Thistle and NH to tackle market together

Thistle Hotels and NH Hotels have signed a sales and marketing agreement that will see them sharing campaigns, staff and offices. The hotel groups say they have a similar guest profile and complementary business models. The Madrid-based NH Hotels has 240 hotels worldwide in 16 countries, but none in the UK, and Thistle has only UK properties – 56 in all. The agreements means the two companies will run joint campaigns, share air crew contracts, share some sales offices, offer mutual education and training to staff including hotel manager exchanges and have a specific tour operator strategy. The two groups plan to focus their attentions on golf and city break specialists. The deal also means they will get a mention in each other’s hotel directories and link up the websites.