Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLHW) enjoyed its best ever trading year in

2013, as revenues grew a healthy 12 per cent to reach $134m (£81.5m, €98.5m).

The UK-based marketing consortium represents 520 small independent hotels in more than 70 countries and sold 369,152 room nights over the 12-month period – a year-on-year increase of eight per cent.

A steady increase in visitors to the SLHW website was augmented by a strong performance through travel agents, while bookings made via global distribution system (GDS) channels increased by 9 per cent, accounting for more than 50 per cent of revenues.

The SLHW portfolio grew by 55 properties in 2013, ending the year with 29 new hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, 17 in the Asia Pacific region and nine in the Americas.

Paul Kerr, CEO for SLHW, believes the company's wide range of booking platforms played a large part in the growth.

“Certainly, there has been an increase in consumer confidence globally, but Small Luxury Hotels of the World offers a great product that is easily booked," he says.

“However consumers choose to buy, we’re there, and we're looking forward to 2014, when we revamp our website to make it faster and perform better.”