THISTLE Hotels is looking to increase its share of the corporate market with a series of new appointments in its marketing department.
The appointments follow a £60m upgrade, which included the installation of new technology to suit business clients.
Sales and marketing director Tony Dangerfield said he wants to increase the number of corporate guests from 45% to 50% of total bookings.
He said: “Our indicators are that, despite all the new technology people have at their fingertips, they are travelling more and meeting more and it’s up to us to make sure we have all the technology ready in our hotels and the ability for them to use their technology in our hotels.”
Thistle director of conference and incentive sales Alun Roberts has been appointed to the newly created position of director of corporate marketing and will be responsible for management of business partnership, corporate programmes and product development.
His previous role has been expanded, and filled by James Lee, formerly director of agency sales. Lee is now conference, incentive and agency sales director.
Natasha Skunca has joined the company as partnership marketing manager. She will assist Roberts in the management of key accounts such as British Airways and Air Miles. Nina Stewart has been appointed marketing executive.
Both join from outside the industry.
Thistle Hotels has 56 properties in city centres and countryside locations across the UK. It is the largest hotel operator in London with 23 hotels throughout the capital.
Occupancy levels are up by 4% over last year which is being attributed to Thistle’s recent refurbishment programmes.
However, fears of rising interest rates, prompted by expectations of rising gross domestic product, may translate into a drop in business expenditure. Coinciding with rooms out of commission due to refurbishments – as many as 100,000 room nights this year – market analysts predict this may have some negative results.