The British group Whitbread, owner of the brand Premier Inn, announced the acquisition of 19 hotels in Germany. The budget hotel brand, which has a strong presence in the UK market, had already begun to enter this market with its first 240-room establishment in Frankfurt. 11 other hotels equivalent to 2 400 rooms are also under construction. Whitbread's new acquisitions are divided between projects in constructions, 13 for 2 140 rooms, and those already open to the public, 6 for 970 rooms. The Group's new establishments will not be operational until 2020. The transition between Foremost Hospitality Group GmbH and Whitbread will take two years, partly to complete the construction of certain hotelsto transfer management from one company to another.
The Whitbread Group is banking on economic similarities with the UK
On this date, the Premier Inn brand will offer 31 hotels in Germany 5,720 bedrooms. This incursion by the British group can be explained by the similarities between the German and British markets. The German hotel industry is equivalent to that of the UK ten years ago: " We believe that Germany has many of the same structural growth drivers that have made Premier Inn so successful in the UK "says Alison Brittain, Managing Director of Whitbread. Small independent hotels would give way to large groups. The knowledge accumulated by Whitbread would therefore enable the Premier Inn brand to firmly establish itself in a hotel market that is increasingly characterised by a high level of competition. 35 % larger than in the UK.
