Marriott considers making rival bid for hotelier Six Continents

(AP) -- Marriott International is considering making an offer for Six Continents PLC, owner of Holiday Inn, Inter-continental hotels and several chains of pubs, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Financial Times said that Marriott, which operates more than 2,000 hotels worldwide under management contracts, is considering an offer to rival the hostile takeover bid worth 5.6 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) made by food and drinks entrepreneur Hugh Osmond.

Six Continents rejected that offer Tuesday, saying it gives shareholders "nothing they do not already own except significant risk."

The Financial Times said Marriott has held discussions with Texas Pacific Group, the U.S. buyout firm, and CVC, the British private equity group, about joining a potential offer.

Tom Marder, a spokesman for the Baltimore-based Marriott, declined to comment. London-based Six Continents said it had not received any proposal from Marriott, Texas Pacific or CVC.

In a statement, Six Continents said its board "will give serious consideration to any proposal that might be attractive to shareholders and has reasonable prospect of delivery."

Six Continents' shareholders are due to vote Wednesday on a proposed spin-off of the group's pubs from its hotels and soft drink operations at an extraordinary meeting.

The company says its plans will return 700 million pounds ($1.1 billion) to shareholders in a project that could be scrapped if Osmond's bid is successful. Osmond has criticized the plan and accused Six Continents' management of destroying shareholder value.

By contrast, the company said Osmond's offer was "remarkably short on detail. His team has no partner, and it envisages selling off hotels at the bottom of the business cycle when their market value was at its lowest."

Six Continents owns the Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotel businesses, together with British pub and restaurant brands, including All Bar One and O'Neill's. It also has a large stake in British soft drinks manufacturer Britvic, which is 90 percent owned by Britannia Soft Drinks, in which Six Continents has a controlling interest. 

Thistle poised to sell top London hotels

Thistle Hotels is reportedly planning to sell some of its top London hotels in a bid to return £500 million to shareholders.

The move comes just days after the Leeds-based group rejected a £554 million bid from its largest shareholder, Singapore-based BIL.

The investment firm, which already owns 46% of Thistle, tabled a bid on Tuesday, offering 115p per share for the remainder.

Thistle immediately rejected the approach, calling it "opportunistic" and claimed the offer failed to recognise the underlying value of the company, whose shares closed at 123.5p on Friday.

The group is understood to be considering selling its famous Royal Horseguards hotel, its 801-room Tower Hotel near Tower Bridge, and its Marble Arch hotel, which has 692 bedrooms.

The three hotels are thought to be worth around £500 million, making up half of the £1 billion value of the group's 18 hotels in the capital.

But any plans to return the money to shareholders would need the majority of them to approve it.

No-one from Thistle was available to comment on the reports.

Thistle is London's biggest hotel operator, and it also has sites in other major UK cities including Edinburgh, Newcastle and Birmingham.

But last week it warned there had been "no perceptible improvement" in trading, after reporting a fall in pre-tax profits to £21.2 million for the year to December 29 from £27.9 million in 2001

GOPPAR, a derivative of RevPar!

Written By:  Elie Younes and Russell Kett    HVS International

Hotel managers, operators, investors, and analysts typically now use RevPAR as a basis for their hotel performance measure and analysis. This widely used measure reflects the guest rooms revenue on a per room basis, thereby monitoring the success or otherwise of the hotel’s rooms inventory management. Hoteliers aim to maximise RevPAR by means of an occupancy and average rate trade off. Rooms revenue makes up a large portion of total revenue. Typically, full-service three- to five-star hotels derive about 50-65% of their revenues from rooms. Budget and extended stay hotels with limited additional facilities make up to 90% of their revenues from rooms.

While RevPAR is one of the most recognised and used performance measures in the hospitality industry, providing general market trends and some revenue indications, there are some pitfalls to be aware of when analysing a hotel’s performance based solely on RevPAR.

