| ATLANTA, Oct. 11, 1999 - Bass Hotels Resorts (BHR) today announced
that it has entered into a multiple franchise agreement with Westmont Hospitality
(Westmont) that will result in up to 20 hotels converting to the Holiday
Inn brand before the end of 2000. The agreement is the largest of its kind
for the brand in Europe and, when combined with the 11 existing Holiday
Inn hotels in the country, propels Holiday Inn to the position of number
two international mid-market hotel brand in Italy.
The agreement will add over 2,500 rooms to the Holiday Inn portfolio
and involves five Clarine hotels with the balance being Agip properties.
Located primarily in Italy, and with one in Hungary, most of the hotels
converted to the Holiday Inn brand in September, with the remainder scheduled
to join the brand by the end of next year. Westmont and its investment
partner are spending almost US$18 million in the refurbishment of these
properties over the next two years.
Tom Oliver, chairman and CEO for Bass Hotels Resorts commented: �Italy
is one of Holiday Inn�s key European target markets and we are very excited
about this agreement. The brand�s existing strong reputation in Italy will
be enhanced by this new quality distribution, and additional projects already
in the pipeline will ensure we continue to build on this strong foundation.
Westmont is one of our key partners and this deal further strengthens our
very strong relationship.�
Kingsley Seevaratnam, executive vice president Europe for Westmont Hospitality,
added, �We are very pleased to have entered into this very significant
multiple franchise agreement with Bass Hotels Resorts, which will make
the Holiday Inn brand a significant player in Italy. Along with other hotels,
Westmont already owns and operates 35 Holiday Inn hotels in Belgium, France
and the UK. With the addition of this portfolio of up to 20 hotels, our
group becomes the largest Bass Hotels Resorts� franchisee in the Europe
region.� The locations of the new Holiday Inn hotels in Italy include Venice,
Pisa, Turin, Rome, Piacenza, Milan, Trieste, Palermo, Siracusa, Verona,
Catania, Bologna and Florence.
Bass Hotels Resorts(SM), the hotel business of Bass PLC (NYSE:
BAS) of the United Kingdom, operates or franchises more than 2,700 hotels
and 450,000 guest rooms in more than 90 countries and territories.
Westmont has interests in and manages over 400 hotels worldwide. |
