Carmen Riu has decided to retire as co-CEO of Spanish-based RIU Hotels & Resorts. Nearly 70, she will depart before summer, leaving her executive and institutional representation roles at company, where she currently shares her position with her brother Luis Riu, who will now continue as the company’s sole CEO.

Riu will remain Chair of the Group’s Governing Board in order to strengthen corporate governance. All members of the fourth generation of the Riu family have now also joined the body, marking the beginning of generational handover at RIU Hotels, a process that will be led by the family through the Group’s governing bodies.

Carmen Riu began her professional career at RIU in 1977 as manager of the hotel Riu Bali in Playa de Palma, Mallorca. Prior to that, she had worked in various hotel departments during her time as a trainee in the family business, which was founded in 1953.

In 1978, she took the reins of the human resources department, a responsibility that expanded to include administration and finance in 1981. To take on these new responsibilities, Carmen supplemented her bachelor’s degree in economics and business studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with several postgraduate courses in family business and human resources management.

After the death of her father Luis Riu Bertrán, in 1998 she was appointed CEO alongside her brother Luis Riu Güell, forming a management tandem that has been responsible for the RIU Hotels & Resorts chain’s international growth and consolidation over the last 25 years.

Riu leaves the company at a good time for the tourism sector, having recovered from the worst crisis in its history caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her last major project was the launch of the Proudly Committed strategy to get RIU Hotels & Resorts ready to face the challenges of the future by placing sustainability at the heart of all the company’s decisions.