Rezidor reports strong first quarter
Rezidor has reported a strong first quarter in 2008, despite a slowdown in the economy.
It said after adjusting for the negative impact of the early Easter break, the group showed a robust development of both revenue and EBITDA, compared to the first quarter of last year.
“As Rezidor’s revenue is strongly driven by business guests in the Nordics and the rest of Western Europe we were heavily impacted by the Easter holidays, as foreseen,” said president and CEO Kurt Ritter.
“Rezidor’s markets are in Western and Northern Europe as well as the emerging markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where the economic activity has been relatively strong.
“Despite slowing activity in the US and fear of a global slow-down, the hotel industry in our markets continued to grow in the beginning of the year.”
He said in order to secure profitable growth, Rezidor would continue to focus on expanding through fee-based contracts.
In the first quarter of this year, it opened 1,000 new rooms, all of them under managed or franchised fee-based contracts.
“We are aware of the turmoil on the financial markets and the continued uncertainties surrounding the global economy, which make it difficult to predict the market outlook for 2008,”Ritter added.
“We are confident of achieving our target of adding 20,000 rooms to operations from 2007 to year-end 2009, and believe that the ongoing shift in our business model driven by more fee based revenue will continue to support our EBITDA margin target.”
By:Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
All eyes on Qatar as Qatar Airways leads a season of global events