The voluntary Worldhotels chain is to become part of the American Associated Luxury Hotels (ALHI). With a strong focus on business travel, this chain of German origin counts 350 top-of-the-range establishments among its members worldwide, most of them independent hotels or belonging to small groups with a strong local presence, such as Tivoli in Portugal, Lotte in Korea or Azalaï in West Africa.
Although Associated Luxury Hotels and Worldhotels will be operated as separate divisions, the new group will comprise almost 200,000 rooms. In addition to the 75,000 rooms in 65 countries distributed by Worldhotels, there are the 138,500 rooms offered by Associated Luxury Hotels. This American chain distributes a total of 250 hotels in North America, mainly positioned in the meetings and incentives market.
In parallel, ALHI has 20 global sales offices in North America and will establish sales offices in Europe in 2017. Worldhotels operates 35 sales offices worldwide. "The union of these two highly respected companies allows us to become a luxury light brand solution that meets the requirements of our valued customers, and our exceptional affiliations of independent hotels, resorts and independent brands," said David Gabri, president of Associated Luxury Hotels.