This article shows the major pitfalls of RevPAR, and elaborates on the advantages of using a complementary performance measure, GOPPAR (Goh-Par).

RevPAR

RevPAR, or rooms revenue per available room, is calculated by dividing a hotel’s net rooms revenue (after discount and sales taxes and net of breakfast or other meals) by the total number of available rooms or by multiplying a hotel's average daily room rate (ADR) by its occupancy.

Pitfalls of RevPAR

·         Revenue Mix: In some instances, rooms revenue accounts for no more than 50-55% of total revenue. These include hotels with substantial food and beverage operations. In such cases, RevPAR would only reflect a portion of a hotel’s revenue performance, disregarding all other sources of incremental revenues. This will result in an inaccurate analysis when comparing hotel performances. For example, Hotel X has an average rate of £70, 70% occupancy, and 100 rooms. Other departmental revenues (including food and beverage and other operated departmental revenues) for Hotel X are £500,000. On the other hand, let’s assume that Hotel Y has the same size and average rate as Hotel X, but an occupancy level of approximately 60% and other departmental revenues of £1,000,000. While the RevPAR of Hotel X is approximately 15% higher than that of Hotel Y (£49 compared to £42), Hotel Y has a higher total revenue than Hotel X; £2.28 million for Hotel X compared to £2.5 million for Hotel Y. If the two hotels have similar direct expenses (say 35% of revenues), and the quantum of overheads is the same for the two hotels, Hotel Y would end up making more money than Hotel X, despite having a poorer RevPAR;
 

·         Size: RevPAR tends to penalise a larger hotel, when compared to a smaller property. Common sense suggests that it is often easier to have higher occupancy percentages in a 100-room hotel than in a 200-room hotel, especially when there are seasonal peaks and troughs (or even fluctuation between weekday and weekend occupancy levels). Consequently, the revenue per available room of a large hotel is likely to be lower than that of a smaller hotel, given similar market conditions. Therefore, hoteliers and potential investors need to consider the size of a hotel property when comparing the RevPAR performance of a specific hotel in relation to other hotel properties. It is not improbable that, due to economies of scale and incremental revenues, a large hotel has a healthier financial performance than a smaller hotel with a higher RevPAR. After all, hoteliers do not take RevPAR or percentages to the bank!
 

·         Value Implications: Hotel values are typically based on net free cash flows rather than total revenues. While RevPAR is somewhat related to a hotel’s value, it is not necessarily adequately correlated to the income capitalisation value of a hotel property. However, it can be said that changes in hotel values are often highly correlated to changes in RevPAR (reflecting an elastic relationship).

GOPPAR

GOPPAR, or gross operating profit per available room, is defined as total gross operating profit (GOP) per available room per day, where GOP is equal to total revenue less the total departmental and operating expenses. The following table illustrates the computation of GOPPAR.

While GOPPAR does not indicate the revenue mix of a hotel property, and therefore does not allow an accurate evaluation of the rooms revenue department, it does provide a clear indication of a hotel’s profit potentials. Furthermore, GOPPAR can, in most cases, better reflect the profitability, management’s efficiency, and underlying value of hotel properties, as a whole.

Advantages of GOPPAR

·         Revenue Mix: Since GOPPAR reflects the underlying operating profit of a hotel, it provides a clearer indication of the overall performance or cash flow potentials of a hotel property. Hotel companies, investors, valuers and developers can therefore evaluate hotel management’s performance based not only on rooms revenue, but on total revenues and operating efficiency on a per unit basis;

