There's an Interesting story in the Times about Branson planning to open a new range of Virgin Hotels. The first will be in New York, London, Los Angeles and Atlanta. If they work, then India, China and Saudi Arabia will follow.
They will be based on the Clubhouse, the lounge for premium passengers at Heathrow airport. They are likely to take over existing hotel properties and Branson has already been appraoched by some interested parties, he said.
"We are going to take the concept of the W hotel and move it on 10 years by creating urban, townhouse-style properties, halfway between a hotel and a private club."
It's a brave move to go into hotels in the current climate, with today's CBI report showing a marked downturn in profits in the hospitality sector. It will be interesting to see if Branson can pull it off.