Pphe Hotel Regulatory News (PPH)

17 Apr 2008 10:28

Park Plaza Hotels Limited17 April 2008 17 April 2008 PARK PLAZA HOTELS LIMITED New management contracts for hotels in Russia Park Plaza Hotels Limited, the owner, operator and franchisor of hotels inEurope, the Middle East and North Africa, announces that its wholly-ownedsubsidiary, Park Plaza Hotels Europe B.V. (PPHE), has entered into an agreementwith Ferens Management Limited (Ferens) to operate up to 20 new hotels (with atotal of approximately 3,500 to 4,000 rooms) in Russia under 20-year managementcontracts. PPHE will also provide technical consulting services, includingassisting in the identification and planning of the hotels. Over the next four years, Ferens intends to establish a chain of 15 to 20 hotelsunder the Park Plaza brand. The hotels will be either new buildings ordevelopments of existing properties. The hotels will be located in majorRussian cities, with populations of over 500,000, and are intended to includeseveral hotels in each of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the principal destinationsfor business travellers in Russia. Ferens is currently in exclusive negotiations in relation to two properties andit is also actively reviewing a number of existing hotels that can berefurbished to meet Park Plaza brand standards. The build-out and development ofthe hotels is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The number of foreign visitors to Moscow has grown consistently over the lastfew years, with major international source markets being the European Union andthe CIS countries. In 2006, Moscow had 3.73 million foreign visitors, more thandouble the 2001 figure. As many as 80% of hotel stays in Moscow are estimatedto be business travellers. St. Petersburg saw over 3 million foreign visitorsin 2006, an increase of 10% over the previous year. The city administration isaiming to make St. Petersburg a leading European travel destination and toattract as many as 5 million foreign visitors by 2010. Principal source marketsare Finland and the Baltic countries, the USA, Germany, France, the UK andItaly. In addition, the number of domestic tourists, particularly from Moscow,has risen steadily in recent years. Hotel supply in Moscow and St. Petersburg can be divided into two broadcategories: properties of modern standards and Soviet-style hotels, mostlydating back to the period between 1950 and 1989 which have variable standards.Overall, there is a shortage of modern hotels in the mid-to-upscale segment. Ferens is owned by Renova StroyGroup (RSG), part of the Renova Group ofCompanies, a leading Russian privately-owned diversified business group. RSGhas a leading position in the Russian development market, investing in landdevelopment, public utilities networks and residential and commercial realestate development in different regions of Russia. Boris Ivesha, Chief Executive Officer of Park Plaza said: "We are delighted tohave signed this contract with the Renova StroyGroup, who have a strongreputation for real estate development across Russia. Russia is becoming anincreasingly popular destination for both business and leisure travellers who webelieve are driving demand for quality hotel rooms. This agreement, whichshould over the next four years add approximately 4,000 rooms to our portfolio,gives us the opportunity to expand the Park Plaza brand and work with areputable local partner to develop modern hotels in the mid-to-upscale segmentof the market." www.parkplazahotels.net Enquiries: Park Plaza Boris Ivesha Tel: +44 (0)20 7034 4800 Chen Moravsky Tel: +31 (0)20 305 8351 Hudson Sandler Wendy Baker Tel: +44 (0)20 7796 4133 Notes to Editors The Park Plaza group is owner, operator and franchisor of hotels in Europe, theMiddle East and Africa. The majority of the group's hotels operate under thePark Plaza Hotels & Resorts brand (part of Carlson Hotels Worldwide), over whichthe group has exclusive rights in 56 countries in EMEA or art'otel, a brand towhich the Group has exclusive worldwide rights. Park Plaza Hotels also managesthe luxury all-suite Plaza on the River - Club and Residence, London. Through its strategic partnership with Carlson, one of the world's largesttravel and hospitality companies, Park Plaza Hotels has access to Carlson'spowerful reservation and distribution system, airline partnerships with 19airlines, loyalty programmes such as goldpointsplusSM for guests and Look toBook(R) for travel agents, and cross-selling opportunities. There are currently 39 hotels and aparthotels and over 7,700 rooms in thegroup's portfolio. By 2010, the Group's committed projects and territorialfranchise agreements are expected to increase the number of rooms to over10,000. Projects already under development include Park Plaza Marrakech (2009), ParkPlaza Nuremberg (2009), art'otel cologne (2009), art'otel marrakech (2009) andPark Plaza Westminster Bridge, London (2010). Park Plaza Hotels floated on London's AIM Stock Market in July 2007. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange