This year sees Iberostar Group celebrate 70 years in tourism: after delivering over £2 billion in managed revenues in 2025, CEO Sabina Fluxá has made "a firm commitment to investing," with chief commercial officer Finn Ackerman unpacking the role that the UK (and travel agents specifically) have played in the company's "massive" market growth
That £2 billion figure represented an 8.7% year-on-year increase against 2024 and contributed to cumulative growth of over 60% over the past three years. Towards the end of last year, Travel Bulletin spoke to Iberostar's chief commercial officer, Finn Ackerman; he unpacked the UK growth specifically. "Over the last two years, [the UK market] has been thriving. In 2024, we grew 25%, and in 2025, we've grown more than 20% on top of that... a massive achievement.
"That is underlying all our conversations with our partners; everybody's very happy, because everybody is participating in that growth. It's a really positive ambience as we look into 2026. We are seeing double-digit growth for 2026 just based on the business we have on the books."
Iberostar Group's vice-chairman and CEO, Sabina Fluxá, echoed that sentiment, affirming "the strength of a model geared towards profitable growth and a long-term vision."
The group's long-term vision is central to Iberostar Hotels & Resorts (one of the two businesses falling under the Group umbrella) and its Wave of Change programme, which identifies seven focus areas for sustainable development.
While the Wave of Change strategy is ongoing, major strides were made last year: waste sent to landfill was down by over 80% against 2021, 93% of fish and seafood from all resorts came from responsible sources (with resorts in Spain, Mexico and Portugal already hitting 100% sustainable seafood sourcing), and over 400 apprentices were trained as part of its youth employment scheme.
Ackerman put that signature sustainability at the forefront of the discussion. "Sustainability is not really a new thing for us; it is something that has been in our DNA basically forever.
"It is true that since 2016/17, we have been talking more about it, and we have accelerated our activities since then... we are 100% family-owned, and one of the daughters (Gloria Fluxà ) of our chairman, Miquel Fluxà Rosselló, is our chief sustainability officer. So it's literally in our DNA as a brand."
With Great British cynicism often desperate to dismiss such efforts as a mere marketing ploy, Finn iterated that, while it does differentiate the brand from others in the luxury and beachfront property space, "We don't really use [sustainability] as marketing: it is genuine, and something that we are very proud of. It's not that we sit down and think, 'How can we tell the market how great we are in terms of sustainability?'.
"With that approach being so genuine, I think there is a very high interest in what we do... that is an angle that is quite interesting especially for the trade: to be able to take that to customers and say, 'If you want to make a more sustainable choice, Iberostar might be the brand.'"
Iberostar's online training platform offers courses that provide an overview of the brand's properties and overall positioning, plus a dedicated sustainability course. Finn believes these resources form much of the confidence that top Iberostar sellers (such as those who earn Star Agent status on its IberostarPRO booking platform) exhibit.
"It seems like the industry gets a bit scared of the greenwashing allegation, which is obviously always out there. Agents and partners feel more comfortable speaking about sustainability when they know that we really did our job and really have something behind it... there is a lot more confidence with us."
Two more reasons to be confident will arrive in 2026: the brand's 'selective expansion' approach will see the addition of two five-star hotels: the 290-suite/villa Iberostar Selection Montenegro and its regional debut in East Africa with the Iberostar Selection Zanzibar.
Iberostar Hotels & Resorts' CEO Phil McAveety concluded the brand's look ahead to 2026. "We remain committed to excellence, the continuous transformation of our portfolio in prime beachfront locations, and the creation of experiences that generate lasting value for customers, employees, and communities."
