Analytics giant STR buys LJ Research for ‘market-leading data’

LJ RESEARCH, the tourism market research specialist founded 18 years ago in Edinburgh, has been sold to US giant STR.

The business was spun out from the then Edinburgh and Lothian Tourist Board by its head of research Lynn Jones in 1998.

Ms Jones, now 68, owned 98.4 per cent of the company, with Surrey-based company secretary Rupert Jones owning 1.6 per cent, when STR’s directors took control earlier this month, according to filings at Companies House.

When the business first started, Ms Jones said it offered “rigorous data, which means the public and businesses can see if they are getting a good return for the public money being spent – unless you invest in analysis like this, you can’t really quantify the benefits of tourism”.

LJ produces regular reports on the Scottish hotel sector and offers clients its LJ Forecaster hotel performance monitoring system and Visitrac, an online survey engine.

Its clients include Skyscanner, Stagecoach, East Lothian Council, Royal Yacht Britannia and National Trust for Scotland.

STR, a “data benchmarking and analytics specialist” was founded in 1985 and is based in Tennessee, with an international headquarters in London. It joined the ranks of the 5,000 fastestgrowing private companies in the US four years ago, and operates in 10 countries – though it receives data from 50,000 hotels in 185 countries.

It said yesterday that acquiring the Scottish full-service market research agency would enable it to provide more comprehensive solutions for clients. “LJ Research will gain access to STR’s market-leading data, enabling it to provide unparalleled insights from a combination of customer surveys and hotel performance data.”

Robin Rossmann, STR managing director, added: “LJ Research has a proven track record in providing high-quality statistics and insights for its clients.”

Sean Morgan, 35, LJ’s managing director, who joined the board in 2011, said: “We believe that as part of STR, we will be able to expand and improve upon our services. Lynn and I, along with the rest of the LJ Research team, truly are very excited about the future.”