Accor committed to UK expansion : eHotelier Newsletter

Prosser to quit Six Continents next year

Sunday Telegraph - Sir Ian Prosser, one of Britain's best-known businessmen, will stand down as chairman of Six Continents, the hotels group, at the end of 2003, following intense pressure from shareholders.

A wholesale corporate reconstruction of Six Continents, involving the demerger of its pubs and restaurants division and the return of about pounds 700m to shareholders, is due to be announced this week.

It will confirm that Prosser, 60 next year, is to remain at the head of the hotels business to see it through the overhaul as executive chairman until next July, when his contract expires. He will stay on as non-executive chairman for just a further five months.

The length of his tenure has proved to be the trickiest element in boardroom negotiations on the deal. It was sorted in telephone negotiations last week and is expected to be confirmed at a Six Continents' board meeting today.

Reports that Prosser was planning to stay for a further two or three years had prompted fury among shareholders, led by Hermes, Axa Investment Managers and M&G Group. "There would have been war if Ian had not agreed to go next year," said one company insider.

Prosser is Six Continents' highest paid executive, earning pounds 1.2m in 2001 - substantially more than Tim Clarke, its chief executive, who will become chief executive of the demerged leisure arm.

The hotels division, which includes the upmarket Inter-Continental and Crowne Plaza brands, will retain the name Six Continents after the demerger. It will be run by Richard North, currently the group's finance director, who will be promoted to chief executive once the companies have been split.

The Six Continents board is aware that shareholders are yet to be convinced that North has the right experience for this operational job. As a result, it is putting two of the group's three hotel executives on the main board to demonstrate that there is ample hotels management experience at the top.

One leading shareholder said: "We are cautious about management at the hotel operation. North is not a hotels man."

Investors have been speculating that the demerged pubs and restaurants may attract takeover bids. However, it is understood that no potential buyers have signalled interest recently.

French hotel giant Accor is pushing ahead with its ten to 15 hotels a year UK growth plan and eyeing franchising as a route for fast-track expansion.

Accor UK and Ireland managing director Michael Flaxman reconfirmed the strategy following the firm's announcement of first-half figures which showed that sales for its entire European and US hotel business declined by 1.2 per cent compared to last year.

"We still believe there are companies within the UK which will ultimately consolidate in one form or another, including franchising, and that our Novotel, Mercure and Ibis brands could expand this way," Flaxman said.

"However, we will also continue to develop organically." The firm's 80 UK sites, which comprise 8,462 rooms, enjoyed a 1.2 per cent increase in occupancy at 73.3 per cent. However, average room rate was down 3 per cent and Revpar dropped 1.4 per cent.

Overall, it was Accor's European economy brands, including Novotel, Ibis and Etap, which put in the strongest performance with average room rates up 5.2 per cent and a 2.9 per cent rise in Revpar. Revpar for Accor's European business and leisure hotels and its US economy lodging division fell by 3.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.

PATA is pleased to announce that Singapore’s most acclaimed diplomat, Professor Tommy Koh, will deliver the opening keynote address at the 52nd PATA Annual Conference, April 13-17, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. His speech, which is also the theme of the Conference, is entitled "Culture and Tourism: From Heritage to Legacy." Professor Koh is currently Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and Ambassador-at-Large for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His expertise is drawn from top-level involvement in institutions such as Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Stanford universities. Professor Koh has been Singapore’s foremost diplomat in Canada, the United States and Mexico. He also led the UN mission to the Russian Federation, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and served the World Trade Organization as a mediator. Register for Conference by December 15, 2002 to receive a 10 percent discount off registration fees made with MasterCard. For Conference information and to download a registratio n form visit www.pata.org. Or contact Mr. Nathin Tongsiri, Assistant Manager-Events. E-mail: nathin@pata.th.com. Fax: (66-2) 658-2013.

