OSLO Norway — Thon Hotels and First Hotels sign cooperation agreement for Scandinavia. The agreement includes cooperation in the areas of sales distribution and marketing. The aim is to increase the total availability for both chains in the Scandinavian and Benelux hotel market.
According to a press release issued today the cooperation will start 1 January 2010. The two chains will offer over 104 hotels throughout Scandinavia and Benelux.
The two chains are major players on the Scandinavian hotel scene and have their strength in different geographical areas. They have strong brands extensive coverage large sales organizations and quality hotel products.
First Hotels has 46 hotels in Scandinavia of which 31 hotels are in Sweden nine in Norway and six in Denmark. The annual turnover for First Hotels is NOK 1.2 billion.
Thon Hotels is the third largest hotel chain in Norway with 53 hotels and two more planned for the autumn 2009. Annual turnover is at NOK 2.4 billion. Thon Hotels also has a number of hotels in the Benelux region also to be included in the cooperation.
The cooperation will primarily focus on sales distribution and marketing. This will benefit the customers in terms of a larger range of hotel products in a significantly larger geographical area. There are also plans for cooperation between the two chains’ loyalty programmes thereby enabling the guests to earn and spend bonus points in both chains.
Both Thon Hotels and First Hotels will maintain full ownership and control over their brands under the agreement.
Photo: Mr. Morten Thorvaldsen CEO Thon Hotels.
