Travel and tourism is the world's largest global revenue-generating industry and the hotel industry has enjoyed a strong demand worldwide over the last three years. And this growth is only expected to get stronger. Cyclical and seasonal in nature, the hotel industry benefits from strong fundamentals. The supply is unlikely to follow the demand especially in Western Europe where due to the shortage of land, the RevPAR is expected to increase in the future.

Central and Eastern Europe - particularly Russia and other CIS countries - are one of the world's fastest emerging travel markets. These countries offer vast business opportunities due to the lack of international standard hotel rooms to meet the mighty new demand levels. Rezidor is currently targeting some 35 key cities in Russia with a population of 500,000 and above to further develop its portfolio of hotels and brands.

The Middle East market - especially United Arab Emirates - is experiencing spectacular growth and the RevPAR has grown throughout the region. But the development is still more diverse and risky. Whereas the African continent offers huge potential for development in the northeast and southwest and one of the strongest growing tourist destinations: South Africa.
 
One of the major industry trends is the growing share of branded hotels. The conversion of unbranded to branded will continue at face pace as a result of globalization. This offers additional business opportunities to dynamic hotel brands. Needless to say, Rezidor has acted as a pioneer in this sense, bringing value to its stakeholders. We know it pays off.