The year 2019 was a watershed moment for RIU, due to the major role that corporate social responsibility has taken on at the chain. RIU wants to honestly acknowledge CSR and implement its principles in a cross-cutting way throughout the organisation. To achieve this, the company has implemented a new method that allows decisions on social investment in the destinations to be made on the basis of objective and scientific criteria. There has also been a substantial increase in investments in social and environmental projects, which will reach 2.27 million euros in 2020.
In this way, RIU is now a pioneer in the use of a social innovation method that so far has only been applied in international cooperation. Furthermore, in each country, the investment in social development is linked to the turnover in its destinations in order to make that investment proportional.
This mode of operation was launched in Costa Rica in 2018, where it gave rise to the Artola Paediatric Clinic project, which has been running since September 2019. The project’s aim is to serve the needs of children aged 0 to 14 in the Guanacaste province. RIU has undertaken the restructuring needed for this consultation and covered the staff costs that make this service possible. This project covers a specific need in this community and it is also aligned with RIU’s focus on health and childhood.
Another great example of where RIU has implemented this new method is in Mexico. Here, a specialised department for the treatment of child and teenage patients with cancer was launched in the northern region of the state of Quintana Roo. In addition, the hotel chain covers the cost of oncology treatments in the outpatient paediatrics department of Cancún General Hospital. In this destination, RIU has also launched a reef restoration project which includes the construction of coral nurseries. The purpose of this is to increase the potential resilience and adaptability of coral reefs and to foster the recovery of associated species.
The hotel chain is continuing to work to offer its customers the best services, whilst at the same time generating development opportunities that respect the communities it invests in. RIU ended the year 2019 with 99 hotels in 19 countries, adding up to a total of 47,982 rooms and 95,970 beds. RIU’s team of professionals is made up of 31,270 employees who served more than 4.9 million customers over the year. Its revenue amounted to 2.24 billion euros.
The international RIU chain was founded in Mallorca by the Riu family in 1953 as a small holiday firm and is still owned by the family's third generation. The company specialises in holiday resorts and over 74% of its establishments offer its acclaimed All Inclusive by RIU service. With the inauguration of its first city hotel in 2010, RIU is expanding its range of products with its own line of city hotels called Riu Plaza. RIU Hotels & Resorts now has 98 hotels in 21 countries. In 2024, the chain welcomed 6,7 million guests and provided jobs for a total of 38.055 employees. RIU is currently the world's 40th ranked chain, one of the Caribbean's most popular, and the fourth largest in Spain in number of rooms.