Rubber dolphin keeps up Novotel rack rates

Dolfi, a rubber Dolphin mascot, is to be at the centre of a family-friendly marketing drive by French mid-market hotel chain Novotel.

The chain hopes to fill its UK rooms at weekends through a series of promotions featuring the mascot rather than by cutting rack rates.

"It's easiest to reduce prices but it sends mixed messages to the public," said Guy Parsons, UK director of operations, sales and marketing.

In addition, a £500,000 advertising campaign is being launched to back what is claimed to be the first pan-European weekend voucher scheme. For £24, customers buy five vouchers giving discounts of £12 (or local currency equivalent) per night at the chain's 200-plus European hotels.

Novotel is focusing on family-friendly promotions because it estimates that 450,000 children stayed at its European properties during 1995, more than with any other hotel brand. At its York hotel alone 11,500 children stayed over the year.

Previous child-based promotions enabled the group to push up bedroom occupancy at its 17 UK hotels by nearly four percentage points to about 70% last year.

Achieved room rates were ahead by 9%, helping rooms yield to climb 14%.

The UK is Novotel's principal area of expansion in Europe and it hopes to double the number of its properties over the next two years. Its 18th UK hotel, one mile from the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo, opened last August.

Michael Flaxman, managing director of UK and Eastern Europe Hotels at Novotel, said there was room for four more of the chain's hotels in London with cities such as Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow also targets for openings.

In a change of strategy, the group was now prepared to convert existing buildings rather than rely on new-builds, he added.