·         Size: GOPPAR accounts for all operating expenses, most of which include both fixed and variable portions. The fixed portion is mainly associated with the size and requirements of a hotel, while the variable portion relates to the volume of business attributed to the hotel. While a larger hotel will undoubtedly incur higher operating expenses than a smaller hotel, given similar market conditions, a smaller hotel is likely to have higher expenses on a per available room basis (due to the economies of scale of a larger hotel). For example, if a 400-room hotel incurs energy expenses of £175,000 per year (£437 per available room), a 200-room hotel in the same city may typically incur energy costs of £100,000 (£500 per available room). GOPPAR provides excellent performance measurements for hotels, regardless of size. While a smaller hotel can sometimes benefit from a higher RevPAR (because it is more effective in optimising occupancy and room rate), its operating expenses per room are likely to be higher than those of a larger property;

·         Value Implications: Hotel values are based on net free cash flows or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation). GOPPAR has a greater and more reliable correlation with a hotel’s value than RevPAR. We conducted a linear regression analysis between a hotel’s value per room, RevPAR and GOPPAR. On a random sample of 30 (profitable) hotels our analysis indicates that, on a per room basis, GOPPAR has a direct correlation of between 85% and 90% with a hotel value, while RevPAR has a correlation of approximately 70% to 75% with a hotel’s value. GOPPAR provides a more reliable measure for hotel valuations when compared to RevPAR, and should therefore be used as a more reliable basis for ‘quick and dirty’ hotel investment analyses. A high RevPAR does not necessarily imply a high bottom line and thus a high value; while a high GOPPAR reflects a high bottom line as well as a more reliable indication of value for the property.

The Trick!

It should be noted that GOPPAR is highly sensitive to any fluctuation in RevPAR. The profit margin of the rooms department is significantly higher than that of any other typical revenue generating department. Therefore, a slight fluctuation in RevPAR can have a significant effect on GOPPAR and, consequently, the underlying value of a hotel. In Table 2, we assume a 5% decline in both occupancy and average rate for Hotel C, resulting in a decline in RevPAR of approximately 10%. In addition, let’s assume a decline of 2.5% in other revenues and that departmental expenses will fluctuate in relation to the volume of business. The GOPPAR for Hotel C therefore drops by approximately 16%, from £42 to £35.

The RevPAR conversion into GOPPAR is high (almost a one to one relationship), so a slight fluctuation in RevPAR could have an even more significant effect on GOPPAR. Therefore, analysts should not solely rely on one measure when analysing a hotel property or a portfolio of hotels), and should regard GOPPAR as a complement to RevPAR.

Conclusion

RevPAR indicates the performance of a hotel in terms of rooms inventory management and provides some general market trends; however, it provides no cost indication of a hotel property and therefore how much money it is actually – or could be – making.

On the other hand, GOPPAR provides a deeper indication of a hotel’s profitability by taking into consideration management control and efficiency, and eliminating, to a certain extent, the potential advantage of a smaller hotel. In addition, GOPPAR offers an overall more robust performance measure, especially when comparing the financial performances of hotels with different sizes or in different markets. Furthermore, GOPPAR has a significant correlation with a hotel’s bottom line and thus its underlying value. The use of GOPPAR as a complement to RevPAR for hotel performance analysis will therefore enable a more robust basis for hotel investment appraisal than relying solely on RevPAR.

Elie Younes
Russell Kett

Dubai's hotel sector revenue up 19.28pc
 
Gulf News  -  Dubai's hotel sector registered 19.28 per cent revenue growth in 2002 to Dh3.8 billion from Dh3.2 billion in 2001, despite a difficult year for global tourism following September 11, according to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

This includes Dh3.4 billion generated from the hotel sector (excluding furnished apartments) that increased by 22.12 per cent from Dh2.7 billion in 2001.

This will boost the tourism sector's contribution to Dubai's GDP and, according to DTCM director general, Khalid A. bin Sulayem, "the tourism sector's contribution to GDP would be above 15 per cent, up from 14 per cent the previous year".

The number of visitors to Dubai's hotel establishments registered a 31.15 per cent growth last year to reach 4,756,280 from 3,626,625 in 2001 which, according to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), occupied the top slot among most popular tourism destinations.