Travel Weekly, the Mart’s daily official publisher, will host the "PATA Travel Mart 2003 Junction" on its Web site. Confirmed exhibitors can use the Junction to display information about the products and services they will be offering at the Mart. The Junction will be promoted through Travel Weekly’s daily e-newsletter ahead of the Mart, which takes place October 1-3, 2003 at Suntec, Singapore. For further information contact PATA Managing Director-Events, Ms. Sheila Leong. E-mail: sheila@pata.th.com. Or visit www.pata.org.

At the 2003 PATA Travel Mart, a dedicated networking hour will be created each day 1700-1800. Seller companies will be recruited to host the cocktail hour for participants. PATA aims to attract a very broad range of sellers to reflect the breadth of Pacific Asia travel products. E-mail sheila@pata.th.com for further information.

PATA is pleased to announced that Ms. Catherine Anne Parsons, Executive Director of Green Globe Asia Pacific will deliver the closing keynote address entitled "How Much Time Do We Have Why the Urgency?" at the 1st PATA Sustainable Tourism Conference and Mart, October 23-26, 2002 in Banten, Western Java, Indonesia. The speech will be about the compelling need to conserve the world’s natural resources within a limited timeframe. For further information and to request a registration form tel: (66-2) 658-200 ext. 103. Fax: (66-2) 658-2013. E-mail: pstc@pata.th.com. Or visit www.pata.org to download an application form and details.

In order to tap the Spanish market, the PATA Europe Division will hold a sales mission in Madrid on November 5 and Barcelona on November 7, 2002, ahead of WTM 2002 in London (November 10-13). Space is limited, so early registration is advised. For more information and to register, please contact the PATA Europe Division. Fax: (377) 92 05 61 33. E-mail: europe@pata.mc.

PATA members and chapters can send photographs of recent events, campaigns and trade shows to PATA Compass magazine editor, Mr. Marcus Matthews-Sawyer, for inclusion in the publication. Fully-captioned photographs (300dpi) should be sent by e-mail to marcus@mediatransasia.com. Hard copies should be mailed to The Editor, PATA Compass, Media Transasia, 14th floor, Ocean Tower II, Sukhumvit Soi 19, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

PATA Publications is offering new report from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation called "Low Cost Airlines in the Asia Pacific Region." The 100-page report shows that the time may be right for a fundamental change in developmental international routes, leading to exceptional traffic growth in intra-Asian markets, well above forecast levels. The report is vital reading for businesses undertaking strategic aviation and tourism planning in the Pacific Asia region and costs US$165 for PATA members and US$195 for PATA chapters and non-members. For further information e-mail publications@pata.th.com.

** Singapore’s Changi Airport won its sixth global "Best Airport" award this year. This is the 15th consecutive year readers of Business Traveller (Britain/Europe) magazine voted Singapore the best. The same survey voted Changi the best for duty-free shopping for the third year.

** Guangzhou’s US$2.36 billion Baiyun International Airport in China (PRC)’s booming southern province of Guangdong is scheduled to open in 2004. The new airport is expected to handle 13 million passengers a year at first. The airport is tipped to be China (PRC)’s third hub after Shanghai and Beijing.

** According to a World Information Technology and Services Alliance report, India is the second-fastest growing spender on information technology, behind China (PRC). India's technology spending has grown from US$1 billion in 1993 to US$7.1 billion in 2001 - a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7 percent. China (PRC)'s spending on information technology grew by 29.1 percent over the 1993-2001 period, growing from US$3 billion to US$22.5 billion. The spending on information technology includes a country's spending on hardware, software, software services and office equipment such as photocopiers and printers.

** The China National Tourism Administration has increased the number of Chinese travel agents authorised to sell outbound travel from 67 to 535, effective September 1, 2002. The body has also raised the number of countries on its "approved destination status" list to 22. Recent additions include Egypt, Germany, Malta, Nepal, Turkey and Indonesia, with Sri Lanka expected to follow shortly.

:Meritus Hotels & Resorts rebranding exercise takes off with three hotels putting master brand in the power position. Flagship property, Mandarin Singapore, will be renamed Meritus Mandarin Singapore. Hainan Mandarin Haikou will be renamed Meritus Mandarin Haikou, while Marina Mandarin Singapore will retain its name but follows the first two hotels in adopting the Meritus logo in line with the corporate master brand.

