Louvre Hotels in Europe, Africa and South America, Jin Jiang in China and Magnuson in the United States: these groups each occupy a leading position in their respective markets. We are very complementary, with nearly a thousand hotels each and mostly positioned in the mid-range," explains Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, CEO of Louvre Hotels. And we're all growing fast. In just twelve years, Magnuson has reached a size of nearly 1,000 hotels by converting 400 Best Western establishments, 250 hotels from the Wyndham group and 200 others from Choice Hotels to its franchise model".
Building on these complementary strengths, the three players have decided tocombine forces by signing an online distribution partnership. "It's a new kind of international development model", says Thomas Magnuson, founder of the American group. "Above all, this partnership will enable us to capture the flow of American travellers who previously went through the OTAs, the major online agencies", adds Pierre-Frédéric Roulot.
From next September until the end of 2016, the hotels of one or the other will gradually be open to booking on the sites of the other two partners. The loyalty programmes will also be crossed. "This will enable a Louvre Hôtels customer to use their points in Orlando and a regular Magnuson hotel guest to convert them in Paris", explains Pierre-Frédéric Roulot. And finally, for business customers, this agreement extends the scope of Corporate contracts by offering more than 1,000 hotels on every continent.
This partnership comes at a propitious time for Louvre Hotels. Following its acquisition by Jin Jiang at the beginning of the year, the French group has just signed a €2.5 billion credit line over three years with the Chinese bank ICBS. This package will enable the hotel group to accelerate its expansion in France and Europe, while stepping up its renovation programme.
