The festive season has arrived at our hotels with good news. The Spanish Government has recognised Rufino Calero Cuevas, president of Vincci Hoteles, with the Sustainability and Quality Medal for Merit in Tourism. The prize, awarded on the proposal of the Ministry for Industry, recognises his contribution in these areas to Spanish tourism. Rufino Calero, who has worked in the sector for over 50 years, was delighted with the award, noting that it comes just as we are about to celebrate our 15th anniversary, in 2016, and that our chain now has 35 hotels in Spain, Portugal and Tunisia, with more expected to open soon.
The entrepreneur said that since its creation “Vincci Hoteles has set itself a number of commitments in relation to respect for the society and the environment in which it carries out its business, with one of its main objectives the development of actions that help care for those places where its hotels are located”. This is set out in the Corporate Social Responsibility plan the company has put in place. The hotel chain, which has ISO 14001 certification, “uses quality management and environmental management at each of its hotels, identifying and complying with legal regulations at local, regional, state and EU levels in these areas, preventing, to the extent possible, pollution and promoting energy saving measures and measures to reduce the use of natural resources, as well as the reduction of waste”, says Rufino Calero. Moreover, “the company annually sets targets and objectives both across the chain and at each individual hotel”, says the president of Vincci Hoteles.
Rufino Calero’s story
Rufino Calero began his professional career in 1953 in Husa Hoteles, staying with the chain until 1958, the year in which he became Managing Director of the Hispanhotel chain. In 1961 he acquired his first hotel, in Zaragoza, the Hotel Gran Vía, the starting point of his entrepreneurial career. In 1965 he launched a new sector in the hotel industry, one that he finds highly enriching, high mountain and snowsports hotels, running the Hotel Edelweis in Candanchú for four years. He was then sought out by Arturo Estrada to create the Hotel Division of what was the first Spanish tour operator, OTA, and by 1975 was running 15 hotels. He then founded the company Tryp Hotels together with Max Mazín and Antonio Briones, which by the year 2000 had 80 establishments around the world, with over 30,000 beds. In 2001, together with his children, he founded the Vincci Hoteles chain.
With the guarantee of the experience of the Calero family, Vincci Hoteles has positioned itself in the luxury hotel sector with a different business model, with each project having its own special touch. Every one of the chain’s hotels is strongly focused on design, cutting-edge technology and the best staff, all organised using the very latest hotel management techniques. Every Vincci Hotel is located in a new or remodelled building, and is based on a principle of non-standardisation and respect for the personality of that hotel, through adaptation to its location and the local culture.
And now the chain has received one of the five Medals for Merit in Tourism awarded by the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Ministry for Industry, Energy and Tourism, in recognition of individuals and institutions, from Spain or elsewhere, that have provided services to innovation, promotion or the internationalisation of Spanish tourism.