WTO, in a recent report, has placed Dubai ahead of Hong Kong, France, Turkey, Belgium, China and Germany in terms of visitor inflow.

Dubai receives 0.7 per cent of the global 715 million tourists. Its 4.7 million visitors account for 20 per cent of the 24 million regional tourists.

Bin Sulayem said the actual number of visitors is much higher due to the fact that a good number of visitors stay with their relatives, friends and acquaintances which is not included in the statistics.

Out of the total 4,756,280 visitors, 4,107,236 tourists stayed in Dubai's 272 hotels last year, compared with 3,064,701 visitors who stayed in 264 hotels in 2001, registering a growth of 34.02 per cent.

Similarly, the number of hotel apartment (furnished apartments) guests in Dubai recorded an upswing of 15.50 per cent as their number increased to 649,044 in 2002, from 561,924 in 2001. 

Australia and New Zealand join forces at ITB

AsiaTravelTips.com  -  The Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) will lead a delegation of Australian and New Zealand tourism operators to the World's largest travel show, Internationale Tourismus Borse (ITB), in Berlin this week.

ATC Managing Director, Ken Boundy, said the delegation, representing more than 50 tourism companies, will be showcasing Australia to the European travel market at ITB from 7 to 11 March.

"As the world's largest travel industry event, ITB is a great opportunity to present Australia as an exciting and authentic travel destination to the travel  industry as well as potential travellers in Europe," he said.

"Events such as ITB will help to drive continued growth in visitors from Europe by providing a forum for Australian tourism operators to meet and do business with key European buyers.

"This is the first year that Australia and New Zealand have joined forces at ITB and this will help to capture greater interest from both trade and consumers attending the event.

"Many European travellers to Australia also visit New Zealand on their holiday. By joining forces with operators from New Zealand we can build on the interest of travellers wanting to visit one or both countries.

"The joint promotion follows a successful ATC advertising campaign in the United States which promoted both Australia and New Zealand as holiday destinations." 

Europe is Australia's second biggest source of visitors behind Asia, with 1.2 million visitors in 2002. However, performances across the European markets over the past year have been mixed with markets such as the UK, Austria, Norway, Denmark and Belgium recording growth while visitor numbers from Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden have declined.

Mr Boundy said the ATC has a number of campaigns planned for 2003 as part of its strategy to build visitors from Europe.

"The ATC recently launched campaigns in the UK, Italy, France and Germany to position Australia as the top of mind destination for European travellers and to boost the number holiday bookings from these key  markets," Mr Boundy said.

"The campaigns aim to boost interest in Australia and at the same time break consumer perceived barriers to travelling to Australia including time, distance and cost.

"ITB is also open to the general public which provides a unique opportunity for potential travellers to meet with Australian tour operators."

ITB brings together more than 9,000 exhibitors from 180 different countries. The event involves a trade show component for tour operators in Europe as  well as a public exhibition with thousands of consumers expected to visit the Australia and New Zealand stand.

In 2002, ITB attracted a total of 123,000 attendees made up of 65,000 trade visitors and 58,000 members of the general public. The ATC has led delegations to ITB for the past 24 years.

Le Meridien names UK chief

Le Meridien has confirmed that Karyn Marasco will be responsible for its 19 properties in UK and Ireland with a ‘relaunch and repositioning’ of its five London properties one of her key tasks.

In November Le Meridien’s UK and Ireland MD Tony Troy resigned. Marasco is not given the same title, as she retains her current responsibilities for the luxury hotel group’s 14 Americas and Caribbean properties.

Marasco has 20 years of hotel sector experience on her CV. She joined Le Meridien over a year ago from Lodgian Inc in the US. She has also spent 18 years with Westin Hotels & Resorts.

CEO Jurgen Bartels said: ‘Since joining, Karyn has made dramatic inroads in improving the revPAR and guest and employee satisfaction levels among our Anerican-based hotels, despite the challenging economic times’.
Le Meridien is owned by Japanese bank Nomura and managed by Terra Firma, formerly the Principal Financial Group.

