 News
Directories
|
Send to a friend
Use this form to send a link to, or the full text of the article shown below, to a friend.
If you wish to send to more than one person, you can enter multiple email addresses provided they are separated from each other with a comma.
Hotel News in Brief
Nov 04, 09 | 1:45 am
The escalating battle for online travel bookings took an intriguing turn this week as major players Travelocity and Priceline launched new features aimed at deal-hungry travellers. Under Travelocity's expanded hotel guarantee, customers who book a hotel room and find the same thing at a lower published price online anytime before the day of check-in will get a refund of the difference -- and, until Dec. 31, a $50 credit toward future bookings. Travelocity also is dropping its $25 change and cancellation fees for hotel rooms and regular vacation packages. The elimination of hotel change and cancellation fees brings Travelocity in line with such key rivals as Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline. But Travelocity adds a new twist to existing rate guarantees, which typically require customers to find a lower price and request the difference within 24 hours of booking. (Orbitz also promises automatic refunds of the difference if another Orbitz customer books the same reservation for at least $5 less.) Priceline, meanwhile, introduced an application for the iPhone and iTouch that lets name-your-own-price fans bid for and book hotels on the fly. With the free Hotel Negotiator app, travelers can find recent winning bids on hotels by typing a city name, choosing from a drop-down list of 50 top U.S. destinations, or shaking the device to establish their specific location.
Mr. Matthias Roeke has been appointed as general manager of China World Summit Wing, Beijing, a luxurious hotel by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts set to open in the Chinese capital's latest landmark, the 330-meter (1,082-foot) tall China World Tower at the China World Trade Center complex. In his new capacity, Mr. Roeke will lead the pre-opening team through the hotel's progression as Beijing's iconic new sanctuary. China World Summit Wing, Beijing is scheduled to open at the end of 2009 or early 2010. With unrivalled views over the city center, the new China World Summit Wing, Beijing occupies the upper floors of the city's newest landmark, China World Tower, which soars 81 floors over the China World Trade Center complex in the heart of Beijing's Central Business District. A German national with twenty years of hospitality management experience, Mr. Matthias Roeke has been with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts for six years. Prior to joining China World Summit Wing, Beijing, Mr. Roeke was general manager of Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, since October 2007. Recently, the resort joined seven other Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts on Travel + Leisure magazine's 2009 World's Best Awards list. In this annual readers' poll, Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa was recognized as one of the world's top 100 hotels and was named one of the top 15 resorts in Asia. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Roeke served as resident manager of Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong, an award-winning property which consistently ranks in the readers' polls of the world's foremost travel publications, and where he played an instrumental role in improving the hotel's guest satisfaction scores for overall staying experience. Mr. Roeke attended hotel school training in his native Germany, commencing his professional career in Berlin. He has since been involved on an executive level with the opening of five-star hotels in Stuttgart, Germany; Mumbai, India and Seoul, Korea. Mr. Roeke's career has brought him to various destinations around the globe, including Singapore, South Africa and Thailand.
Rita Boustany, Editor-in-Chief of Aviamost, the most popular and widely circulated Russian language magazine in the Gulf, has said Dubai should expect 15% to 20% increase in tourist influx during the November Russian holiday of this year compared to the same period in 2008. She said: "Dubai's tourism industry is bracing itself for a large number of Russian tourists as nearly 10,000 to 15,000 who are expected to arrive in the city during the November holiday period. According to the Russian tour operators Dubai hotels lowered their room rates by the end of 2008 and the trend continued till mid 2009. As the room rates are still the same it has helped Russian operators to sell Dubai well amid economic crisis. Due to our 15-year long experience with the Russian market we expect to witness good business in the city and so will distribute a larger quantity of Aviamost, famous for its upbeat style, to all its partners such as major Dubai hotels and airlines." Rita added Russians are traditionally big spenders as the major chunk of their tourism expenditure is on shopping. However, due to the economic meltdown decrease in traffic from Russia to Dubai affected summer tourism this year. But they have started pouring in the city and their presence has boosted overseas resident spending in Dubai. The magazine works closely with Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing Department (DTCM) in marketing the top Dubai attractions to tourists especially the retail industry, shopping malls and the best luxury brands they are housing. Aviamost has been instrumental in promoting tourism in the city following Dubai government's initiatives especially to the Russians who mainly come to shop here due to the availability of the world's best brands at lower rates compared to Russia where luxury products are taxed.
