Dr Daniel Thorniley, The Economist Group SVP, to share views on Russia's burgeoning market at RHIC 2008

Dr Daniel Thorniley, Senior Vice President of The Economist Group, will give his views on economic growth in Russia as the opening keynote speaker at the forthcoming Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference (RHIC).

Based in Vienna, Thorniley is The Economist Group’s senior global and emerging markets consultant. He has more than 25 years' experience observing and advising senior executives on global business strategies, with particular expertise on the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China) along with other emerging markets.

In his latest recently published paper*, Thorniley states that: “Russia is potentially the best business market in the world and appears to be on the edge of exploding… in a positive sense into one of the major economic powerhouses of the world and certainly of Europe.” The report describes that whilst Russia faces serious risk issues, these are manageable and better than those in most emerging markets. Although costs and inflation are rising with global trends, Russia is reporting very strong growth and profits with a very positive outlook.

According to Thorniley, Russia accounted for 40% of EU export growth in 2007 and now represents about 30-50% of all Central and Eastern Europe business for the major western players in the region. The Russia market for a growing number of companies will start to be the driver of European business and with the government’s massive engagement in infrastructure spending, the country represents one of the biggest investment opportunities globally.

Jonathan Worsley, RHIC conference co-organiser, explains: “As the fastest growing economy in Europe, Russia is changing the face of investment in the hospitality industry and with the hotel market in Russia & CIS in its infancy, it offers exciting and unmatched returns for investors, developers and operators.” Worsley also states “the primary objective of the conference is to raise awareness of investment opportunities, to provide a forum to meet new partners and to facilitate dialogue, debate and best practice.”

Gerald Gaige, Real Estate Industry Leader for Ernst & Young CIS, recently said: “The hospitality business in Russia and CIS is expanding rapidly. RHIC will provide a venue for new entrants to get up to speed on best practice and meet international players from the rest of the world.”

The Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference will run from October 21-22, 2008 at the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, and is jointly organised by The Bench and Questex Media Group, Inc.

About The Bench | Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of The Bench is one of the organisers and founders of the International Hotel Investment Forum () and is responsible for launching and co-organising the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference () and the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference (). Worsley is a consultant to CBRE Hotels and sits as an advisor to the World Travel & Tourism Council which represents many of the leading companies operating worldwide in the travel and tourism industry.

The Bench, a global partner with Smith Travel Research (STR), is a market leader in providing daily, weekly and monthly benchmarking data to more than 34,000 hotels worldwide. As the leading provider of online real-time benchmarking data, The Bench brings accurate hotel performance statistics to the market at an unparalleled speed.

About Questex Media Group, Inc | Questex Media Group, Inc. is a global, diversified business-to-business media organization serving multiple industries including hotel and hospitality, travel, technology, beauty, spa, among numerous other specialty industries with its well-established, market-leading publications, events, interactive media, research, and other marketing and media related services. The company's combined operations include more than 450 employees in offices throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe.

Strategically, Questex places a strong emphasis on serving the hotel and hospitality market and has created the Questex HotelWorld Network, which provides access and opportunity within all facets of the hotel and lodging industry across the globe. Questex's HotelWorld Network includes flagship publication Hotel & Motel Management magazine, published for nearly 132 years; Hotel Design magazine, celebrating the design excellence of hotels, resorts, lodges and destination spas; Luxury Hotelier, a print publication reaching the exclusive audience of four- and five-star hotel owners and operators; and The Hotel Times, a newly-launched publication focusing on international hotel investment and real estate. In addition to these leading publications, the Questex HotelWorld Network includes prominent events including the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) held in Berlin, which is the leading meeting place for the European hotel investment community; HotelWorld Expo & Conference part of International Hospitality Week held in Las Vegas, which offers an international experience for hotel industry professionals and the industry's suppliers and manufacturers located throughout the world; and the HOTEC series of three-day forums held across the globe which consist of pre-scheduled appointments with numerous networking opportunities to do business and exchange ideas with the leaders who influence the future of the global hospitality industry.