Kempinski Plans Chain of Its Own

The Moscow Times  -  Joining international hotel operators' rush to expand their market presence, German high-end hotelier Kempinski intends to set up its own chain of three- or four-star hotels in the regions, the company's chief executive said in an interview published Thursday. "We are considering the possibility of working under another brand, such as Key International," Reto Wittwer told Vedomosti.

Kempinski plans to open as many as three hotels in the next two years and is eyeing "several Russian cities," Wittwer said.

In the last month, a flurry of announcements have come from international operators planning to open networks of economy class hotels in the regions. Delta Capital Management and two Scandinavian funds are planning a national chain of Country Inn hotels in partnership with Rezidor SAS, while Menatep Group is teaming up with hotel consultants Sabre and Marriott for a national three-star chain.

Some analysts said Kempinski might have trouble adapting to the business landscape outside its elite-market niche.

Scott Antel, a hospitality consultant at Ernst & Young, said the midrange market has different characteristics than the trophy properties Kempinski has focused on at the high-end of the market.

"With a three-star brand you have to be pretty universal -- not in just one country. You want to be universally recognized in every place you go," he said.

Kempinski Hotels & Resorts operates the Baltschug in Moscow and the Grand Europe in St. Petersburg but is not a shareholder in either.

Kempinski's involvement with future hotels will follow the same model, with the company as operator, not owner, Wittwer said. Swiss company GHE Holding together with other partners will own the hotels, he said.

GHE now holds a controlling stake in Grand Europe but is under scrutiny from the Audit Chamber regarding its purchase of a 40 percent stake in the hotel from the city government for just over $ 1 million.

When Good Hotels Go Bad

Christina Valhouli   Forbes.com 

the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Check into a $40-a-night Motel Six and expectations are low beyond clean sheets, hot water and a working television. When guests are paying $400 and up a night, they do not expect anything to go wrong, but even good hotels can occasionally go bad.

As those who have found themselves in this situation can attest, there are few more annoying or infuriating moments in one's life than arriving at a five-star hotel, tired and bedraggled after a long flight, looking forward to several days of pampering and, more immediately, a soft bed and hot shower--only to have your expectations brought rudely crashing to the ground. Whether a promised car didn't meet you at the airport or your reservations got lost or you wound up in a room with a broken telephone, these minor irritations become much larger when magnified by the knowledge of how much the whole thing is costing you. It's even worse when you have your wife and kids in tow.

There are two ways to deal with such a situation: adopt a Zen-like calm in the hopes that everything will work out and that such petty nuisances aren't worth getting upset about, or get angry and make a scene. Your blood pressure will probably be lower if you choose the former course, but it is likely the rest of your story will be infinitely better if you do the latter, particularly if word gets out to the staff that they had better be on their best behavior around you.

A few weeks ago, Forbes polled its readers for personal accounts of their own hotel horror stories, and the tales ranged from the amusing to the absurd and terrifying. We heard about a reader finding a corpse under his bed in São Paulo; blood splatters in a bathtub in Las Vegas; a yowling cat trapped between mattresses in Cincinnati; and a maid in Atlanta who did not understand that a "Do Not Disturb" sign means exactly that, even after barging in on a startled guest about three times a day. There were also plenty of stories about rude staff and extra charges appearing on bill.

While there were some similarities in the types of stories sent in, they differed in how they were resolved. Some readers reported immediate hotel upgrades or monetary compensation, such as a free stay or complimentary dinner, and felt that they would return to the hotel because of the staff's immediate action. Others said their complaints were shrugged off by indifferent hotel staff, and their letters to hotel general managers were left unanswered--these guests vowed never to return and told their friends and colleagues to avoid that particular hotel.

With that in mind, we decided to let our readers know what is the best way to voice a complaint in order to have immediate action taken, and we chose a few stories to investigate ourselves, such as what happened to Boston-based writer Jacqueline Fearer.

