FUTURISTIC: A hotel image included in the Virgin Hotels information pack. Picture: Virgin Hotels
SIR Richard Branson has given the biggest clue he will be venturing into the hotel business by launching the Virgin Hotel website.
According to the website, the hotel chain will begin in North America before going global, with Branson promising to "re-define the customer journey from pre-arrival to check-out".
"Our customers expect innovation and excellence and our new four-star hotels will deliver exactly that,” Mr Branson says on the Virgin Hotels website.
"I've had great fun turning quite a lot of different industries on their heads and making sure those industries would never be the same because Virgin took them on."
Virgin Hotels is also putting the call out for partnership opportunities with property owners and developers, urging them to "capitalize on the Virgin brand’s global appeal and cosmopolitan fan base."
They are seeking 150 to 400 room hotels of "interesting, authentic and high quality" design. They are also aiming to provide "unique communal spaces" where travelling business people can work without it encroaching on their personal space, and simultaneously have the opportunity to network with fellow travellers.
Mr Branson has also pledged to integrate Virgin flyers and loyalty program members into the project, to significantly enhance marketing, sales and distribution. The venture "aims to acquire up to $500 million in properties" over the next three years.
But watch out if you're not wealthy, stylish or smart - their target consumer includes "the high income, well-educated, metropolitan 'creative class'".