Small Luxury Hotels Of The World celebrates 20 year anniversary and impressive Q1 2011 results

Company Brief

New Delhi, May 5, 2011

Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has had strong positive growth for the first quarter of 2011. The brand is made up of over 520 of the finest, small, independent hotels in more than 70 countries.

"We are all extremely proud to have reached such a landmark year this year and the growth the brand has already proved in quarter one of 2011 is an excellent indicator of how the luxury travel industry is still as robust as ever," says Paul Kerr, Chief Executive Officer of SLH.

Starting with 70 hotels in 1991, SLH has expanded by 452 hotels (+600 per cent) in more than 70 countries whilst maintaining strict criteria for all prospective hotel applicants wishing to join the SLH portfolio. This commitment to providing outstanding luxury to discerning SLH customers has resulted in not only increased revenue in Q1 of 19 per cent (to $18 million) but also an increase in reservations by 10 per cent year on year (YTD 31 March 2011).

SLH continues to increase its number of reservations and the brand's presence worldwide. In 2011 Q1, a majority of SLH's 25,146 YTD reservations were from the United States (42 per cent), United Kingdom (18 per cent) and Germany (6 per cent). Since 2005 notable growth areas include: Sweden (415 per cent increase), Russia (281 per cent increase), Brazil (218 per cent increase) and Switzerland (109 per cent increase). Moving forward, SLH plans to increase its 100,000 SLH Club Members by refreshing its membership programme.

Since the brand launched 20 years ago, SLH has increased the number of resorts (+208 hotels), city centre properties (+153 hotels) and country house hotels (+88 hotels), and has significantly increased its presence in Asia Pacific. In 1991, SLH had two hotels and 184 rooms in Asia Pacific; SLH now has 118 hotels with 6,574 total rooms in the region.

SLH continues to expand brand awareness and methods of communication with its clientele internationally via social media networks. In the past year SLH has secured a worldwide online presence and following with 35,300 Facebook fans; the three most active countries include India (23 per cent of fans), USA (22 per cent of fans) and United Kingdom (7 per cent of fans). SLH's new blog from globetrotter Melissa Vinelli is regularly posted on Facebook to further communicate with SLH's Facebook community as well as increasing online followers and SLH site traffic.

Additionally, SLH interacts with its 4,275 followers on Twitter and has an iPad and iPhone app which received nearly 67,703 downloads year to date which continues to grow month by month. Since 2005, SLH has also seen a 14 per cent increase in electronic bookings.

Reservations for any Small Luxury Hotels of the World property can be made by calling 00 0800 650 1456 (India), online at www.slh.com or via the new iPhone app. Travel agents need only remember the GDS code LX for LuXury.

For further information, please contact:

Corporate Voice |Weber Shandwick

Harsh Mehta

Email: harsh@corvoshandwick.co.in