Hotel News in Brief
Jul 26, 10 | 1:45 am 
HOTEL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Accor North America, one of the nation's largest owner/operators of economy lodging, announces the opening of 34 Motel 6 and Studio 6 franchise locations in the first half of 2010. The latest openings include 32 Motel 6 locations and two Studio 6 properties, with a room count of 2,874.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. has opened a mixed-use hotel and residences in the seaside destination north of Tel Aviv. The 12-story property, which was developed by the Tibhar Group and the Strauss Group, features six floors of apartments on top of the six-story hotel.
BEST Western Jayleen 1918 in Singapore will open on August 1, marking Best Western International's entry into the city state. The 42-room hotel in the central business district straddles Raffles Place and Shenton Way, and is within walking distance of four MRT stations and the entertainment enclaves of Clarke Quay and Boat Quay.
GLOBAL STAFF MOVEMENT:
William R. Carlson has been named executive director of Select RegistryTM, Distinguished Inns of North America (www.selectregistry.com ). In his new role, Carlson will oversee strategic planning and marketing initiatives that build upon the organization's 40-year history as the premier association of critically acclaimed inns, B&Bs and small boutique hotels across the U.S. and Canada.
OTHER RELATED NEWS:
Budget hotel chain Premier Inn has signed a distribution deal that will allow its 580 properties to be booked through Amadeus. The new agreement enables Premier Inn to continue to expand its distribution beyond the UK and Ireland, and focus on key markets including France, Spain, Italy and Germany. It will also help Premier Inn to attract more business travellers, as rooms will now be accessible through more than 103,000 points of sale worldwide. The distribution deal has added over 42,000 rooms in the UK and Ireland to Amadeus and helps give the GDS a portfolio of hotel content across all price ranges.
New minefield of cruise rules. Perhaps never before have cruise lines seen such scrutiny from US and international authorities in what some industry officials are calling a regulatory "minefield," while others term it the biggest threat to the future of the business. The latest example: President Obama signed into law a bill requiring the industry to be more transparent in reporting onboard crime as well as other security features. The problem for the industry is that their ships pass through many destinations with varying rules. "Different communities sometimes post their own rules, and to an operator, that kind of drives you crazy," said Gerry Cahill, Carnival Cruise Lines CEO. "It does make it more difficult. Sometimes we have to carry two different grades of fuel onboard to comply with these rules." The Cruise Line International (CLIA) has lobbied for more consistent rules, but Michael Crye, CLIA's executive vice president for technical and regulatory affairs, said that has not always been effective. "From a shipping perspective, it's always been and always will be that we'd like to harmonize the requirements placed on an industry, so that you don't have this thing taking effect in this location and that thing in that location," he said. Meanwhile, environmental groups and victims associations are applauding the increased jurisdiction. Politicians behind the legislation say that it makes the world cleaner and safer.
Eurostar passenger numbers rose by 6% to 4.6m during the first half of 2010, thanks in part to the ash-related flight chaos. The high-speed train service also saw H1 revenues increase by 18% to £404m, as the business travel market strengthened and more passengers travelled beyond core routes. It said: ‘There has been a notable increase in the number of passengers choosing Eurostar and high-speed rail as an alternative to short-haul air travel in Europe. ‘Shorter journey times to the South of France, Germany and the Netherlands are prompting customers to take advantage of the ease and comfort of city centre to city centre travel.' More international passengers, especially Americans and Australians, are travelling by Eurostar as part of their European tour. International sales revenues were up 24% in June, compared with the same month last year.
