In the mid-1990s, upscale travelers were splurging on stays at top-of-the-line hotels, knowing that luxury was worth the cost. Hotel companies were splurging, too.
In October 1994, ITT Sheraton completed its purchase of Italy’s luxury hotel group Ciga for US$535 million. That portfolio, rebranded the Luxury Collection, included the Imperial in Vienna, voted the best hotel in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in 1994.
That year also saw the U.K.’s Forte buying Le Meridien from Air France. Thailand’s Dusit Hotels and Resorts bought Germany’s Kempinski. Singapore’s Beaufort bought a 50% interest in the Monte Carlo-based Rafael Group. In 1995, Marriott International bought Ritz-Carlton in two installments; the merger totaled 931 hotels and 195,000 rooms.
Why the shopping spree? Besides adding the luster of a brand-name luxury chain to their portfolio, hotel companies could increase their global reach and enter the resort market before prices rose too high.
There were practical reasons, too: “We have achieved a size that makes it possible for us to overcome the economic issues that challenge most superior hotels,” Sheraton President Daniel Weadock said in HOTELS’ May 1995 issue.
Marriott had a simpler reason: “It’s easier to market 900 hotels than 30,” said Carlson Hospitality President Juergen Bartels.
It’s HOTELS’ 50th anniversary, and we’re celebrating by bringing you a “throwback” every Thursday. Have a memory? Add it to the comments.