Nikko link-up bolsters sales for Le Meridien

Far east update

Nikko link-up bolsters sales for Le Meridien

Report by Lee Winter

Le Meridien claims its Far East business has gone from strength to strength since linking up with Tokyo-based Nikko Hotels six months ago.

Le Meridien and Japanese Airlines-owned Nikko Hotels joined forces in April to form a sales and marketing alliance aimed at boosting its business in the Far East market (Travel Weekly April 3).

Last Thursday the two chains held a meeting to discuss how the alliance had fared since its launch and to discuss future developments.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts sales development director for the Nikko partnership Andrew Jones said: “Within 24 hours of announcing the alliance on April 3 we had our first reservation. Since then it has gone from strength to strength.

“From Le Meridien’s perspective, our share of the Japanese market across all hotels is 9%. We want the business to grow 12% within two-three years.

“In just six months we’ve already increased trading to 10%. It is still early days but this association is a very long-term strategic alliance. There are a lot of other areas where we want to work very closely with each other.”

Agenda items at last week’s meeting included the introduction of joint strategies on purchasing and the appointment of Japanese guest relations managers.

“These will be based at hotels which have a large Japanese clientele using Nikko’s expertise,” Jones said.

The chains are also considering closer links between their Web sites and reservations systems.

For the first time, 22 Nikko Hotels will be included in Le Meridien’s World Wide programme bookable through agents.