Brierley expects Thistle to suffer

The investment company that controls Thistle Hotels said last week that it expected the terrorist attacks in the USA to cut sharply the number of potential hotel guests travelling to the UK across the Atlantic.

Brierley Investments added that the collapse of New Zealand-owned Ansett airline had also "thrown up new challenges" for the company.

Brierley has a 30% stake in Air New Zealand, which in turn owns Ansett.

Despite its concerns, Brierley said Thistle had made major progress during the year and had now brought its revenue per available room into line with its UK competitors.

But Brierley said that a combination of foot-and-mouth disease, the economic slowdown in the USA and the events of 11 September would cancel out much of the progress made. It added it would now look at "rebalancing" its hotel portfolio.

Last month, Thistle announced it had appointed hotel agents Robert Barry to look for buyers for five of its hotels. The hotels are reportedly worth £50m.