Type Hotel Group Headquarters Funchal, Portugal | Number of employees 6,000 Founded 1972 | |
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Industry Hotel Chain, Tourism, Hospitality Website Pestana Hotels & Resorts Subsidiaries Pousadas de Portugal, EuroAtlantic Airways Founders Jose Pestana, Manuel Pestana Profiles | ||
Pestana Group is the largest Portuguese tourism and leisure group, its hotel chain PH&R (Pestana Hotels and Resorts), has 91 hotels and more than 10,700 rooms. And since 2003, PH&R manages the Pousadas de Portugal.
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The firm's main activity is tourism, having also interests in industry and services. It manages hotel units in three different continents: Europe, South America, and Africa. The countries it serves on those continents are [in alphabetical order]: Argentina, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Africa.
The Pestana Group owns the Portuguese airline euroAtlantic Airways, and a stake in STP Airways, which is the national airline of São Tomé and Príncipe.
Besides the 38 hotels, the Pestana Group has six timesharing properties, three golf courses, two real estate/touristic properties, a gambling concession for a Casino, a participation in a charter airline, a travel agency and three Tour Operators.
The Pestana Group owns Empresa de Cervejas da Madeira, a company in Madeira island that produces and distributes Coral, Brisa and Laranjada, some of the top-selling local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
History
The Pestana Group was founded by José Pestana and his brother Manuel Pestana, when they acquired the Atlântico Hotel in 1965. A new five-star hotel was built in its place, the work was completed in 1972. When Jose Pestana retired he left control of the company to his son, Dionísio Pestana.
In 2003, the Pestana Group took over the management of the Portuguese Pousada chain Pousadas de Portugal, taking responsibility for more than 40 Pousadas in national territory.