Thistle links with First Hotels

Thistle Hotels has teamed up with Scandinavian hotel group First Hotels in a marketing alliance.

The deal with First Hotels, which has 60 hotels in key cities in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, is particularly important for Thistle's four Aberdeen hotels.

"We have been working in Scandinavia to promote these hotels for a number of years. The connection with the oil industry and the Scandinavian companies that operate in this area are very important to us," said Richard Adler, general manager of sales and marketing distribution.

The two companies are to share marketing resources and hyperlink websites.

The deal is the first of a number of marketing alliances to give the group access to a global network. Adler said that the company is in "advanced negotiations" with a number of other operators, particularly with a view to capturing more business from continental Europe.

by Christina Golding

Buy this week's Caterer for more industry news and analysis.