Who is Bouygues, the French conglomerate that built Cuba’s Five-Star Hotels? Read on and you will find out.
By Miguel Alejandro Hayes Martinez (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – For more than 20 years, Cuban economic policy has concentrated its investments in the hotel industry. Additionally, external financing represents only a third of the investments, while the military conglomerate GAESA covers the rest.
Hotel investments translate into payments to companies responsible for building the structures. For this reason, the big winners of Cuban investment policy are the construction companies with which GAESA contracts. Notably, the top-rated hotels have been built by a single company. That company is Bouygues.
The Conglomerate
Bouygues S.A. is an industrial group based in France, founded in 1952 by Francis Bouygues, the leading construction entrepreneur in France, according to the newspaper El Pais.
According to Forbes, in 2022, Bouygues generated over $44 billion in revenue, a figure much higher than Toyota’s, illustrating the size of the French company. Bouygues operates in around 140 countries and owns companies in telecommunications, media, transportation, and construction. Some of the companies are:
- Bouygues Telecom: According to its website, it is a “comprehensive electronic communications operator.” It ranks third in the mobile phone market in France, with 23.2 million customers, 34.5 million cable Internet installations, and the ability to offer 4G to 99% of the French population. It is also a local leader in implementing the 5G network.
- TF1: As the “leader in French free-to-air television,” TF1 generated €2.297 billion in revenue in 2023 and had 2,888 employees in 13 countries, according to its official website. Currently, it owns eight French television channels.
- Equans: A cutting-edge company in the energy and services sector, generating nearly €18.8 billion and executing more than 800,000 projects annually. It has over 90 highly qualified employees and a strong presence in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, according to its official site.
- Colas: A subsidiary dedicated to building transportation routes, employing over 65,000 people with a presence in 50 countries across five continents. It operates more than 1,000 operational units and 3,000 production centers. It aspires to lead the sector. In 2023, according to its website, it generated €16 billion in revenue.
- Bouygues Immobilier: A company dedicated to “designing living spaces that consider all users and all scales: the project, the neighborhood, and the city.” It has 1,639 employees in France, Poland, Belgium, and Spain, 31 agencies, and four subsidiaries, according to its official site.
- Bouygues Construction: Employs over 32,000 workers in around 60 countries and generated €9.8 billion in revenue in 2023. According to Construcción Latinoamericana, a specialized
