Jarvis hotels will fly Ramada flag

Jarvis Hotels has linked up with Marriott International in a 20-year agreement that will see its UK hotels rebranded under the Ramada International Hotels and Resorts banner. The move came as Jarvis today posted full-year results showing the extent that the foot-and-mouth outbreak has affected trade. It warned that summer bookings were likely to be further affected. For the year to the end of March, Jarvis saw turnover rise by 12.3% to £177.1m and pre-tax profits, including one-off items, move ahead by 11.8% to £31.1m. Average room rates rose to a record £53.38, up by 3.5% compared with the same period last year. Occupancy was up by 3.1% to 68.8% and revenue per available room by 6.8% at £36.74. Chairman John Jarvis said the foot-and-mouth outbreak had already had a "serious" impact on UK tourism, with clear evidence of a reduction in tourists from North America and Europe. "In our London and Edinburgh hotels, which particularly benefit from inbound tourism, we are currently experiencing a turnover decline of 7% against last year," he said. Trade had also been disrupted during the year by the bad weather and rail disruption in the wake of last autumn's Hatfield crash. "The current year has had to contend with similar difficulties and it would be prudent to expect a further negative impact on summer bookings," Jarvis forecast. Jarvis's commercial and conference markets had largely been unaffected by the tourism decline, he added. The deal with Marriott is the first step in a major shift in direction by Jarvis. It is reducing its emphasis on owning hotels to focus instead on offering its management expertise to third parties. As part of this, it is looking at ways of releasing money from its estate, including the option of the sale and leaseback of some properties. The Marriott deal will see Jarvis's hotels rebranded under one of three names: Ramada Plaza, Ramada Jarvis and Ramada Resort. From September, Jarvis will obtain access to Marriott's MARSHA reservations system and Ramada's worldwide sales and marketing distribution network and travel agents' programmes. It in return will pay franchise and marketing fees and a booking fee per reservation. During the year, Jarvis bought the 120-bedroom Lakeside Hotel in Swansea, rebranding it as the Jarvis International Hotel, Swansea. Eight smaller hotels were sold. Its portfolio now consists of 66 hotels throughout the UK, with 6,800 bedrooms, 500 conference rooms and 32 health clubs. The 272-bedroom Jarvis Piccadilly in Manchester will close for a £20m refit at the end of this year, scheduled to reopen in early spring 2003 "flying an international flag". by Nic Paton