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02/24/2020

BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH

Significant Jump In Revenues

Sales growth in all countries: In 2019, BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH once again achieved a strong increase in revenues for the group's hotels. The total turnover generated for the hotels in the past fiscal year rose by 29.2 percent to a total of over 247 million euros. At the same time, the brand offerings for independent hotels in all categories have grown to 18 brands following the acquisition of WorldHotels at the beginning of 2019.

Eschborn / Vienna, 24 February 2020. “New brands in our region, the acquisition of WorldHotels, a new global umbrella brand and revenue increases - 2019 was again a year of many highlights for us and was concluded with extraordinary success in all segments and all our countries," explain Carmen Dücker and Marcus Smola, both CEO of BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH, based in Eschborn, which is responsible for hotels in the ten countries Germany, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH has thus achieved a huge leap in sales in the 2019 fiscal year in terms of the total revenues generated directly for the hotels in all countries: The turnover via the Best Western channels to the hotels rose again by 29.2 percent to a total of 247.38 million euros in 2019 compared to the previous year. "This is the result of our successful marketing and sales strategy, which is based on our award-winning global loyalty program Best Western Rewards, a very strong own sales force, new global strategic partnerships in distribution and sales, and the expansion of existing partnerships," explains Carmen Dücker.

Launch of new brands
"In the 2019 financial year, we grew not only in terms of revenue generation, but also once again with our offering of hotel brands. With the acquisition of the WorldHotels Collection with around 300 hotels worldwide in February 2019, we now can offer 18 full and soft brands under one roof. Last year, the first Aiden by Best Western opened in Germany and the Soft Brands Sure Hotel Collection and BW Signature Collection started in our countries in 2019," explains Marcus Smola. In 2019, a total of 18 hotels with around 1,600 rooms joined BWH Hotel Group Central Europe. The new hotels include existing properties in Fulda, Fürth, Viernheim, Mannheim, Osnabrück, Weil am Rhein and Biberach as well as in Austria in Wängle and Vienna. In addition, new hotel construction projects have decided to join the brand, which will open as Best Western Hotels after completion in Immendingen, Wehingen, Cottbus, Kiefersfelden and in Vienna and Prague later this year. The BWH Hotel Group Central Europe also celebrated the launch of several new brands from the full brand as well as the soft brand range in its region: The first Aiden by Best Western was opened in Biberach and the soft brands Sure Hotel Collection and BW Signature Collection celebrated their premiere in Germany. The various soft brands are particularly suitable for brand-independent hotels that have already established themselves in the market with their own name and want to benefit from the sales and marketing power of a global partner. In 2019, the hotel portfolio of BWH Hotel Group Central Europe has also grown by 50 WorldHotels hotels in the region. The service headquarters in Eschborn and the regional office in Vienna are now responsible for nearly 300 hotels in ten countries in the region. "With their individual character, our new hotels complement our overall portfolio very well. I am particularly pleased that we were able to convince operators and hoteliers of our services, from leisure and conference hotels up to design hotels," says Smola.

New brand architecture and new brand umbrella
Following the acquisition of WorldHotels Collection by Best Western Hotels & Resorts, based in Phoenix, Arizona, at the beginning of 2019, the new global umbrella brand BWH Hotel Group was created. The masterbrand and logo reflect both companies: BW for Best Western and WH for WorldHotels. BWH Hotel Group now forms an umbrella for the three single brand families: Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group, which collectively offer 18 individual brands across every market segment. In order to the new masterbrand also the Eschborn-based company Best Western Hotels Central Europe GmbH was renamed to BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH in December 2019. "The acquisition of WorldHotels enabled us to immediately increase scale and diversify our offerings by complementing our portfolio with upper upscale and luxury hotels in key global destinations. With this comprehensive portfolio of options, we are able to provide different products to different travelers for different travel occasions. The creation of the new brand umbrella is a logical step to preserve the identity of the individual brand families and at the same time to form an umbrella for Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group. In this way, all our brands can be effectively marketed independently and benefit from the synergies of the worldwide brand family," explains Smola. In total, the BWH Hotel Group brand family includes now 18 hotel brands worldwide, which meet the needs and requirements of hotel developers and guests all over the world: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Executive Residency by Best Western, Vib, GLo, Aiden, Sadie, BW Premier Collection and BW Signature Collection as well as WorldHotels Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and, brand new since the beginning of 2020, WorldHotels Crafted. The Sure Hotel, Sure Hotel Plus, Sure Hotel Collection and Sure Hotel Studio brands also complement the Group's portfolio.

