Worldwide Supply Of Hotel Groups - A Total Of 5 Million Rooms; Up By 1.9% In 2002
	A less pronounced expansion than last year. The growth in the worldwide hotel chain supply, during the year 2002, was less pronounced than the previous years. Though the growth in the supply of hotel groups reached 5.1% in 2000 to rise another 3% in 2001, the growth registered in 2002 only reached 1.9%.
Logically, the delicate economic condition has globally led operators to be more prudent. At the end of 2002, MKG Consulting counted no less than 39,166 properties (totalling 4,968,239 rooms) belonging to the more than 290 brands and 175 groups that constitute the worldwide supply of corporate operated chains. Breakdown of the world supply by location and by nationality of the operating chain In terms of geographical breakdown of the world supply, North America remains the preferred terrain for chain hotels, with more than 6 rooms out of 10. Thus, there are nearly 120 different brands present on the North American territory. Europe gathers more than 23% of the rooms. The development of chain hotels still remains rather small in other regions of the globe. Source: MKG Database - May 2003 Even though it was the African / Middle Eastern zone that saw the most pronounced expansion (+6.1%), this increase must be kept in perspective, given the low volume of available rooms in this world zone. We therefore notice that it was Europe that saw the most dynamic expansion at the end of 2002 (+2.5%), compared to the rise of +1.6% recorded in North America. The worldwide share of European groups gained 0.2 points by the end of 2002 In terms of nationality of the chains, the supply of North American groups is still dominant, with 59.0% of the market share, a rise of 1.6% throughout the world. American groups still showed prudence in terms of expansion in 2002, since their market share recorded a drop of 0.1 points. Within a difficult environment, European hoteliers managed better this year, since their market share saw an increase of 0.2 points, reaching 35.5%. The supply shares of groups from nationalities of the other zones (South America, Pacific Asia, and Africa-Middle East) have, for their part, been stable. The delicate geopolitical and economic situation in 2003 should strengthen the trend that began in 2000, which is a more prudent development on the part of hotel groups. The European and North American zones, which accounted for 90% of the development worldwide in 2002, should once again be favoured in 2003. Finally, during a period of uncertainty, the franchise should be favoured, since it limits hotel groups' exposure to financial risk. Otherwise, it is not to be excluded that at the end of 2003 could be marked by several spectacular acquisitions. Even if no operation has yet come to a successful conclusion, the number of Take Over Bids has increased, such as the those for the British InterContinental Group (ex Six Continents) and Thistle, and the Spanish group, NH Hotels. These results are based on data supplied by hotel chains throughout the world, for which MKG Consulting is the official statistics supplier. The complete report relating to worldwide hotel industry is published in the May/June edition of HTR Magazine. MKG Consulting has the largest hotel database in the world outside the USA, with the best representation of all hotel segments. The MKG Consulting Database contains more than 40,000 hotels, representing more than 2.2 million rooms. Each month, MKG Consulting also tracks the business results of a sample of 9,000 corporate operated chain hotels, representing 900,000 rooms. For more information about MKG Consulting, please visit the MKG web site at: www.mkg-consulting.com. MKG Has Over 18 years experience in the Hotel, Catering, and Tourism Industry in Europe� Created in 1985 by Georges Panayotis, the MKG Consulting firm progressively became a leader in the Hotel, Catering and Tourism European Industry. The firm competencies and analyses spread over the whole profession of services Industry, especially in the area of home delivery, passengers transportation, and telecommunications� MKG Consulting's mission is (1) To assist and advise customers in their decision-taking process, through objective conclusions and operational recommendations and (2) To meet customers' needs and demands, MKG Consulting is today structured in four departments with specific missions: Audits and Market Studies, Thematic Studies, Total Quality Management, Hotel Data Base.