Membership Group, WORLDHOTELS, Grows to 525 Hotels in 2005, Up 17%

WORLDHOTELS Announces 2005 Growth Numbers

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. October 14, 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 8, 2006. WORLDHOTELS, one of the leading global hotel groups for independent hotels and regional hotel brands, reports significant growth in 2005 in its year-end figures released today.

Global room revenue, generated for hotels appearing in both the 2004 and 2005 WORLDHOTELS portfolio ('same store hotels') increased by 16 percent, up to $194 million USD. From a geographic point of view, the generated room revenue increased in EMEA by nine percent, in the Americas by 19 percent, and in Asia-Pacific by 17 percent.

Global room night production for 'same store hotels' increased in 2005 by 14 percent, up to 1.1 million room nights. Of this figure, EMEA increased by eight percent, the Americas by 18 percent, and Asia-Pacific by 12 percent. The average room rate increased two percent over 2004 figures, reaching $175 USD in 2005.

WORLDHOTELS is also pleased to announce that its portfolio increased by 17 percent in 2005, reaching a total of 525 members. Of the 525, 357 of are based in the EMEA region, 87 in the Americas, and 81 hotels in Asia-Pacific. This was an addition of 27 hotels in the Deluxe collection, 43 in First Class and 9 in the Comfort collection.

In total, WORLDHOTELS generated global room revenues of $248 million USD in 2005, the global room night production was 1.4 million. WORLDHOTELS' growth reflects the successful implementation of a number of major initiatives, including the launch of its new brand identity, which positioned WORLDHOTELS as a global hotel group. As a result of this repositioning, WORLDHOTELS launched its own GDS Chain Code, WW, in July for independent member properties as part of the WORLDHOTELS master chain code EW - Exclusive WORLDHOTELS.

Another major initiative was the company's focus on enhancing its e-commerce activities and Web presence. In 2005, WORLDHOTELS generated 20 percent of its bookings via the Internet, and in response to this change in booking behaviour, WORLDHOTELS has set-up a global e-commerce team that focuses on partnering with key internet players and developing dedicated services and products, in order to further increase revenue via this channel.

WORLDHOTELS.training, a new service for WORLDHOTELS' members was launched in 2005 and provides access to the most up-to-date expertise in vital commercial areas such as sales, marketing, distribution, as well as revenue and yield management.

Commenting on the company's success, WORLDHOTELS' Chief Executive Officer, Michael Ball said: "2005 was one of the most important years in our 35 year history. WORLDHOTELS has achieved some incredible results for our members in respect of room night production and generated room revenue. In an increasingly complex and interconnected world we need to offer our member hotels much more than just reservations services in order to help them grow their business. Therefore we constantly seek to improve and broaden our product and service offering for our members."