The booming Spanish market has prompted Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels to open a dedicated office in Madrid, Spain, centralising the firm`s activities for Spain and Portugal.

Both international and domestic investor interest in Spain has been stimulated by the strong performances of the major markets, notably Barcelona, Madrid and the Spanish resort markets over the past several years. “The active Spanish market is attractive to a wide array of international investors,” said Arthur de Haast, European Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. “In addition, hotel operators are opting for the sale leaseback structure, which we believe will attract institutional investors into the market, who have traditionally avoided the sector.

In 2000, the Spanish resort market has been the most actively traded. Of the 12 reported transactions completed, nine have been in resort locations. Currently Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is marketing the Los Zocos resort - a 324-unit, hotel and apartment-complex resort—on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

Coré Mart’n will head the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels team in Madrid. During the last three years he worked for Sol Meliá—first as an analyst in both the Marketing and Development Departments and, most recently, as head of Operational Analysis of the European Resort Hotel Division.

“Coré Mart’n`s knowledge and experience of the tourism market will complement our team,” said Nick Marsh, who currently leads the Spanish activities from Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels` London office. “Clients turn to us for consulting and transaction advice because we have local experts in cities around the globe. Coré is another example of that.”

Mart’n received his Batchelor`s degree in Tourism Studies from the Official School of Tourism in Madrid. He earned a Master`s Degree in International Hospitality Management from IMHI (Institut de Management H™telier International)—a program jointly coordinated by Cornell University and the French Business School Groupe ESSEC (Ecole Superieure de Sciences Economiques).

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