A Sabadell company to build its first luxury hotel in Morocco
A Sabadell-based company located in Vallès Occidental in Barcelona, Spain, decided to set up a tourism project in Morocco. The company chose to write its name in the history of the southern neighbour's tourism sector by building a hotel in the Erg Chebbi area southeast of the city of Erfoud.
- The Xaluca Dunes Hotel
- The Hotel Xaluca Midelt
- Morocco: an attractive destination on the rise
- Xaluca (Chaluca) Morocco
Lluís Pont, the founder of the Xaluca hotel group, whose hotels are located in Morocco, is preparing a new luxury hotel in Merzouga. It is the first five-star accommodation officially recognised as such in the Erg Chebbi desert and will be inaugurated at the end of 2024.
Grup Xaluca is a Spanish-Moroccan family business with more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality business in the Maghreb country. It is the well-known family travel agency with one foot in Catalonia and the other in Erfoud.
The company is distinguished by two strong points: first, its pioneering specialisation in southern Morocco, where it will build the Xaluca Midelt and Xaluca Dunes hotels. Secondly, its social side by dedicating 10% of its profits to social projects in the region (schools, clinics, water wells, etc.).
Pont laid the first brick of the company in Morocco, starting with a hostel in front of the dunes of Merzouga. Thirty years later, he accumulated a range of projects and investments in the Sahara. Most recently, it has opened a mountain resort and plans to build two five-star hotels in other regions of the country.
The Xaluca Dunes Hotel
The Xaluca Dunes Hotel will be the first five-star hotel in the Erg Chebbi desert, certified by the Moroccan Tourist Office. The romantic concept of the project will take visitors to the mythical city of Timbuktu (in Mali) and its mud architecture that will exude Africa in its purest form.
It is an ambitious project that promises to be the first luxury hotel in the heart of the Erg Chebbi dunes in Morocco. This five-star hotel will offer visitors a unique experience in the heart of the Moroccan desert.
The Xaluca Dunes represents a major breakthrough for both the Xaluca Group and the wider region, through its commitment to sustainable development and the unique and memorable experience for visitors from all over the world who come to Morocco to discover the magic of the great Erg Chebbi desert.
The Hotel Xaluca Midelt
Xaluca is planning another hotel in the Midelt region, between the cities of Fez and Erfoud. With an adventurous spirit, the company is committed to a new offer presented in an area that is currently little visited.
Located in the heart of the breathtaking landscape of the Moroccan High Atlas, the Xaluca Midelt Hotel is another of the Xaluca Group's most exciting projects in Morocco. It is a high mountain hotel that promises to be one of the finest accommodations in the Midelt region.
The project is not just a high quality hotel in the region, but also a commitment to the responsible economic development of the area by creating jobs for the local population.
The businessman from Sabadell insists on the importance of respecting the surroundings, the environment and the customs and not to provide the typical decontextualised service, but to go deep into Africa.
Morocco: an attractive destination on the rise
Thanks to Morocco's growing popularity as a tourist destination, the Xaluca company was able to expand and develop resources locally. Now, it is going for another level of service, luxury, with the aim of distinguishing itself from the competition on the one hand, and attracting quality tourism on the other.
Morocco's attractiveness as a tourist country is growing to become a real destination of choice for many tourists from all over the world. The Moroccan Ministry of Tourism announced that in 2022 the country welcomed some 11 million tourists, while in 2023 the figure grew by 36% thanks to the postcovid recovery.
Tourism demand also translates into the need to develop quality infrastructures and improve connectivity in its different aspects.
Recently, the Vallée firm inaugurated its new accommodation, the Hotel Xaluca Spa Aguelmame Sidi Ali, located on the shores of the Sidi Ali lake in Midelt in the middle of the centenary cedar forests.
It used to be a hunting and fishing lodge. However, the idea of the professionals of the Sabadell-based company and local collaborators was to transform it into a high mountain "boutique hotel" open to hundreds of travellers looking for a comfortable and luxurious stay for their rest.
Xaluca (Chaluca) Morocco
Xaluca has several hotels and campsites in Morocco, particularly in the south of the country with a capacity of over a thousand beds.
It is a small empire that is gaining ground in the Moroccan tourism sector, including a travel agency in Barcelona, organisation of events, as well as investing in the rental of private planes to travel directly to the desert.
The curious thing is that all the staff also speak Spanish, although they are of local origin. Moreover, the basic materials used in the construction of Xaluca's tourist accommodations were sourced locally, such as stone, wood, bricks and rough cement, among others.
The hotels are located in the desert, but guarantee tourists a remarkable level of comfort. Building in such a remote and isolated place, where everything has to be brought from far away, was the challenge that the company managed to overcome; giving rise to establishments of "rustic luxury" with an oasis inside.
With comfortable bathrooms, pleasant beds, varied and well-seasoned food and a Hamman with all kinds of treatments, the Xaluca offers its guests the best services and extraordinary hospitality to make their stay as comfortable as possible.