Hotel News in Brief

Sep 04, 12 | 12:09 am

Some current conversation starters...

Webinar: International Travel & Tourism Markets China to the United States

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) and the U.S. Commercial Service Travel & Tourism Team are pleased to present a webinar on THE fastest-growing top-ten tourism market to America: China. China surpassed the one million arrivals mark for the first time in 2011, setting a new record for arrivals to the United States for the fifth consecutive year and leap-frogging two spots to rank 9th in visitors to the United States. Spending by Chinese visitors to and within the United States was a record $7.7 billion in 2011. Learn more about the key traveler characteristics of the Chinese visitors over time and how to use this information to tailor your approach to this country. What are the trends in outbound travel from China to the world and the United States? What does the Chinese visitor profile look like? What is the forecast for travel to the United States over the next five years? What are the best practices in attracting Chinese visitors? How can we use social media to influence Chinese travelers? What are the latest developments on China visa facilitation? The Webinar will offer answers to these questions, and more, in a practical format with time for individual questions following the presentations. Scheduled for September 12, 2012 at 7:00pm Eastern Time (US), this webinar will present data and analysis on Chinese inbound tourism to the United States, as well as opportunities and strategies to attract Chinese travelers. This market intelligence webinar offers a profile of the Chinese traveler, insight on travel distribution in China, as well as ideas for specific opportunities for you to promote your travel and tourism products. To register for this event or for more details on speakers and format, click here: https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/newWebinarRegistration.jsp?SmartCode=1QBM

Marriott touts reduced energy and water usage

Marriott International said it has cut both water and energy use per room during the past four years. The company looks to reduce its properties' energy and water consumption by 20% by the end of the decade. Since 2007, the company's hotels have reduced their per-room water usage by 12% and cut their energy consumption by 4%, Marriott said in a companywide sustainability report. Marriott also has reduced landfill waste per room at its Americas hotels by 10% during the past two years, the company said. In June, Marriott led a group of 23 hotel companies that agreed to support an effort to standardize how to measure a hotel's impact on the environment in the form of greenhouse-gas emissions. The group is working with the International Tourism Partnership and the World Travel & Tourism Council on practices for calculating a property's carbon footprint, and on metrics for disclosing and comparing emissions levels among hotels. By Danny King.

Is Travelocity Built For Women?

The folks over at Skift have an interesting study on mobile travel apps as a function of gender. Among the comscore data that they crunched, they found that the mobile tools for Hilton and Delta were frequented primarily by men (74% and 67% respectively) while among Online Travel Agents, Travelocity was the only tool that was gender asymmetric. Apparently, 66% of Travelocity app users are women, while other sites like Orbitz and Kayak are closer to 50/50. What's with the skew? Dennis Schaal, the author of the article, jokingly suggests that the Travelocity Gnome might have some better sex appeal (and The Negotiator doesn't?) but the real influences are probably more subtle than that. It's well known that design aspects of a website including color and functionality tend to cater to different demographics. In this case, it's possible that Travelocity's design is just better suited to the female aesthetic. Either way, Travelocity has the same comscore data that we do, so the targeting is intentional. We just don't know why. By Grant Martin.

Key Appointments in the Industry

Congratulations to these new appointments...

Centara Hotels & Resorts has promoted Voytek Klasicki from General Manager of Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives to Area Manager of the Maldives and General Manager of Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives. Voytek has 25 years of experience in hotel management, having worked in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and India before coming to Thailand. He has been with Centara Hotels & Resorts since 2006 in the position of General Manager of Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Krabi.  He was then transferred to oversee the pre-opening of Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives for six months, before being promoted to Area Manager of the Maldives and General Manager of Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives.

Absolute Hotel Services' Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Wigley has the pleasure to announce the appointment of Mrs. Napan Khumbute as Business Development Manager, effective September 1, 2012. Napan will focus on generating even greater growth for all our brands in all current and new regions with alignment to the company strategy. She has been part of the Absolute Hotel Services Thailand Marketing Team since 2010, prior to that she held various sales, marketing and administration roles with the Centara Group.

The Latest in Hotel Openings

Refugia Lodge will open September 1, 2012, on Chiloé Island in southern Chile, bringing a touch of luxury and comfort to a region known for its rusticity and strong ties to a bygone era. Blending effortlessly and harmoniously with its surroundings, the 12-room Refugia Lodge is an architectural work of art that pays homage to the "Chilote" mastery of wood craftsmanship, providing a warm and cozy base for travelers to explore the cultural and natural riches of Chiloé. Refugia sits perched atop a rolling hill with beautiful views of the Reloncaví Sound and the snowcapped peaks of the Andes in the distance, just 20 minutes from the capital city Castro. With all-inclusive packages that include deluxe accommodations, a spa, all meals, excursions, and airport transportation, guests arrive and leave everything to Refugia's friendly and welcoming staff. Named by the New York Times as one of the "45 Places to Go in 2012," the Chiloé Archipelago is culturally and ethnically distinct from mainland Chile due to hundreds of years of relative isolation. It is a region heavily influenced by myths and folklore, a culture shaped by harsh weather and the influence of Spanish conquistadors, Jesuit priests, seafarers and pirates. Lush and impossibly green with large swaths of old-growth temperate rainforest, Chiloé offers dramatic Pacific coastline and quiet forested inlets scattered with tiny islands reached by boat or a vehicle ferry. Chiloé's iconic Jesuit churches, 14 of which are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites, rise majestically in every cove.

Hyatt Place to Expand in India. Unity Infraprojects, Ltd., in its first hospitality venture, plans to open a 125-room Hyatt Place hotel in a mixed-use development here in 2016. The hotel will feature a restaurant and bar, meeting space, fitness center and swimming pool. The hotel will be the 24th upper-end, select-service Hyatt Place hotel under development in India and the 57th Hyatt-branded hotel to be developed in the country. The Hyatt Place will operate under a long-term management agreement with an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corp.