Golden Tulip has been active in the Scandinavian market since 1997, through its partnership with Rainbow Hotels. The existing portfolio comprises 46 hotels (3 hotels in Brussels, I hotel in Rotterdam and 42 hotels in Norway), including the latest two additions to the portfolio in Norway: Golden Tulip Rainbow Hotel Ski and Tulip Inn Rainbow Hotel Carlton.

Golden Tulip Rainbow Hotel Ski is located in the centre of Ski, neighboured by a new urban entertainment centre, with shops, restaurants and cultural facilities and is only a 20 minutes drive from Oslo. The hotel comprises 109 modern rooms, of which 45 rooms have kitchenettes. Moreover, the hotel provides state of the art meeting facilities catering to a capacity of 400 people.

The 51-room Tulip Inn Rainbow Hotel Carlton is located in the heart of Lillestrom city, only 12 minutes by train from Oslo and Gardermoen Airport, and at walking distance from the trade fair centre. The hotel offers excellent and comfortable service in a nice and relaxing ambience. All guestrooms offer satellite television with movie channels and direct Internet connection through wireless keyboards.

On January 1st 2004 the Golden Tulip Rainbow Hotel Wergeland will open in Kristiansand , Norway. The hotel is currently being renovated to offer a modern yet cozy atmosphere with 30 well equipped rooms.  Although the hotel is situated in the centre of Kristiansand, it still is set in quiet surroundings.

Hans Kennedie, president & chief executive officer of Golden Tulip states:� We see strong potential for further expansion in the Scandinavian market.  Our partnership with the Norwegian-based Rainbow hotels gives us a good basis to build on, however our goal is to create a pan-Scandinavian network.�

Golden Tulip also announced the appointment of two new members of staff for the Central European region. Ms. Fee Fichtl was appointed as Regional Director Franchise Services & Sales on August 1st 2003. In addition, as per 1st October 2003, Golden Tulip appointed Rolf Erik Huebbers as Franchise Development Manager for Central Europe. Moreover, Golden Tulip will be appointing two new Franchise Services & Sales Managers for the northern and southern part of Central Europe/Germany.

Golden Tulip has been active in Central Europe since 1979 and currently comprises a portfolio of 35 hotels (7 hotels in Austria, 3 hotels in Czech Republic, 21 hotels in Germany, 1 hotel in Hungary and 3 hotels in Switzerland).  Despite the merger between Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts and Top International Hotels being reversed, both companies have continued to cooperate through their successful commercial alliance, under the name of the Golden Tulip Top Hospitality Group. TOP International Hotels currently combines 120 individual hotels across Europe, with its main focus on German speaking countries. TOP International recently took over the Country & City Line collection. The alliance partners base their cooperation on joining forces at trade-fairs, through sales-events, on reservation systems and via other means of distribution.�

Hans Kennedie, president & chief executive officer of Golden Tulip states: � We see strong potential for further expansion in German speaking Europe. As a result of the consolidation of the market by a few number of international companies, especially in Germany, Golden Tulip has the opportunity to gain strength by providing a solution for independent hotels that wish to continue competing in the market.�

Golden Tulip Hotels, Inns & Resorts is a privately owned franchise company with its head office based in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.