Holiday Inn sets stiff target for growth

HOLIDAY Inn Worldwide has set for itself an aggressive goal of operating 3,000 hotels by the end of 1998.

The USA-based franchised hotel system has been developing hotels at a furious pace over the past 15 months, with one new hotel opening on average every other day.

Currently, Holiday Inn Worldwide has 1,800 hotels, with a total of 340,000 bedrooms, in 50 countries. Since the beginning of its current financial year, which began on 1 October 1993, the company has added 54 hotels; 48 in the Americas and six in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (its EMEA division).

Bryan Langton, chairman and chief executive of Holiday Inn Worldwide, said his growth strategy reflected the strength of Holiday Inn's value for both franchisees and consumers.

"As the best-known hotel brand in the world, Holiday Inn has a bold global goal to continue to pursue development opportunities and explore new markets," he said.

A new yield management system has been piloted at 50 hotels in the USA and has shown that room revenue can gain about 2-3%, which is equivalent to a 20% increase in bottom-line profits.

Most of the US hotels would be on the system by the end of this year, and all 1,800 Holiday Inn Worldwide hotels by the end of next year.

Holiday Inn Worldwide is currently processing 30 million room-night bookings per year. The closest competitor is handling 12 million. Because of its computer power, Holiday Inn is contemplating selling some of its spare processing capacity.

The four main objectives being tackled by Holiday Inn were: improving distribution; raising revenue per room; increasing operating profits; and raising the brand image.