Joanna Edmunds is taking over from Nick Hughes as managing director of Kuoni UK, effective 2 November. Kuoni said the move was in line with its overall strategy and recently announced Target Operating Model. It added that due to these structural changes and the newly defined MD role - which now includes enhanced focus on sales and marketing but excludes responsibility for production - Hughes was leaving with immediate effect. Kuoni said Hughes, who has been with the company for over two years, had made ‘a significant impact on the business and has provided strong leadership and strategic focus during a difficult trading period'. Edmunds joined Kuoni in March 2008 as commercial director, with responsibility for product, pricing, marketing and e-business. Since then she has also played an integral part in the re-positioning and strategic focus of the group's tour operation in the UK. Her previous positions include managing director of Thomas Cook Signature, managing director of Magic Travel Group, development director for Thomson Holidays and an interim role as head of ancillaries at easyJet.
RESORTS World Sentosa hopes to attract 800,000 to a million visitors from India once it opens in early 2010. The integrated resort, presently holding a four-city roadshow in India, expects to receive 13 million visitors in its first year of operation (2010), with India figuring as an important source market. Resorts World Sentosa vice president of communications Krist Boo said: "Singapore has been the top outbound destination for India for many years, so it is familiar to many Indians. Resorts World Sentosa, however, is a new 'must see'. We believe we will draw many new Indian travellers and give past visitors to Singapore a new reason to visit again." To build awareness of the integrated resort in the Indian market, Resorts World Sentosa is planning regular roadshows in several Indian cities as well as campaigns in print and electronic media. Boo added that the attraction would like to work with every Indian travel agent. Some 780,000 Indian nationals visited Singapore in 2008.
One of the world's leading groups of independent hotels, WORLDHOTELS, has appointed two very senior members of staff. Robert van der Graaf has been appointed as head of WORLDHOTELS's global marketing services department, whilst Leonie Ameringer has joined as head of the group's new global e-marketing department. Both will be based at WORLDHOTELS's head office in Frankfurt. Robert Hornman, managing director of WORLDHOTELS, commented: "Our marketing strategy is absolutely key to WORLDHOTELS's success going forward. That is why we specifically appointed two people with a wealth of marketing expertise. The creation of the new e-marketing department caters to the importance of the online marketing sector for the hospitality industry and will ensure that WORLDHOTELS can offer our affiliate hotels the most advanced services and solutions in this area." As the new director marketing services, Robert van der Graaf, will have responsibility for partner marketing, branding and corporate production, as well as the group's global campaigns.
Tata Group company is likely to open a part of its heritage wing of Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in November-December, a top company official said. The prestigious Taj Palace Hotel was damaged during the Mumbai terror attacks last year. "We expect to open a fair amount of the heritage wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel in November-December barring the sixth floor, which will open by March 2010," Indian Hotels' Managing Director, Raymond Bickson, told reporters here. "We expect to re-open three of our restaurants- Golden Dragon, Wasabi and the Harbour Bar shortly," Bickson said. The rooms and the remaining food and beverage outlets in the hotel, including the ball room, will be opened in phases, he said. The company's total income was also affected because of the closure of 287 rooms in the Palace wing of the hotel which is undergoing renovation.
Rezidor continues to focus on cash protection as market remains weak. "The third quarter has not witnessed any major change in the trading conditions for Rezidor. A weak demand from business clients has been partly offset by lower yield leisure travellers. Visibility is still limited and our current plans are based on the assumption that the difficult business climate will continue at least for the near future. Our focus on capturing revenue and controlling costs is targeted to ensure that Rezidor is well positioned to benefit when market conditions improve. Our cost cutting program is progressing according to plan and we feel confident that we will achieve annual savings of MEUR 30 in operations and additional reductions of approximately MEUR 4 in central costs. As reducing risk by adding fee-based managed and franchised rooms remains an important objective, Rezidor will continue to seek profitable growth opportunities in this area. This year, the company has already added almost 4,900 rooms to its operations, of which more than 88% are managed or franchised" Kurt Ritter, President & CEO.
Back to Latest Hospitality News
|
Travel Tools
|
