Happy Days for Cendant group
Rapidly expanding hotel franchisor Cendant Hotel Group Europe has signed deals to open four new Days Inn and Days Hotel properties in England.
The group plans to open the 53-bedroom Days Hotel Birmingham East and the 50-bedroom Days Inn Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, in June and July respectively. The 80-bedroom Days Inn Haverhill in Suffolk and the 102-bedroom Days Inn Nuneaton in Warwickshire will open in March next year.
The group also has plans to open a new-build property in Luton, Bedfordshire, by early 2005, with a 117-bedroom hotel in Manchester due to open shortly. Other targets include Sheffield, Cambridge, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Having started the year with just 28 hotels in the UK, Cendant currently has 34 and plans to have reached 60 by the end of the year.
"We need to get critical mass and be able to compete with our peers," said Belinda Atkins, director of operations Cendant Hotel Group Europe. "Days is part of Cendant, which has 6,500 hotels in the USA. The group is keen to develop but has reached saturation in the USA, so it needs to develop overseas."
According to industry leaders Cendant's expansion into the UK offers hotel franchisees a good alternative.
Jonathan Langston, managing director of consultant TRI Hospitality, said: "The market for branded accommodation continues to grow and Days is well placed to take advantage of that through a network of franchisees."
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 8 - 14 April 2004
