Associated Luxury Hotels has significantly expanded its global footprint with the acquisition of Germany-based Worldhotels.

Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Associated Luxury Hotels owns and operates Associated Luxury Hotels International, an independent global sales organisation serving the North American meetings and incentive marketplace.

The acquisition expands each organisation’s geographic reach, making this strategic combination beneficial to both organisations and their memberships.

Worldhotels remains focused on serving individual business travellers, leisure travellers, meeting groups, and providing loyalty solutions for its 350 member hotels and resorts, offering 75,000 rooms, in 65 countries worldwide.

ALHI will continue concentrating on the North American meetings, incentives and conventions marketplace for its membership of over 250 luxury-level independent hotels and resorts worldwide totalling 138,500 rooms.

Associated Luxury Hotels chairman David Gabri said the company will operate ALHI and Worldhotels as separate divisions.

Both portfolios feature luxury-level and upper-upscale city centre business hotels, exquisite resorts, historic grand landmark hotels, lifestyle hotels and boutique hotels around the world.

“Bringing together these two highly respected companies enables us to become a significant, full-service luxury ‘soft brand’ solution to serve the evolving needs of our valued customers, and our exceptional memberships of independent hotels, resorts and independent brands, plus their management and ownership groups,” said Gabri.

Associated Luxury Hotels chief commercial officer, Tom Santora, will become Worldhotels executive chairman, with Geoff Andrew continuing as Worldhotels chief executive in Frankfurt.