Growth above Plan
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Growth above Plan
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Category: Worldwide
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2007-05-30
Maritim Hotels turnover and operating results 2006 with good increases, expansion abroad and domestically continues
Maritim Hotels have improved their results yet again during the year 2006. With 378 million Euros the total turnover was some 41 million Euros above the previous year's figure. At the same time the GOP improved by nearly 20 million Euros, underlining once more the stable returns for the second-largest German hotel company. The 46 hotels operated by Maritim - nine of them outside Germany - were able to increase their occupancy by one percent point to 57 percent. At the same time the average room rate was raised to 83.32 Euros (previous year 78.32). The RevPAR consequently rose by 3.68 Euros on the previous year.
The positive results of the year 2006 were supported by the opening of the Maritim Hotel Dresden in May and the excellent results of the adjoining International Congress Center Dresden which opened two years before. The hotels in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Darmstadt, Cologne and Mauritius also performed particularly well. The FIFA World Cup in Gemany in June had an additional positive effect. Maritim was FIFA partner with 16 hotels and through this was able to generate an extra turnover of twelve million Euros, as planned.
In the business travel sector the market has further stabilized. The overall turnover in the Maritim core segment of "meetings and congresses" could thus be increased by 18.6 percent compared to the previous year. The city hotels, which have strong bookings in this sector, achieved an above average F&B turnover growth of 10.3 percent.
Further International Expansion
The international expansion is moving more and more into the focus of the company strategy. Recently, Maritim got involved for the first time with important projects in the congress and hotel business in Egypt. On the 1st of April, 2007, the company took over the Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort and the neighbouring Sharm El Sheikh International Congress Center. The now called Maritim Royal Peninsula Hotel & Resort is laid out very generously and consists of 17 bungalow style buildings that incorporate 337 elegant rooms and suites. If required these can be combined to form 24 large suites. Thus the luxury hotel is able to offer suitable accommodation for government delegations and large families. The neighbouring Maritim Sharm El Sheikh International Congress Center opened at the beginning of 2006. It comprises of a large hall measuring 2,200 square metres and accommodating up to 2,000 people. An additional eleven meeting rooms and further six VIP board rooms are available for smaller meetings. The congress centre is equipped with the latest in conference technology. On May 4th and 5th, 2007, the International Conference of Foreign Ministers on Iraq's security took place here.
Already in March, contracts were signed for three further five-star resorts in Egypt. As of January, 2008, the Maritim Jolie Ville Golf & Resort Sharm El Sheikh (418 rooms and an 18 hole PGA championship golf course), the Maritim Jolie Ville Resort & Casino Sharm El Sheikh (396 rooms) and the Maritim Jolie Ville Luxor Island Resort (332 rooms) will join the hotel group. The resort in Luxor is only six kilometres away from the antique Valley of the Kings and the temples of Karnak and Luxor, and the hotels in Sharm El Sheikh are both located directly on the Red Sea coast.
Last December, HMS International Hotel GmbH, which is associated with Maritim, signed a management contract for a new 4-star-plus hotel in Majorca, the Maritim Hotel Galatzó near Paguera in the south-west of the popular holiday island. The hotel will comprise of 184 rooms and suites. It is located on a hill in a subtropical garden with pools and a view of the Bay of Santa Ponsa and Paguera. The hotel was erected in 1972/73 in the style of a Spanish manor and will open in autumn 2007 after an extensive renovation period.
Further contracts were signed for resorts in Turkey: the five star hotel Grand Azur in Marmaris (287 rooms) has been run as a Maritim Hotel since January, 2007, and Club Alantur in Alanya (284 rooms with a planned expansion to 355 rooms) joined Maritim in May. Both were previously operated as Iberostar hotels. Including the Maritim Hotel Pine Beach Resort in Belek, Maritim is now represented in Turkey with three hotels. Under a franchise agreement with HMS Maritim also runs two hotels in Tunisia (Djerba 332 rooms, Hammamet 184 rooms). A further resort is presently being built in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, Spain. It will open in 2008 and operate as Maritim Beach Resort & Suites. Further resort locations of interest are currently being negotiated.
Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf: largest congress hotel in Northrhine-Westfalia
In Germany, Maritim is now establishing itself in the last strategically significant locations. After opening the largest congress hotel in the centre of Berlin in 2005 and the spectacular Maritim Hotel Dresden in the historic Erlweinspeicher building in 2006, the latest mega project is now approaching its completion: the Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf, the first Maritim Hotel in the capital of Northrhine-Westfalia. The hotel is ideally located at the airport with direct access to the terminal. The topping out of the hotel was celebrated in March, the opening will be in December 2007. The hotel will comprise of 533 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a sushi bar, a bistro, a beer tavern, a bar, a VIP lounge and a wellness area. In two large halls and 21 further conference rooms and meeting suites, events for up to 5,000 participants can take place on a total conference area of 6,000 square metres. Thus, the hotel will be the largest congress hotel in Northrhine-Westfalia.
New Market Segment Hospital Patients' Hotel
In February, Maritim signed contracts for the first hotel of a totally new product line: a hotel for hospital patients. With this innovative idea Maritim is expanding into a new market segment. The University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Lübeck on the Baltic coast is partner in the project. With an investment of 19.5 million Euros, a three-star-plus hotel with 120 rooms, a reception area, a restaurant/bistro, a bar and meeting rooms will be erected on the hospital grounds. The hotel will be planned by Maritim and also managed by it after its opening in 2009. A variety of target groups will profit from this new facility: patients who are in a phase of recuperation and no longer require intense medical treatment, ambulant patients and friends and families who come to visit. The patients' hotel will be an integral part of the hospital and at the same time offer all the commodities of a hotel.
Expectations for 2007
For the current business year Maritim expects a turnover growth of a good 2.5 percent (without franchise hotels). The new Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf, which will add to the results in December, and the ongoing high demand for the International Congress Centre Dresden (operated by Maritim) and for the halls of the new Maritim Hotel Berlin will substantially contribute to this increase. Furthermore, Maritim benefitted substantially from the Handball World Cup in Germany last January. At nine tournament locations Maritim hotels hosted the players' teams. After a good start into the year and because of the high amount of advance bookings it can be assumed that the set targets will be met.
With currently 48 hotels, Maritim Hotelgesellschaft is ranked among the leading German hotel chains. Eleven of the hotels are abroad in Belek, Marmaris and Alanya (all Turkey), Djerba and Yasmine Hammamet (Tunisia), Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), Malta, Mauritius, Riga (Latvia) and Tenerife. As marketing and sales partner of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc Maritim is represented worldwide. The strong position of Maritim Hotelgesellschaft within the European first class hotel market will be strengthened further by continual growth.
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