Together with Meritus Negara ad Meritus Shantou, this move would bring the number of Meritus-branded hotels to five.

MSNBC - True budgeteers will appreciate the irony: The only Rome hotel to rival the five-star Hassler (atop the Spanish Steps) for “Best Room with a View” is Albergo Abruzzi, a backpacker’s haven overlooking the incredible 1,800-year-old Pantheon.

FEW CHEAP SLEEPS are so well situated, but among the best of the best, each has its own charms. I recently toured more than 70 Roman inns where doubles cost under $80 before choosing 20 that offer some combination of a good location, solid comfort, a modicum of amenities, and helpful management that strives to make each guest’s stay a memorable one.

These Little Wonder Hotels run the gamut from spare hospices managed by nuns to a pensione serving kosher breakfasts, from international backpacker pads to classy joints where you’ll have to snatch a room away from traveling Italian businessmen. Whether your dream address is a block from the Spanish Steps or from the ancient Forum, whether you want to crash around the corner from the train station or from the Armani showroom, you’ll find the perfect room at one of these budget inns.

The hotels are found in four well-known neighborhoods: Centro Storico, Termini, Prati, and Trastevere.

The Centro Storico (historic center) is where most people want to be: Along the boutique-lined streets radiating from the Spanish Steps, or tucked into the knot of cobblestone alleys and antiques shops surrounding Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and Campo de’ Fiori with its morning market and nighttime bar scene.

      Rome’s best bargains are clustered amid the Termini train station’s nineteenth-century grid of bus boulevards, budget shops, and recent immigrants trying to scrape a living. Though central enough, this is Rome’s least interesting neighborhood — dreary, dirty, and slightly disreputable (especially just south of the station), and a half-hour hike from the centro storico. I’ve pinpointed the shining gems of hospitality and stylish frugality amid Termini’s sea of seedy flophouses and tour-bus chain hotels.

      Across the Tiber River are Prati, a great, non-touristy neighborhood that surrounds the Vatican; and, to the south, the restaurant- and pub-filled alley-ways of a gorgeous medieval artisans’ quarter called Trastevere.

      Unless otherwise specified, all rooms come with private bathroom and telephone, credit cards are accepted, and the range of rates is seasonal; you pay top dollar roughly from Easter to October (but excluding August and sometimes July; rates used here based on €1=94¢). To call Rome from the United States, dial 011-39 before the numbers listed below.

CENTRO STORICO

      Pensione Panda Via della Croce 35, tel. 06-678-0179, fax 06-6994-2151, www.hotelpandaparadise.com. 20 rooms, 12 with bath. Double room €62 ($58) without bath, €83-€93 ($78-$87) with bath. 10 percent discount for paying cash. No breakfast. For the best balance of comfort, style, and price in the very heart of Rome, the Panda wins hands-down. The washboard-vaulted ceilings are frescoed (second floor) or trimmed in stuccoes (first floor) over terrazzo flooring, wrought-iron wall sconces, and firm new bedsprings. Even rooms without private bath have sinks surrounded by antiqued stone tiles. That cash discount keeps it under $80. All that and it’s just two fashionista-teeming blocks from the Spanish Steps amid Rome’s toniest shops.

      Hotel Smeraldo Vicolo dei Chiodaroli 9, tel. 06-687-5929, fax 06-6880-5495, www.hotelsmeraldoroma.com. 50 rooms, 44 with bath. Double room €68-€78 ($64-$73) without bath, €104-€114 ($98-$107) with bath. Breakfast €5-€8 ($4.70-$7.50). This is the first place in Rome I call for a room. You just won’t find a better place at these prices in the very heart of Rome. You get burnished chestnut veneers, stone-tile floors, marble sinks, and all the electronic comforts of home (satellite TV, hairdryers, even A/C). The price for rooms with full bath rises above our $80 ceiling but all rooms have sinks and bidets. The industrious owners have also just renovated the old Hotel Piccolo (it’s now called Hotel in Parione; tel. 06-6880-2560, fax 06-689-2330) across the street.

