Hotel News in Brief
Jul 30, 10 | 1:45 am
HOTEL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Langham Hotels International has announced it will open in 2013 the only hotel connected to the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, home to the Canton Import and Export Fair and Asia's largest Exhibition space. The landmark property, Langham Place, Pazhou, Guangzhou has been designed to capitalize on the extensive business and leisure opportunities in the region. The management agreement for this strategically-located hotel is with the leading Hong Kong property developer, Nan Fung Group, which is also developing a sister tower of similar structural design for commercial use. This 20th property in Langham's fast growing portfolio has been hailed as a modern architectural gem.
China's most iconic hotel will once again welcome guests when the Fairmont Peace Hotel opens its doors on July 28, 2010. In one of this year's most eagerly anticipated openings, Jin Jiang Hotels International and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts unveil the culmination of a comprehensive restoration program following the legendary property's closure in 2007. The hotel, which officially opened on August 1, 1929, was widely known as the "Number One mansion in the Far East ", due to its prime location along the Bund and for its luxury, including the distinctive copper-sheathed roof 77 meters above ground, white Italian marble floors, and priceless Lalique glass artwork. The internationally acclaimed design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) worked closely with a team of leading designers, architects and historians to recreate the grandeur and majesty of the landmark property and embody the spirit of its glamorous art-deco heritage.
The Eurostars Budapest Center 4*, the first establishment of Eurostars Hotels in Hungary, will open its doors on July 29. Besides the new hotel in Budapest, the hotel chain has also opened this month three new hotels in Spain; the Eurostars Las Canteras 4*, located right on the beach of the same name in Las Palmas de Gran Canarias; the Eurostars Executive 4*, in Barcelona, and the Eurostars Executive 4* in Madrid. With these new establishments, the hotel chain's portfolio currently includes 56 hotels.
GLOBAL STAFF MOVEMENT:
Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality services for Outrigger Enterprises Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Simeon Miranda as general manager of two Outrigger-managed properties, the OHANA Honolulu Airport Hotel and Best Western The Plaza Hotel. In his new position, Miranda oversees all hotel operations aspects at both properties, including front office administration, housekeeping, engineering and guest services. Miranda comes to Outrigger with over 23 years of executive management experience with Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International.
Claudia Kozma Kaplan, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, for The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., has announced the appointment of Jennifer Oberstein to the position of Director of Communications for The Leading Hotels of The World. Based in the company's New York headquarters, Ms. Oberstein will oversee the development and execution of the corporate public relations strategy. In addition to directly handling US media relations, she will manage the company's relationship with its press agencies worldwide including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, India and Hong Kong. Ms. Oberstein joins The Leading Hotels of the World from The Ritz-Carlton, where she was most recently Area Director of Public Relations.
The Dow Hotel Company, LLC a hotel ownership investment and management company, today announced that C.A. Anderson, CHA, has joined the company as president and chief operating officer. Anderson will be responsible for the overall guidance and growth of The Dow Hotel Company. He will be involved in all aspects of hotel acquisitions and development of relationships with financial and institutional fund partners. He will work closely with company founder and CEO Murray Dow on operations and design.
OTHER RELATED NEWS:
With many high profile sporting events, such as the World Cup, US Open Tennis and the Tour de France, taking place mid-week, the summer of sport provides hoteliers with an opportunity to drive additional revenue from an already captive in-room audience, who are keen to keep up to date with their favourite sport, whilst away from home on business. Research commissioned by Quadriga and carried out by independent provider Opinion Matters shows that sixty eight per cent of business travellers work, sleep and channel search in their hotel room when on a business trip. Many hoteliers could be missing a trick by not marketing their own services - they could be running themed promotions around these events, via the in-room TV, to entice guests to experience other services within the hotel. Commenting on the research, Marc Budie, technology director at Quadriga, said, "Imagine if you could tailor the in-room TV to become a guest communication portal and provide information on where the Tour de France or Golf Open for example, is showing in the hotel. You could then promote a special offer on golf lessons or perhaps highlight a special ‘Taste of France' dining promotion in the restaurant. By using the TV to effectively market these leisure and restaurant facilities, hoteliers can create additional revenues. In parallel with this, they also engage and improve communication with their guests. It's a double hit." Ronald Little, general manager at the Ramada Encore London West, adds, "Sports events are a perfect example of where the ability to tailor a portal within a guest's room can create effective revenue streams. We regularly run restaurant promotions through the TV using Quadriga's Sensiq communications portal and forthcoming events including The Ashes, Formula 1 and in the future the Olympics in 2012, will provide us with a great opportunity to use technology to distinguish our service proposition from those of our competitors."
On 18th July 2010 different employees from each department of the Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel on Egypt's Red Sea participated in the regular clean-up day. An outside temperature of 41 degrees Celsius did not stop anyone from cleaning the 160.000 m² pool and garden landscape and private beach from garbage to take another step towards a cleaner, more liveable environment for all. The hotel management has launched clean-up day as a regular activity to clean up the hotel grounds, with the firm belief that raising environmental awareness should start in your own backyard. The hotel is firmly on track in its aim of becoming a Green Globe certified hotel before the end of this year.
The Civil Aviation Authority has pledged to acknowledge all claims following the collapse of Goldtrail Travel within 28 days of receipt. The CAA said it was making ‘special arrangements' to enable as many people as possible to book an alternative summer holiday. Over 20,000 Goldtrail customers have been repatriated since the operator put itself into administration on 16 July. A further 112,000 were holding forward bookings when it collapsed. It is these that the CAA has said will be refunded ‘more quickly than usual'. The CAA said the special measures had been introduced in view of the ‘highly unusual' circumstances surrounding the collapse of Goldtrail. It is rare for a travel operator to go into administration at the height of summer. Richard Jackson, director of consumer protection for the CAA, said: ‘An Air Travel Organisers' Licence (ATOL) holder failing in the school summer holidays poses particular problems and disappointment to customers. ‘This collaborative approach is designed to give a large number of Goldtrail customers the opportunity to have a holiday rebooked for them or for a refund to be paid more quickly.' Customers who booked a package holiday with Goldtrail will get a full refund through the CAA's Air Travel Trust, after submitting a claim form, which can be downloaded from the CAA website.
