Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts closes a difficult year in a positive way and invests in the future

Despite a difficult year in the tourism industry, the 2003 operating results of the Swiss hotel group Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts (MH&R) were positive at year-end. The EBITDA (Earnings before interest and taxes depreciation and amortisation) for the 2003 fiscal year was reported at CHF 7.8 million, and overall turnover increased by 7.4 percent to CHF 433.4 million.

The hotel management company Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts began with a planned re-branding during the course of 2003. Further expansion was achieved and the company said it expects to grow by nearly 5000 new hotel rooms in the near future.

Over the past 4 years, the number of hotel rooms has risen by 44% to a total of 9615. Together with the hotel owners, MH&R invested significant amounts in renovation work and expansion of both infrastructure and services.

In 2003 MH&R took over the management of hotels in Istanbul (249 rooms), Kuwait (98 rooms) and Dubai (232 rooms). At the same time, lease and management agreements were concluded for five hotels which are scheduled to open in the near future: Dream Castle Hotel at Disneyland® Resort Paris (400 rooms); Wasserturm, Hamburg (226 rooms); Jeddah, (210 rooms), Al Khobar (156 rooms), Madinah (1155 rooms) - all three of which are in Saudi Arabia - and Sanaa, Yemen (315 rooms). Other hotel projects are currently under construction or in development such as Berlin (243 rooms), Rome (314 rooms), Dubai (450 rooms), Taba (432 rooms), El Alamein (259 rooms), El Obour (250 rooms), Accra (221 rooms) and Ramallah (170 rooms.) as well as Tripoli (256 rooms). A new luxury hotel with 114 rooms was opened in the Kingdom of Bahrain in January 2004.

Those additional 5102 rooms mean that Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts will grow in the near future by almost 53%.

Jean Gabriel Pérès, President & CEO of MH&R explains: "Over the next two years MH&R will focus on its expansion in Europe while continuing to develop its network in the Middle East and in the Gulf Area. The outlook for 2004 is positive as more owners elect MH&R as their preferred hotel management company with numerous quality General Managers and Executives joining our ranks."