MONTREAL — Transat A.T. Inc. has made its first step towards the goal of opening its own hotels with the announcement that it has purchased land in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

The stretch of land, located in Puerto Morelos on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, is ideally situated midway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, some 20 kilometres from Cancun International Airport.

In addition, the company has entered into a promissory agreement to purchase a second adjacent property for a total consideration of between US$54 and $57 million to build a new beachfront resort.

The agreement is subject to certain usual conditions and is anticipated to close on or around Nov. 1, 2018.

“We are very pleased with these transactions in a prominent Mexican tourism market,” said Transat President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Eustache. “This is just the beginning: we are continuing our exploratory work with the objective of finding attractive land or hotels that we can acquire or manage. Our company’s future growth will be built on hotel development and, obviously, the strength of our leisure travel business.”

First announced in July 2017 following the sale of its minority 35% interest in Ocean Hotels, Transat’s new hotel division will include some 5,000 owned or managed hotel rooms at its main Sun destinations by 2024.