Chains make room for branding

Hotel groups by Penny Russell

Chains make room for branding

Consolidation forces clarification on parent companies

IT’s hard enough keeping track of who owns what in the tour operator and agency world, so what chance have you got of finding your way around the labyrinth of hotel chain ownership?

Massive consolidation in recent years has led to the creation of huge, international groups that have numerous brands and sub-brands to their name.

Marriott, for example, purchased Renaissance Hotels in 1997 and now has more than 10 different brands. One of these, Ramada, has four sub-brands including Encore which was launched last month.

Starwood, which acquired Westin Hotels and Resorts in 1998, now has six different brands, including W Hotels which it launched in the same year.

Hotel groups argue that, from the customers point of view, it doesn’t matter who owns which brand.

A Marriott spokeswoman said:”As long as a brand’s integrity is maintained, customers shouldn’t need toworry about who the parent company is.”

Indeed, consumers often confuse hotel brands or refer to chains which have long since disappeared.

Despite Forte’s efforts to push its individual brands, Le Meridien, Posthouse and Heritage, consumers still often refer to those hotels as Forte hotels.

“Forte is very well known in the UK and we still have consumers who recall TrustHouse Forte, which has not existed for years,” said a spokeswoman.

When it comes to trade awareness, Forte has had better success thanks to recent efforts.

The group has launched an aid for agents called The Definitive Hotel Guide, which gives clear and simple descriptions of each of the group’s brands together with a breakdown of hotels in the UK and Europe in a simple table format.

Although the chain is keen to distinguish its brands to the consumer, it continues to work with the trade group wide.

Marriott runs a programme specifically designed to teach agents about its brands. Called Hotel Excellence, it is a free, self-study training programme which allows agents to become Hotel Sales Specialists and Marriott Preferred Travel Agents. This gives them access to agency rates, better commissions and other benefits.

A spokeswoman for the group said: “Outside the US, hotel companies have only just started to segment their product in the past few years so there is a learning curve to be climbed. Also, many agents have not concentrated on selling hotels, so their knowledge of this sector is not so strong.”

Starwood, which is a relatively new name for the UK market, claims that awareness of the Starwood group has increased from 30% a year ago to 80% today, thanks to face-to-face meetings held by the sales teams.

For the last three months, Starwood has been trialling a system on the global distribution systems where agents can use one code which encompasses all of the Starwood brands. The results of this trial are not yet known.

Director of sales and marketing Meenaz Lilani said: “Through our Starwood Preferred Guest programme, we have raised awareness of Starwood and our membership has increased from two million last year to five million today.”

Who owns what

Forte Hotel Group: Le Meridien; Posthouse; Heritage Hotels; London unbranded hotels (including The Regent Palace and the Cumberland Hotel); Travelodge. General agent helpline is 0345 40 40 41. GDS helpline is 0800 40 40 44. All of the brands are featured under the GDScode FE.

Marriott Lodging: Marriott Hotels Resorts and Suites; Ritz-Carlton; Renaissance Hotels, Resorts and Suites; Courtyard by Marriott; Springhill Suites by Marriott; Fairfield Inn by Marriott; Ramada International Hotels and Resorts (which includes Ramada Plaza, Ramada Hotel, Ramada Resort and Ramada Encore); Residence Inn by Marriott; TownePlace Suites; Marriott Executive Apartments; Marriott Vacation Club. Each brand has an individual code on the GDSs. The UK reservations number for all brands is 0800 221222. Commission is centralised.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts: W Hotels; Four Points; St Regis/Luxury Collection; Sheraton Hotels and Resorts; Westin Hotels and Resorts. One reservations number for all brands for agents and consumers: 0800 353535 plusindividual numbers for the brands. On all GDSs except Worldspan, the hotels are split by brand code – SI for Sheraton, St Regis, Luxury Collection, Four Points; WI for Westin; and WH for W Hotels. On Worldspan the brands can also be accessed by one code – SW.

Bass Hotels and Resorts: Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts; Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn; Express by Holiday Inn; Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn (based in the US); Holiday Inn Garden Court; Forum. There are individual telephone numbers and GDSs for each of the group’s brands.

Integrity is key: Marriott, which owns Residence Inn, is very keen to establish the separate identities of its brands

Fighting for an identity: above, Le Meridien Piccadilly, which is part of the Forte group and, below, the Rome Marriott

Launched in 1998: W Hotels is a Starwood brand