Hotel chain Sol Meliá has announced it made €4.6 million in profit during the first quarter of 2011, compared with €1 million in the same period in 2010.

Profits are the back of revenues of €293.7 million, compared with €258.5 million in the first quarter last year.

EBITDA at the chain grew by 28.9 per cent to reach €52.3 million, up from €40.6 million in the same quarter of 2010.

”The macroeconomic environment continues to offer signs of recovery, albeit at very different speeds depending on the region, and with continued risks associated to rising raw material prices (especially food, energy and oil), to the financial strains in the euro zone, and to the high levels of unemployment,” read a statement from the company.

Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) increased primarily due to the remarkable performance of the hotels in Latin America (especially Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic), the Canary Islands, with an increase of 24.7 per cent, and the major European cities (benefiting from the recovery of the business travel segment).

The average rate increased by 4.1 per cent overall, with increases in all brands and in 58 per cent of the hotels.