      Casa Kolbe Via San Teodoro 44, tel. 06-679-4974, fax 06-6994-1550. 63 rooms. Double room €80 ($75). Breakfast €6 ($5.60). Those rooms that don’t open onto the peaceful courtyard’s palms and orange trees look instead across a little-trafficked street onto a romantically overgrown, semi-excavated portion of the ancient Palatine Hill. The Roman Forum entrance is just a few hundred feet away. The Kolbe exudes that somber quiet that only a former mon-astery can muster, but it’s comfy enough. The built-in units are austere, with heavenly orthopedic beds sporting blankets in the most hideous shades of brown and yellow the 1960s had to offer.

      Hotel Mimosa Via di Santa Chiara 61, tel. 06-6880-1753, fax 06-683-3557, www.hotelmimosa.net. 11 rooms, 7 with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €67-€83 ($63-$78) without bath, €83-€98 ($78-$92) with bath. Breakfast €5-€6 ($4.70-$5.60). Tucked into a golden location between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, the family-run Mimosa has somehow been overlooked by Rome’s tourism machine, happily continuing to offer simple but sizable, clean, and comfy rooms at laughably low rates. Largish rooms one, two, and three were recently redone with quirky touches: wrought iron or brass bedsteads, sinuous mirrors, Oriental rugs, giant ceiling beams, or brilliant blue curtains. Only one room has A/C (an extra €10/$9.40).

Fraterna Domus Via Monte Brianzo 62, tel. 06-6880-2727, fax 06-683-2691, domusrm@tin.it. 18 rooms. Double room €78 ($73); students €30 ($28) per person. Breakfast included. If you don’t mind monastic simplicity, tiny bathrooms with curtainless showers, and a decor that begins and ends with a small Crucifix nailed above the bed, this hospice just north of Piazza Navona run by a lay sisterhood may be the ticket. The beds are firm, the tile floors kept next-to-godliness clean. The bad news: An 11 p.m. curfew (but you might get a front door key if you stay a week). They also offer excellent full meals for a paltry €12 ($11), as I recommended in “The Little Wonder Restaurants of Rome” (Budget Travel, July/August 2000).

      Albergo Abruzzi Piazza della Rotonda 69, tel. 06-679-2021. 28 rooms, none with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €95 ($89). No breakfast. The Abruzzi is $9 over our limit, but what’s a few bucks more when you can open your bedroom window and practically poke the Pantheon with a stick? Of course, there are no private bathrooms (each five-room floor shares just one and a half baths), no amenities whatsoever, no backbone to the mattresses, and no double-glazed windows to keep out the considerable pedestrian noise from this popular piazza. It takes a die-hard architecture buff and/or Rome aficionado to appreciate the Abruzzi’s charms. For me, it’s worth the annoying, late-night din for at least one morning of waking up to that view, which is best from the large corner doubles with windows on two walls.

      Pensione Jonella Via della Croce 41, tel. 06-679-7966, fax 06-446-2368. 4 rooms, none with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €52-€68 ($49-$64). No breakfast. Think of this as your budget penthouse: Way up on the fifth floor with no elevator and no reception desk (call when you get to the station and they meet you with the keys), but a killer location between the Spanish Steps and the Corso. The rooms are spacious and fitted with framed Roman prints and wonderful old Deco armoires and mirrors. Room 1 has an elegant bedframe and a balcony; enormous Room 4 fits four beds and a dining room-type table with plenty of room to spare. If you hear a message in Italian when you phone, stay on the line; it’s just call-forwarding.

