PARIS Louvre Hotels Group, the newly-named organization comprising Starwood Capital Group’s merged Louvre Hôtels and Golden Tulip Hotels, expects to open 80 properties this year. The company aims to average 100 hotel openings per year for the next five years.
Louvre Hotels is looking to consolidate its position in Europe, where it is the second largest operator, and to better position itself in what it views as the top five emerging country markets—India, Brazil, China, Ukraine and Morocco.
Of the 80 hotels slated to open this year, most of which will be in Europe and Asia, 20 have already opened, including seven in France, four in India and three in Brazil.
Louvre Hotels has six properties open in India, with the goal of adding a dozen there by 2016. In Ukraine, Louvre Hotels plans to open six hotels by early 2013. And in Brazil, a franchise partnership with Brazil Hotel Group for the Golden Tulip brand has propelled the company from number six to number three in just three years.
Starwood Capital acquired Golden Tulip Hotels in 2009, and the company has been effectively operating as a combined entity with Louvre Hôtels since then under the Groupe du Louvre monicker. However, the Louvre-Golden Tulip merger has only recently become official, with the combined company taking the Louvre Hotels Group name.
In the most recent HOTELS’ 325 ranking of the world’s hotel management and franchise companies, Louvre Hotels Group ranked 12th.
Over the past 18 months, substantial work has been done to reposition the brands: new concept of renovation implemented within 35% of Première Classe’s network, implementation of the “Campanile Nouvelle Génération” concept among 25% of the brand’s hotels; launch of “Bed Blitz” (in 100% of hotels) and of “Buffet Blitz” (in 80% of hotels) harmonization of the Kyriad’s network – whose brand in 2010 celebrated its 10 year history, as well as the renovation of 30% of hotels in 2 years redefinition of the fundamentals of the Golden Tulip brands.
Louvre Hotels Group operates seven hotel brands: the economy Première Classe, the budget Campanile, the select-service Kyriad, the midscale Kyriad Prestige, the midscale Tulip Inn, the upscale Golden Tulip and the luxury Royal Tulip.