar Group was founded in 1986 and the internationalisation of the hotels began in 1993, with the opening of the Iberostar Bávaro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It now has more than 100 establishments in 16 countries.