Worldwide briefing

Sol goes down

Spanish hotel group Sol Meli has recorded a 69% fall in net profits in the first three months of 2002 to €9.6m (£6m). Turnover dropped by 3.2% to €227.3m (£142.4m), while revenue per available room for all the group's hotels fell by 4.8% compared with the same period last year.

Low Seasons

Turnover and profit at Canada-based hotel company Four Seasons fell in the first three months of this year. Turnover dropped by 18.3% to Cdn$64.4m (£28.5m), compared with Cdn$78.8m (£34.8m) for the same period in 2001. Net profit was down by 54.7% to Cdn$7.7m (£3.4m), from Cdn$17m (£7.5m) a year earlier.

Swiss slide

The number of hotel overnight stays in Switzerland fell to 68.2 million in 2001, down by 0.9% on 2000, according to the latest figures from the Swiss federal statistics office. The number of foreign tourists staying in Switzerland was down by 8.1% during the year, with the greatest decrease being in the numbers of US and Japanese tourists, which were down by 14% and 15% respectively.

Hola, amigo

Sir Rocco Forte hosted the official opening of Rocco Forte Hotels' 117-bedroom Hotel Amigo in Brussels this week. The hotel has undergone a £13.5m refurbishment to restore it to its former five-star glory. It now has a new restaurant, bar, fitness room, ballroom to hold 200 people, and six new meeting rooms.