Frankfurt am Main, Germany – 17 January 2018 –
To mark its 30th anniversary in 2017, IntercityHotel instigated a special new link by entering into a cooperation agreement with the Brazilian brand Intercity Hotels. The cooperation arrangements, which were officially launched now, will see the two companies working together in the fields of sales and marketing.
The two virtually identically named hotel brands will endeavour to achieve synergies by providing mutual presentations and links on their respective websites with immediate effect. In future, guests will be able to use the two Internet presences to obtain information about hotels in Europe or South America in their own language and access the relevant booking screen. The IntercityHotels portfolio currently includes over 40 hotels in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Oman and China. Intercity Hotels in South America operates 34 hotels in Brazil and Uruguay.
Alexandre Gehlen, the founder and Managing Director of the Brazilian hotel company, is of German descent. Many years ago, he took the inspiration for his business model from the German railway system and Intercity trains that run on it. Mr. Gehlen’s aim was to establish a rapidly growing and service-oriented hotel chain in Brazil that catered to the needs of business people. Joachim Marusczyk, Managing Director of IntercityHotel GmbH, stated, “The cooperation agreement between our two companies will open up new opportunities and enable us to make an impact in a market where we have had very little presence thus far. We are looking forward to working together.”
Although the hotel brands have no formal business ties despite the similarity of the names, their operational concepts are extremely closely aligned. This is what has made such cooperation possible in the first place. The two companies have, for example, already announced their willingness to represent the other partner at customer events or exhibitions in the respective countries. Coordinated marketing activities and networking on operational know-how are also planned, and the Sales Teams of both brands will support each other with events such as trade fair appearances.
Alexandre Gehlen commented, “We welcome this partnership because it will create a stronger placement for both companies on the international market. Our guests will also benefit from a larger network of hotels in the upper mid-range category which are able to deliver a reliable level of quality in South America, Europe and Asia.”