Paris, March 30th, 2005 - As a foreshadow of the detailed assessment of the worldwide hotel industry, compiled each year by MKG Consulting and published in the May/June issue of HTR Magazine, here is a listing of the 10 largest groups, and 20 largest brands in the world.

• Last year, through the acquisition of the American, Candlewood Suites, the British InterContinental Hotels Group took the lead in the worldwide ranking of hotel groups. Despite a new restructuring of its supply, which led to the loss of some 2,000 rooms, it maintained its advance over the challenger, Cendant, who reduced the difference by increasing its supply.

• Among the ten largest groups in the world, half posted a drop in their room inventory, mainly the consequence of a quality control policy that led to the elimination of properties that did not meet prerequisite norms. 

• Only one major change occurred with hotel groups, the arrival of Hyatt in the Top Ten, after the acquisition of the AmeriSuites chain, currently integrated into the new operational structure, Global Hyatt, which pushed Hilton International off the top spot, which "only" posted 104,400 rooms in 2005.

• Among brands, we note the constant rise of Express by Holiday Inn, the star brand of ICHG, which rose by one spot to 8th place. Likewise, Quality, from Choice International, also gained in its market share, and rose by one place in the ranking. The largest change in the ranking occurred with Courtyard by Marriott, which rose by three places, from 16^th to 13^th.

Despite a supply that is down by 0.4%, InterContinental Hotels Group strengthened its position as the largest hotel group in the world. Cendant did not profit from the reduction in the portfolio of Holiday Inn (-3.2%) - counterbalanced by the dynamism of the Express by Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands - to recuperate its leading position in the ranking that it lost last year. 

Cendant increased the standard of quality at its hotels, and eliminated under performing franchised hotels, notably abandoning the Villager Lodge brand to the profit of Knights Inn. As a consequence, the group progressed at a limited rate (+0.5%). Nonetheless, Cendant added 15,000 new rooms to its supply this year with the acquisition of the entire franchising rights of the Ramada International brand, co-held with Marriott International until now. Despite this drop, Marriott limited the damage. Its leading brands, Marriott and moreover, Courtyard by Marriott, continue to grow at a steady pace.

The groups that follow in the ranking, Accor (+2.2%), Choice (+3.9%) and Hilton Corporation (+4.0%), took major strides in catching up to the leader of the ranking. Thanks to the strong rise in the Ibis and Novotel brands, Accor strengthened its fourth place position in the world ranking.

Three American groups: Best Western, Starwood, and Carlson, recorded growth in their portfolios.

The big news of the year is the entry of Hyatt into the list of the 10 largest groups. The Chicago group passed Hilton International and posted the greatest rate of growth of the year 2004. Explanation: the acquisition of 143 hotels and the midmarket chain, AmeriSuites. Hyatt restructured itself at the end of 2004 by combining Global Hyatt, its most recent acquisition and its domestic and international activities.

MKG Database - largest hotel database in the world outside the USA, with the best representation of all hotel segments. The MKG Consulting database contains 40,000 hotels totalling over 2.2 million rooms. The activity results in the MKG Consulting database cover a sample of 9,000 corporate chain hotels throughout the world, for which MKG Consulting is the official supplier of statistics.