Two years ago, Fearer meticulously planned her first major family vacation in years. She chose the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda, specifically because the hotel's dolphin pools and water activities would appeal to her 12-year-old daughter. Fearer, who booked the vacation herself, e-mailed with the hotel general manager several times about the details of her trip, up until the day before her departure. When she arrived at the Fairmont, she was horrified to see the entire hotel under construction, with jackhammering being done around the pool. The dolphins had been moved as well.

"I e-mailed the general manager about every single detail because I wanted this vacation to be perfect," says Fearer. "I never thought to ask him if the hotel was under construction, but I shouldn't have to do that."

After Fearer complained to the general manager, the hotel moved the family into a huge two-bedroom suite at a "drastically reduced rate," and the manager called every day to see if they were happy, says Fearer. But her vacation was still a disappointment.

"From now on, I am always going to ask if a hotel is under construction when I book a vacation, because I never want that to happen again," says Fearer, who is still fuming about her experience.

Nancie Hall, a spokeswoman for the Fairmont Southampton, apologized for the Fearers' experience. "This is obviously a case that slipped through the cracks," says Hall. "It doesn't do us any good if we don't mention the renovations. It seems we didn't communicate that to her or whoever did her reservation."

A better way to have remedied the situation, Hall says, was to have had the family moved to the Fairmont's sister property in Bermuda. Her point is one that readers should keep in mind if they arrive at a hotel and feel it is in unacceptable condition--ask to be transferred to an affiliated property. Which, in theory, sounds nice, but of course the hotel never bothered to make that suggestion to Fearer.

One way to try to avoid any potential problems is to notify a hotel if a visit is for a special occasion, such as a honeymoon or anniversary. This doesn't always work, however, as David A. Kanbar can confirm. In early February the New York-based liquor industry executive thought he was doing just that when he booked a stay at the deluxe Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados for the last two nights of his honeymoon. But Kanbar says his stay was marked by a series of mishaps, including lost luggage, extra charges appearing on his bill and electrical problems in his hotel room, among other issues.

"These kind of problems can happen anywhere and I understand that, but the hotel didn't seem to care," says Kanbar. "None of the employees had a sense of urgency about this."

Kanbar is in the process of writing a detailed complaint letter to Sandy Lane, and when contacted by Forbes, general manager Colm Hannon says that what happened to Kanbar was "an absolute freak situation. Whenever someone has a complaint, we take it very, very seriously." Hannon says he plans to call Kanbar personally to discuss his complaints and will launch an investigation into the matter

While Kanbar did the right thing by voicing his complaints to various hotel staff members, he could have been more effective if he had chosen to speak directly to Hannon. He also did not request a room change, which may have solved some of the problems and is an entirely acceptable request, assuming the hotel has vacancies.

This may seem obvious but the best way to handle a complaint is while you are still at the hotel. Many of the readers who wrote in saying their complaint was ignored waited until they got home to write a letter or call. To strengthen your case, always have documentation, such as proof of your stay, meetings or receipts. Some savvy readers also took digital pictures of, say, moldy ceilings or torn mattresses to help bolster their case.

While many hotels provide guests with euphemistically-named suggestion cards, these may work for someone else down the road but they probably won't do much good for you. One woman who had a litany of complaints at a top Phoenix hotel--such as poor room service, a mini-bar that was never replenished and a staff that did not help her with her luggage, even though she was visibly pregnant--detailed her experiences on a comment card as she was checking out. It's no surprise she never heard back--the card was probably lost or thrown away, while the most effective thing to do would have been to place a call to the manager immediately after an incident.

Some guests choose to call down to the front desk when they have a problem, but to ensure the fastest reaction time, start at the top and call the general manager instead--his primary job is to make sure guests are happy and to fix any problems. Guenter Richter, the general manager of the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, says his hotel has a 15-minute response time to complaints, which are all kept in a log and distributed to staff members. "Some people like to go to the front desk when they have a problem, but I like the direct approach," he says.