      Residenza Brotsky Via del Corso 509, tel. 06-361-2339, fax 06-323-6641. 24 rooms, 19 with bath. Double room €50-€70 ($47-$66) without bath, €60-€90 ($56-$85) with bath. Breakfast €5 ($4.70). A boarding house straight out of a Fellini film — dusty and worn at the edges, but full of character and astoundingly cheap for its prime location on Rome’s main passeggiata (strolling) street. A mélange of worn old furnishings and oil landscapes crowds the spacious rooms, and bathrooms were overhauled in 2000. Brotsky’s saving graces are the creaky parquet-floored breakfast room, narrow Room 10 with its Corso balcony, and the roof terrace’s personable panorama of Roman rooftops, the Villa Borghese’s umbrella pines, and St. Peter’s dome beyond a thicket of TV aerials.

TERMINI

      Hotel Des Artistes Via Villafranca 20, tel. 06-445-4365, fax 06-446-2368, www.hoteldesartistes.com. 45 rooms, 32 with bath. Double room €45-€100 ($42-$94) without bath, €98-€179 ($92-$168) with bath. Breakfast €7.75 ($7.25). Discounts of €5-€15 ($4.70-$14) if you pay cash (usually). Paintings and prints brighten this frugal haven where some of the large rooms can sleep up to six (perfect for families). The beds are orthopedically sound and the arte povera furnishings are among the nicest I’ve seen. Rooms with stylish private baths come with A/C (bathless ones get a fan). The entire hotel — including the TV/chess/Internet terminal lounge — is nonsmoking, save the sunny roof terrace, where you can breakfast in summer. The price range reflects complicated seasonal variations; except during the busiest spring and fall periods, you will likely get a room with bath for under $80, especially if you pay cash. Check the Web site for deals.

Hotel Papa Germano Via Calatafimi 14A, tel. 06-486-919, fax 06-4782-5202, www.hotelpapagermano.com. 17 rooms, 7 with bath. Double room €52-€68 ($49-$64) without bath, €68-€83 ($64-$78) with bath. Bed in shared room without bath €18-€21 ($17-$20). No breakfast. Gino believes that being a host involves more than just providing beds. Most small hotels suffer from a drafty, dreary feel, but Papa Germano is perhaps the most comfortable, cozy hotel in its category. First take a powerful mix of double-glazed windows, bright lighting, and richly patterned fabrics and futon chairs. Add modern climate control, amenities such as TV and hairdryer, and a relaxing lounge with Internet stations. Finish it off with those low rates and the warm welcome of the impressively friendly, hyperhelpful Gino, and you can understand why Papa Germano books up early.

      Fawlty Towers Via Magenta 39, tel. 06-445-0374, fax 06-4938-2878, www.fawltytowers.org. 16 rooms, 5 with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €62 ($58) without bath, €67 ($63) with sink/shower, €77 ($72) with bath. Bed in dorm €18 ($17) without bath, €23 ($22) with bath. No breakfast. Early flight? Try crashing around the corner from the Termini station at this easygoing hotel that emanates that youthful, friendly, backpackers-of-the-world-unite hostel ambience — but without the dismal dorm atmosphere or party-hard agenda. Rooms are basic, but the mattresses are new. About half the accommodations are private; half are shared, hostel-style (but with only four cots each). The (generally) young guests hang out in the TV room, solarium (microwave, fridge, Internet station), and flower-filled terrace, trading travel tips and often heading out as a group for pizza or a pub crawl.

      Hotel Tizi Via Collina 48, tel. 06-482-0128, fax 06-474-3266. 24 rooms, 10 with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €52 ($49) without bath, €62 ($58) with bath. Breakfast €7 ($6.60). The Tizi family actually lives here, so you’ll find them and their purring Persian perennially hanging around their kitchen/ dining room across the hall from guest-room doors. Rooms enjoy fresh wallpaper and Murano-style chandeliers, and old blankets stretched across firm beds. Second-floor rooms sport swooping metal bed frames, high stuccoed ceilings, and older baths, while ground-floor accommodations are larger but more dismally furnished. They are renovating another ten rooms in the building.

