Steigenberger plots international expansion
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German hotel chain Steigenberger Hotels has announced it will continue its expansion plans as the number of Brits that stay in its hotels grows.
Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Steigenberger told Travel Daily the group has 13 hotels in the pipeline across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, with its current portfolio of 85 hotels running at healthy occupancies.
New openings will include four hotels in China, with the first opening in Beijing (the Maximillian) on 1 December, followed by others in the likes of Chengdu and Halong Bay.
Development will also continue in the Middle East and Egypt, with the group opening a new hotel in the latter on Friday.
The new Hotel Makadi, previously operating under the Jaz Hotel brand, has 83 rooms with facilities including an 18-hole and nine-hole golf course, two restaurants and a bar.
In a pre-WTM chat with Travel Daily, Puneet Chhatwal CEO of Steigenberger said it is important the company, and others, maintain a presence in the country for when the political situation settles.
“It is the right time for businesses to pick up projects in Egypt now and the country needs to evolve,” he explained. “We have been there for many years and our shareholder is Egyptian so I think we have more insight into the market and like to leverage that.”
Elsewhere a Steigenberger-branded hotel will also be opened in spring 2014 at Berlin’s main train station, where the company’s InterCity brand recently debuted and has been running 80% full.
“We have seen a 15% growth in rooms in the last year with some flagship additions to our brands,” said Chhatwal. “Around 85% are managed by us but we want to increase the franchise agreements we have in place moving ahead.”
He remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ for the year ahead as rates remain stagnant but booking volumes increase.
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