Guests should not be afraid to be specific in their request for compensation--whether it's a room change, a complimentary stay, a free dinner or a spa treatment. A top hotel knows the importance of its reputation and the strength of guest referrals, so most hotels would be accommodating to these type of requests. Guests should also try to resolve any problems or charges while at the hotel, rather than dealing with the issue back at home. Sending a detailed letter to the general manager or owner of the hotel upon return is also effective.

"We cannot afford to have negative comments," says Richter. Guests paying the starting rate of $600 a night at the St. Regis would also agree they cannot afford to have a negative experience there.

GHM's first hotel in India, The Leela, Goa

General Hotel Management Ltd (GHM) and Hotel LeelaVenture Ltd.  announced the appointment of GHM as the operator of The Leela, Goa, formerly known as The Leela Palace, Goa with effect from 1 April 2003. GHM is pleased to have formed this association with Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair, Chairman Hotel LeelaVenture and a pioneer in the Indian hotel industry, as the owner of the first GHM hotel in India.

Previously managed by the Leela Group of Hotels (which includes The Leela, Mumbai and The Leela Palace, Bangalore), The Leela, Goa is a 5 star deluxe resort property with 160 rooms and suites located on Mobor Beach in the picturesque destination of Goa. Set in 75 acres of landscaped gardens, sparkling lagoons and tropical vegetation, The Leela has established a reputation as one of the premier resort properties in Asia (World Travel Award – The very Best Resort in Asia Pacific 2000 & 2001).

Adreas Herbst will be the General Manager responsible for the re-launch of The Leela, Goa as a GHM property. Over the next six - nine months GHM will introduce its villa-based Club concept to the property as well as adding its distinctive style of service to create a special overall guest experience.

GHM is a privately owned hotel management company chaired by Adrian Zecha, founder of Amanresorts, which specializes in conceptualizing and managing boutique lifestyle hotels and resorts. The company’s business purpose is to use a resourceful, imaginative development and management style to achieve a level of excellence that sets it apart from other hotels.

Current properties under management include – The Datai, Langkawi; The Legian and The Club at The Legian, Bali; The Strand, Yangon; The Lalu, Sun Moon Lake; The Andaman, Langkawi; The Chedi Phuket, Thailand; The Chedi Muscat, Oman and the T8 Restaurant & Club, Shanghai. New properties under construction include The Setai, South Beach, Miami, Florida (opening in 4Q 2004) and The Chedi Chiang Mai, Thailand (opening in 3 Q 2004).

Further information on GHM can be found on our website at www.ghmhotels.com

Turkish tourism looks promising despite Iraq crisis

Turkish Daily News  -  Turkey appears to be in a more advantageous position compared to last year in terms of tourism despite the negative atmosphere created by a looming war in neighboring Iraq, international tourism agencies said.

Hotel reservations in most of the popular touristic countries in the Mediterranean region have been decreasing but Turkish, Bulgarian and Croatian tourism sectors have recorded growth in terms of reservations compared to last year, said executives of travel agencies TUI and Thomas Cook in remarks to a German journal FW.

Turkey fears a war just next to its borders will make the country an unpopular place for visitors from across the world and estimates a decrease in its tourism revenues this year.

Germany-based Oger Tour officials admitted there was a decrease in demand but added Turkey was no worse than any other country in this regard.

Vural Oger, the head of Oger Tour, told the Anatolia news agency that his company has not observed an increase in reservations in Turkey compared to last year but added there was no decrease or extraordinary cancellations either.

He warned however that the recession could become more apparent later in March and April.

Oger said a possible war in Iraq badly affected tourism across Europe because rumors of war raised economic concerns among Europeans.

