South African hotel group forms strategic partnership with US hotel group

South Africa, Johannesburg – 16 May 2008: Orion Hotels & Resorts, one of Southern Africa's largest independently owned hotel groups, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with US Houston based Orion Hotels Inc to jointly find acquisition and development opportunities in the Americas (Canada, USA, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean).

"Orion Hotels Inc is a creative partnership of highly successful, committed and proven hoteliers dedicated to the goal of supporting, acquiring and operating distinctively successful hotels," said Sergio F Ortiz, founder and CEO of Orion Hotels Inc. "The depth and breadth of our industry expertise encompasses over 200 years of producing results, by enhancing asset value regardless of conditions or circumstances, while at the same time creating exciting environments where our associates thrive and our guests become lifetime friends."

Ortiz, a licensed hotel broker, has had a diverse and distinguished 35-year career in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries. Under his direction, Orion Hotels Inc was founded in 1999 and has grown into a multi-faceted corporation with a large portfolio of activities including asset management and consulting, executive recruiting, feasibility studies, fully integrated acquisitions and luxury hotel and resort management, development and marketing. Orion Hotels Inc is now a worldwide, holistic hospitality industry resource for investors and operators.

"A hotel investment is a complex vehicle requiring each aspect to be not only performing at peak effectiveness at all times, but most importantly, to be synergistically in concert with all other disciplines of the operation to ultimately produce the required returns on investment. This requires sound leadership and a team of proven experts who are masters of their craft and who enthusiastically work well together to achieve a common goal."

"As strategic partners, Orion Hotels and Resorts and Orion Hotels Inc will combine their efforts, networks, resources and talents to operate together as a management company to build a global Orion Hotels quality brand. I feel fortunate that our paths converged. I hold Franz Gmeiner and his Group in very high regard and I look forward to a long, fruitful and exciting relationship in the years ahead."

Orion Group CEO Franz Gmeiner and Ortiz both have an innate ability to maximise opportunities. As the founder of Johannesburg based Orion Hotels and Resorts, Gmeiner has developed a dynamic portfolio of unique, innovative and highly respected quality properties, renowned for meeting the demands of international travellers, local tourists and business people. Gmeiner places great emphasis on each hotel being able to offer high standards of service combined with a style that reflects the individuality of the hotel and its location. In just over a decade and a half, his unique understanding of contemporary financial and cultural climates has also enabled him to manage and grow Orion Real Estate into a listed company with a portfolio of hospitality, commercial and residential real estate assets that are both profitable and progressive.

Orion Hotels & Resorts' portfolio includes the Orion Hotel Devonshire in Johannesburg, Orion Mont-aux-Sources in the majestic Drakensberg Mountains, Orion Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino in Swaziland, Orion Hotel Promenade in Nelspruit, Orion Safari Lodge in Rustenburg, the Orion Hotel Wartburg in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands and the Mohale and Katse Lodges in Lesotho.

Each hotel, while retaining its original name blended with the Orion brand, has a unique character. The Orion Group has an acquisition strategy of taking existing hotels with a proven record of accomplishment and adding a winning management philosophy, so that the hotels take on a new lease of life.

The company is currently focusing on local and international expansion initiatives while maximizing value in current operations and advancing the Orion Hotels & Resorts brand. Locally, the Orion Group plans to manage 25 hotels in Southern Africa through acquisitions, Black Economic Empowerment, joint ventures and management contracts within the next five years.

"These are exciting times for the Group as we develop our growth and expansion plans," said Gmeiner. "We will continue to source out niche and exciting destinations to increase our presence both locally and internationally.  The growth that our brand has experienced since the inception of Orion Hotels & Resorts in 1999 is indicative of the momentum of our organization.  Our footprint continues to expand as we move into new markets to serve a wider range of guests."

"We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Sergio Ortiz and Orion Hotels Inc. We share many similar values and a passion for integrity, quality and results."