2008 A Year of Expansion for Corinthia Hotels

10 November 2008

Malta based hotel operators CHI Hotels & Resorts are expanding and developing their luxury hotel brand Corinthia Hotels worldwide following the signing of two new site deals in the second half of 2008 and as a result have strengthened their sales team.

Recent deals have resulted in an agreement to operate a 200 room five-star deluxe Corinthia Hotel, currently being developed in Bicske, near Hungary’s capital Budapest. The property is being developed on a resort area that lies within 280 hectares of land comprising of a hotel, and an 18-hole championship golf course. The property, named the Corinthia Budapest Gate Hotel will be CHI Hotels & Resorts’ third in Hungary, adding to the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal and Ramada Plaza Budapest.

On top of this investment, CHI Hotels & Resorts will operate two hotels in Sharm el Sheikh, with a combined total of 820 rooms.

The year has also seen investment in current properties and notably the completion of phase one of the refurbishment to the Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel in St Petersburg revealing the grand foyer, restaurant and conference facilities. The work is the largest hotel investment project in the city.

The entire renovation of the existing hotel and the extension of the property into the adjoining buildings include the creation of a conference centre with a capacity of 1,000 – the largest, most advanced and most opulent in St. Petersburg. On the other side of the hotel, an elite commercial centre with retail and office space will be built. Scheduled to open in 2009, the cost of the initial renovations alone will be $142 million dollars.

Corinthia Hotels are also proud sponsors of the World Tourism Awards taking place on Tuesday 11 November at WTM 2008 with CEO Tony Potter presenting the awards.

The recent high profile appointment of Glenn Carroll as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing has brought on board a key strategist with a new vision for the future of the company.