Corinthia? It sounds Greek.
No, Corinthia Hotels International (CHI) is the hotel operating arm of the Corinthia Group, which was founded in Malta 40 years ago by the Pisani family. It takes its name from the Greek-style pillars of the Corinthia restaurant opened in 1962 by four Pisani brothers in Attard, Malta, on the site of an art nouveau villa.
In 1968 the brothers (current group chairman and chief executive Alfred and group directors Joseph, George and Victor) built the Corinthia Palace hotel beside the restaurant, adding Malta's first conference and events centre in 1969.
When did it become international?
By 1995 the group had seven hotels in Malta and Turkey and a contract catering business in Malta and Libya. It has since spread its wings and now runs 22 four- and five-star Corinthia-branded hotels in 11 countries in Europe (where it is especially strong in the east), the Middle East and Africa. It also owns seven smaller three-star hotels under the Amber brand in the Czech Republic. These are run separately, some by third parties.
What sort of hotels does it operate?
CHI manages an eclectic mix of resort and city centre properties (including a holiday village in Malta) in interesting and upcoming destinations such as Tripoli, Libya. The hotels are managed either by the group or third parties or are leased. They range from the historic to the ultra-modern. The largest is the CorinthiaTowers in Prague with 544 bedrooms; the smallest is the 36-bedroom Corinthia Gulluk in Turkey.
What's its main business?
Until the mid-1990s, when most of its properties were resort hotels, CHI attracted largely leisure trade, with a significant input from tour operators. Since then it has added large city centre hotels with substantial conference and meetings facilities and is targeting the corporate sector more aggressively.
How?
This year it will launch the Events At Corinthia marketing package, which features 14 hotels with "serious" conference and meetings facilities, including properties in Prague, Budapest, Tripoli, St Petersburg and Malta. While most have leisure facilities, four hotels in Malta and Hungary with extensive spa facilities will also be bundled together in a specialised marketing push.
What are the company's expansion plans and how will they be achieved?
The group talks of having up to 50 hotels within three years through a mix of management contracts, leases or properties bought for the group by a hotel investment company set up in 2000, International Hotel Investments (IHI). This company currently has four of the Corinthia-owned hotels. It is looking for four- to five-star properties of 200-300 bedrooms or more. Key areas include the Far East - particularly China - Austria, Germany, Poland and Croatia.
Who owns the company?
The group is largely owned by the Pisani family, but the Libya and Arab Investment Company holds a minority interest. The group retains a 75% stake in IHI, floated on the Maltese Stock Exchange in 2000.
Many members of the Pisani family are involved, including Enyd, director of strategies planning; Paul, who seeks management contracts and hotel leases; and general managers Shawn at Malta's Corinthia Palace, and Joseph Jnr at the Corinthia Towers Tripoli, which opens in March.
Where are you?
Malta: 1,114 bedrooms, 50 bungalows
Turkey: 1,006-plus bedrooms, seven villas, 50 bungalows
Czech Republic: 994 bedrooms in Prague
Hungary: 724 bedrooms in Budapest
Portugal: 545 bedrooms in Lisbon and Santarem
Togo: 316 bedrooms in Lome (managed)
Tunisia: 309 bedrooms in Gammarth
Libya: 299 bedrooms in Tripoli
Russia: 282 bedrooms in St Petersburg
Belgium: 215 bedrooms in Antwerp
The Gambia: 202 bedrooms in Banju (managed)
Who are you?
Karmenu Vella: CHI chairman
Raymond Capdevila: deputy chairman
Pierre Boppe: chief executive officer
Geoff Andrew: group marketing director
The four pillars of Corinthia
* Corinthia Hotels International operates hotels for the group and others.
* International Hotel Investments buys hotels for CHI to manage.
* Quality Project Management rebuilds and refurbishes hotels for the group and others.
* Industrial Catering runs contract catering, outside catering and restaurants in Malta and Libya.
Your vital statistics
Hotels: 22 (plus seven Amber hotels)
Corinthia bedrooms: 6,113
Employees: more than 4,000 (5,000-plus in group)
Turnover to 31 October 2002: €6.6m (£4.4m)
Group turnover for 2002: more than €200m (£132m)