"Europeans fear a war will reduce their purchasing power, leave them unemployed and prices will go up. That's why they suspended their plans for a holiday," Oger said.

"Demand for Arabic countries has virtually ceased. Many popular countries, most notably Greece and Spain, cannot get enough reservations," he went on.

Oger said future prospects for Turkish tourism were still promising because Spain and Greece, Turkey's biggest competitors in tourism, have become more expensive places for Europeans after they started using Euro.

"That's why European tourists preferred Turkey, a beautiful and cheaper country. When the war worries are over, Europeans will again choose Turkey," Oger said

Marriott Sets Single-day Company Record in Web Site Bookings of More than $4.8 million in Gross Sales on March 3, 2003; 

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) announced that it set a single-day company record in bookings on its web site, Marriott.com, generating more than $4.8 million in gross sales on March 3, 2003 - the highest since the site was launched in 1996.  The record comes just weeks after Marriott.com announced a series of web site enhancements that enable travelers to design their own travel packages and book last-minute weekend getaways. 

Recent Enhancements to Marriott.com:

• Design Your Own Vacation Packages - The feature enables leisure travelers to easily custom design their own vacation packages, including hotel rooms, flights and car rentals for anytime they want to travel.  Two or more people can travel anywhere in the U.S., with the best values booked at least 14 days in advance.  Packages include Marriott Hotels & Resorts; JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts; Renaissance Hotels & Resorts; Courtyard; Fairfield Inn; Residence Inn; TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites. 

• Last-Minute Weekends - With more than 60 percent of reservations on Marriott.com made less than two weeks before departure, Last-Minute Weekends offers these travelers an additional planning feature. Leisure travelers can choose domestic and international getaway packages that include a choice of hotel rooms, airline tickets and car rentals.  Available within two weeks of departure, Last-Minute Weekends offers savings of up to 60 percent. 

Strong Caribbean presence at ITB

The Caribbean will be prominently featured at one of the world's leading travel exhibitions, the International Tourism Exchange ITB Berlin 2003 which takes place in the German city of Berlin from March 7-11, 2003. Twenty-eight (28) of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)'s 32 member countries are among the 181 countries and territories participating in the event. As it has done every year since 1980, CTO will coordinate a Caribbean Village at the Berlin Exhibition Ground, site of the tourism trade fair.

"CTO fulfills an extremely important role through the Caribbean Village by providing an opportunity for our membership in both the public and private sectors, many of whom could not otherwise do it on their own, to exhibit their products and to deal with some very significant business matters," said Jean Holder, CTO's secretary general. In addition to the Caribbean Village, CTO will host the 4th Caribbean Forum where Mr. Holder, Arley Sobers, CTO's director of research and information management, Jo Spalburg, CTO's deputy director of marketing in Europe and Phillippe Boucard, chairman of AG Karibik will address a range of issues relating to Caribbean tourism. They will also launch this year's marketing programme in Germany. AG Karibik is CTO's Central European Chapter and is collaborating with CTO to host the forum.

"The forum will present yet another opportunity for the Caribbean to make further inroads into the important German and European markets and to send a clear signal to the entire tourism world that the region remains the best option for a relaxed and enjoyable vacation," added Mr. Holder. Indicators for 2003 suggest that while bookings from Europe for the winter season are better than in 2002, they are still below expected levels. The major Caribbean destinations for European visitors - Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica - all registered declines in arrivals from this market in 2002. However, some other destinations, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, and the Turks and Caicos Islands recorded increased arrivals ranging from 2.1 percent to 15.8 percent in European visitors.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York, London and Toronto, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency and comprises membership of 32 governments and a myriad of private sector companies. The CTO's mission is to provide to and through its members, the services and information needed for the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people. The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance to member countries in the areas of marketing, human resource development, research and statistics and sustainable development. The CTO disseminates information on behalf of its member governments to consumers and the travel trade.

Ehotelier.com is a proud sponsor of The Center for Hospitality Research