NEW YORK -- Forte and Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts will
introduce seasonal corporate rates and add free breakfasts for its
corporate travelers this year, Fran Brasseux, senior vice president
of sales and marketing for the Americas, said.
The group relaunched its Corporate Privilege program, which
offers seven levels of corporate rates based on volume, after
surveying corporate travel managers in the U.S., Asia-Pacific, U.K.
and Europe last October, she said. "They asked for more value, so
we wanted to offer seasonal rates."
The survey found that the European travel managers requested a
free breakfast more often than their American and Asian
counterparts, Brasseux said. The U.S. buyers thought that many of
their travelers would skip breakfast, whereas "the Europeans do not
leave the hotel without breakfast," she said. Two Le Meridiens, in
New York and Tokyo, opted not to include the free breakfast, she
said.
Forte's stable of corporate accounts includes about 500 global
clients. Later this year, Forte will launch a worldwide loyalty
program spanning its 260 properties under the Le Meridien,
Posthouse and Forte banners, including 16 in North America and the
Caribbean, Brasseux said.
The London-based Granada Group PLC, which won its hostile
takeover of Forte in January 1996, has set the Le Meridien hotels
on a growth track. The brand has doubled its portfolio over the
past two years to 96 properties in 50 countries and plans to add
another 50 by 2000.
Posthouse, the group's three-star business-travel brand, will
hold most 1998 corporate rates at 1997 levels, Brasseux said. The
83-property U.K. brand is in the midst of a "radical
transformation" and upgrade, Arnold Woodhouse, Posthouse marketing
controller, said.
The hotels are unveiling new lobbies and bedrooms -- featuring
queen-size beds with duvets, a sitting area, window shutters, and
"power showers" -- and many also are adding a Forte-designed
meeting and conference center called the Academy, a Granada-owned
fitness club called Spirit and a branded restaurant called High
Street, Woodhouse said. "We need to create a distinct personality
to generate brand loyalty," he said.