WORLDHOTELS' Annual Conference in Baltimore
Independent Hoteliers from Across the Americas Attend Event
BALTIMORE, MD, March 3, 2008. WORLDHOTELS, the hotel group for independent hotels and regional hotel brands, hosted its annual conference for the Americas' region at the Tremont Plaza Hotel and Tremont Grand in Baltimore. The meeting was attended by 125 member hoteliers, corporate staff and business partners from throughout North, Central and South America.
During key note addresses, Michael Ball, president and CEO of WORLDHOTELS, and Tom Griffiths, vice president of WORLDHOTELS-the Americas, provided details of the company's global and regional business results for 2007. They also introduced the company's new Performance and Revenue Optimization (PRO) service.
'On a global level, we achieved our fifth record year of growth adding over 80 new hotels and attaining revenue figures over the $300 million mark for the first time in our history,' said Ball. 'Also, we realized a same-store revenue increase of 13% and 14% growth in room night production over the previous year's figures, while boosting our average room rate to USD $196. Over the last five years, our room night production is up 45%, our average daily rate has increased 31%, and generated revenue is up more than 84%.'
Griffiths went on to say that in the Americas' region, revenues were up 11% in 2007, room nights increased by 7%, and the average room rate grew to USD $184. The company also achieved a 46% jump in group sales. Currently, WORLDHOTELS' global portfolio consists of nearly 500 hotels in 300 destinations and 70 countries. It is the 11th largest hotel group in the world.
In addition, Ball announced details of the organization's new Performance and Revenue Optimization initiative, which was developed in response to the growing demand for hoteliers to establish robust pricing strategies, sophisticated yield management concepts and revenue maximization policies - business tasks that are typically challenging for individual hotels to manage.
'The dynamics of hotels sales have undergone a virtual revolution in recent years,' said Ball. 'Our PRO team will offer member hotels the latest information and best means for benefiting from current and emerging industry opportunities.'
The WORLDHOTELS' annual conference for the Americas is one of three regional meetings held so far this year. In January, the EMEA conference was held in Madrid, Spain, and the APAC region gathered in Kuala Lumpur. To learn more, visit worldhotels.com.
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