Marketing group for North
A marketing group for quality hotels in the North of England is to be launched with the principal aim of attracting North American business. Membership of Fine Individual Hotels will be restricted to four- and five-crown hotels.
The consortium is the idea of Mike Bevans, manager of Linthwaite House Hotel in the Lake District, who told Caterer this week he believed the North of England was under-exploited, particularly from North America. None of the existing consortia were able to market the North in the way he envisaged.
His plan is that the consortium will work in tandem with England's North Country, the long-haul marketing group funded by the BTA and northern regional tourist boards.
Sixteen hotels from Cheshire to the Scottish Border have said they plan to join Fine Individual Hotels, at an annual fee of £1,000 plus £30 for each bedroom. The projected marketing spend for the first year is £45,000, which will include a brochure about the North of England and the hotels in the scheme. It will have a 20,000 print-run.
Mr Bevans said he was keen to recruit more properties in time for the inaugural meeting of the consortium in Manchester on 23 September.