      Hotel Fenicia Via Milazzo 20, tel./fax 06-490-342, www.hotelfenicia.it. 14 rooms, 1 with toilet in hall (shower/sink in room). Double room €75-€85 ($70-$80); discounted in winter. Breakfast available during some months upon request €7 ($6.60). A gem amid a slew of budget dives, offering one-star prices for three-star comfort-including TV and A/C (which costs an extra €10/$9.40 to turn on). Spanking new modular units and firm beds rest on modern parquet floors surrounded by matching fabrics. The bathrooms are (for Rome) remarkably spacious. The hotel is spread across three elevatorless floors: The first (standard rooms), second (classiest digs), and fourth (older, and generally smaller, rooms — except rooms 18 and 20, which are big and newly refurbished and have tiny balconies). Most cheap hotels yell at you for doing laundry in the sink; the Fenicia provides retractable clotheslines in the baths.

      Suore di Santa Elisabetta Via dell’Olmata 9, tel. 06-488-8271, fax 06-488-4066. 35 rooms, 25 with bath. Double room €51 ($48) without bath, €66 ($62) with bath. Breakfast included. Kindly Polish nuns have welcomed guests to their convent just south of Santa Maria Maggiore for more than 100 years. The rooms are spare and simple, but comfortable, with a painting or two in addition to the requisite crucifix. Like a prudish 1950s sitcom, the narrow twin beds are kept strictly separated in all rooms. Baths are old, but well cared for, and a few rooms have terraces. Guests can wander the panoramic roof terrace and the peaceful palm-shaded garden of orange trees, roses, and kiwi-vine arbors. Kids under 12 stay at a discount. The big drawback: An 11 p.m. curfew. Book well in advance.

      Hotel Katty Via Palestro 35, tel. 06-490-079, fax 06-444-1216. 23 rooms, 15 with bath. Double room €26-€51 ($24-$48) without bath, €39-€77 ($37-$72) with bath. If you pay by credit card, add 3 percent to 5 percent to these prices. No breakfast. It’s a bit of a walk from the station, but the kindly owner, bargain-basement prices, and quirky decor of the large, spare rooms earn the Katty a place amid Rome’s budget bests. Rooms without bath are kitted out with battered modular furnishings but fantastic floors of chipped-stone mosaics. Private-bath rooms are brand new for 2002, with shiny tile floors, nice built-in units, A/C and minibar (in some), and double-glazed windows. A few have balconies on the courtyard. Rooms 203 (a triple) and 206 (a quad) sport frescoed ceilings. TV available upon request.

ACROSS THE RIVER (PRATI & TRASTEVERE)

      Hotel Colors Via Boezio 31, tel. 06-687-4030, fax 06-686-7947, www.colorshotel.com. 7 rooms, 1 with bath. No phones. No credit cards. Double room €68 ($64) without bath,€78 ($73) with shower/sink, €83 ($78) with bath. Bed in co-ed dorm without bath €20 ($19). No breakfast. The folks who founded Fawlty Towers (above) now run this fifth-floor walk-up near Vatican City. It’s a few blocks from the best food shopping in Rome — indoor and outdoor markets, plus Franchi and Castroni, two renowned grocers — so you can put the communal kitchen and small shared terrace to good use. The simple, spacious rooms are vibrant in a supersaturated, whimsical, accident-at-the-Crayola-factory way. Only one room is shared dorm-style, and the largely young backpacking clientele tend to be of a more reserved, mature stripe. The washer/dryer costs less than a laundromat.

Locanda Carmel Via Goffredo Mameli 11, tel. 06-580-9921, fax 06-581-8853, reservation@hotelcarmel.it. 11 rooms. Double room €80 ($75) without bath, €85 ($80) with bath. Breakfast included. What very well may be Italy’s only officially kosher hotel lies in a quiet corner just two blocks from Trastevere’s daily market on Piazza di San Cosimato. In 2001 they spread wonderfully colorful quilts over firm new mattresses, and finally soundproofed the doors and windows. A battered wooden chair and bedside table constitute “furnishings,” but all rooms have A/C, an (unstocked) mini fridge, and a TV. The solarium of squishy couches opens onto a lovely, plant-filled terrace shaded by vine arbors.