On course for growth with soft brands
"In addition to the growth with our full brands, we see great demand and potential especially in the area of the so-called soft brands, launched for independent hotels that belong to us but appear on the market externally without a brand," says Smola. Here, the brand network offers marketing and sales services for hotels in every category: In addition to the BW Premier Collection, the collection for exclusive private hotels introduced in 2017, the BW Signature Collection for upper mid-range hotels and the Sure Hotel Collection for hotels in the three-star segment were added to the brand portfolio last year with two further soft brand collections. The WorldHotels collections are also available for the upscale and luxury segment. "The demand from independent hotels for individual solutions for global marketing is increasing significantly. Thanks to our great brand diversity, hotel operators and hotel groups can select the appropriate concept for the respective hotel in order to best meet the requirements of the market," explains Smola. All soft branded hotels receive the full service package of the global group: the hotels can be booked through all booking channels, such as websites, worldwide call centers and GDS. In addition, the hotels of the soft brands benefit from the worldwide conditions of all global partnerships of the hotel group - both in the area of OTAs and other distribution partnerships. Furthermore, all soft brand hotels are integrated into the worldwide loyalty programs with more than 40 million users.

The following press pictures are available for download:

Caption: Carmen Dücker and Marcus Smola, CEOs BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH, are pleased about a successful 2019. Photo: BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH

Caption: BWH Hotel Group forms the umbrella for three brand families with 18 individual full and soft brands.

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About BWH Hotel Group^SM:

The BWH Hotel Group^SM is an international hotel group headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and the umbrella brand for the three global brand families including Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group with a global network of approximately 4,700 independent hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide.* BWH Hotel Group offers a total of 18 hotel brands worldwide that suit the needs of hotel developers and guests in every market: Best Western®, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Premier®, Executive Residency by Best Western®, Vīb®, GLō®, Aiden®, Sadie®, BW Premier Collection® and BW Signature Collection® as well as WorldHotels® Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted. SureStay®, SureStay Plus®, SureStay Collection® and SureStay Studio^SM complete the group's brand portfolio.** BWH Hotel Group^SM offers hoteliers operational services, sales and marketing support, multiple award-winning online and mobile booking options as well as the customer loyalty programs Best Western Rewards® and WorldHotels Rewards^SM with more than 40 million members.

BWH Hotel Group^SM Central Europe GmbH, formerly Best Western Hotels Central Europe GmbH, based in Eschborn, supports a total of around 300 hotels in ten countries, including Germany, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Further information: www.bwhhotelgroup.dewww.bestwestern.de and www.bestwestern.com

* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.

** All Best Western, WorldHotels and SureStay branded hotels are independently owned and operated. In Europe, SureStay Hotels are managed with the brand Sure Hotels.

Further information and press contact:

BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH
Austria | Croatia | Czech Republic | Germany | Hungary | Liechtenstein | Luxemburg | Slovakia | Slovenia | Switzerland
Anke Cimbal, Head of Corporate Communications
Frankfurter Strasse 10-14, 65760 Eschborn, Germany
Tel. +49 (61 96) 47 24 -301
E-Mail: presse@bwhhotelgroup.de
Internet: www.bestwestern.de www.bwhhotelgroup.de

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