hotels as there is too much demand and not enough supply. We have 17 properties open in Africa with 25 hotels under construction. You need patience as it can take seven years to build a hotel in Nigeria – but we think it’s worth waiting. We don’t see that much growth in western Europe – it’s difficult in the industrialised countries as there is generally more supply than demand, so we have to look to the emerging markets. We see more growth in Russia and eastern Europe. We have 40 hotels open in Russia and another 25 under construction. We still have quite a strong pipeline of new hotels in the UK and Europe, but it just doesn’t compare to what we are doing in Russia and Africa.
How are your hotels performing in the UK for
the corporate travel market? It’s not bad at all. Contrary to my expectations, we have seen quite a growth in
government business despite the cutbacks for both Radisson and Park Inn, although it could be that we did not have enough of this business before. We are also doing okay in the private sector and gaining market share, although we have come from a low figure with Park Inn. This is because we now have people running Park Inn who understand that sector of the market. We have opened Radissons at East Midlands airport and Cardiff, plus Park Inns in Aberdeen and Southend. In the pipeline we have Park Inns at Wembley and Excel in London, another Park Inn in Bournemouth and a Radisson in Newcastle. We’re also still looking in the Greater London area for sites for more Park Inns.
One of your goals of the partnership with Carlson is to put more emphasis on your loyalty programme, Club Carlson – how has this developed? We didn’t have a very competitive loyalty
programme, which is why we
introduced Club Carlson last year. As a newcomer, we have had to be more generous – this has allowed members to accumulate the benefits more quickly than other brands. But that has made more people sign up more quickly. We also revived our Look To Book loyalty programme with travel agents last year. This had deteriorated over the years but we saw big growth after revitalising it. ■