Pensione Lady Via Germanico 198, tel. 06-324-2112, fax 06-324-3446. 8 rooms, 4 with bath. Double room €85 ($80) without bath, €100 ($94) with bath. No breakfast. Staying here, in the heart of Prati, feels a bit like moving into an arty friend’s apartment: There’s the homey living room with its deeply cushioned couches and exposed wood ceilings (a feature that graces about half the rooms), a mix of Liberty and unfinished country-style furnishings, and framed prints on the walls. Only the bathless rooms fall into our price category, but all have sinks (one even has a shower).

Pensione Joli Via Cola di Rienzo 243, tel. 06-324-1854, fax 06-3600-6637, jolihit@yahoo.it. 18 rooms. Double room €83-€93 ($78-$87). Breakfast included. The drab entrance on a bustling middle-class shopping boulevard gives no hint of the lovely hotel high above, where spanking new furnishings and firm beds (personally tested by the staff) rest on polished plank floors. The Spartan baths, however, are overdue for an overhaul. In front rooms, you can hang out the window to glimpse St. Peter’s dome; from those on the courtyard you can spy Rear Window-style on the Italian neighbors. TV is free for the asking. The moderately classier Hotel Florida (tel. 06-324-1872, fax 06-324-1857), taking up the three floors below, charges €70-€75 ($66-$70) for a double without bath and €93-€110 ($87-$103) with bath.

Pensione Paradise Viale Giulio Cesare 47, tel. 06-3600-4331, fax 06-3609-2563, www.hotelpandaparadise.com. 10 rooms, 8 with bath. Double room €50-€60 ($47-$56) without bath, €75-€83 ($70-$78) with bath. No breakfast. The Paradise doesn’t enjoy the location or style of its sister Panda, but it’s right at a Metro stop and only a few blocks from St. Peter’s. Mirrors help open up the smallish, minimally furnished rooms. Still, the beds are new — and, in singles, wider than usual — and the sparkling baths sport heated towel racks (great for drying laundry). They’re installing TVs this winter.

Reid Bramblett has lived in Rome on and off since age 11, and has covered the Eternal City for five different guidebooks.

Thailand today declared its objective to be the tourism capital of Asia by 2004.

Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intrawitayanunt, announcing the goal at the opening ceremony of the Abacus International Subscriber Conference 2002 in Bangkok, said his government had identified tourism as one of the five pillars of the economy.

Minister Pitak, who once held the tourism portfolio, said the government had allocated 16 billion baht (US$390 million) for projects related to the five indentified pillars including computers/software, automotives, fashion and food.

To realise its goals, the government was going ahead with plans to privatise Thai International and some domestic airports, and had put in place a liberalisation policy to allow regional carriers to take over "money-losing routes" once operated by the flag carrier.

Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Juthamas Siriwan, said Thailand would achieve its Tourism Capital ambition with five key strategies.

Opening the Abacus conference, Juthamas told the audience from 19 countries that the five strategies were expanding the number and locations of tourism attractions, refocusing on new opportunities, and restructuring the role of the TAT.

"Our new tourism strategy calls for relations-oriented tourism and value-based long term relationships with guests."

She added that it was about attracting "high quality tourists who appreciate the worth of our assets, appreciate the value of our products and are willing to pay a fair rate."

This, she said, was Thailand’s best choice for achieving sustainable tourism. Juthamas, unveiling an emotive new promotional video with the theme "World Class", said Thailand would strive for the "Land for Life Fulfillment" tag.

Gold Coast Incentive travel: Hotels unite to boost business

THE Gold Coast's luxury hotels have joined forces to promote the region to the lucrative international incentive travel market.

The Sheraton Mirage, Palazzo Versace, Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort, Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove and Conrad Jupiters linked with the Gold Coast Convention Bureau to produce a brochure targeting the incentive market.

The full-colour brochure, highlighting the Gold Coast's upmarket attractions, is designed toappeal to overseas companies sending staff on incentive trips as performance rewards.

The brochure features a number of companies offering enticing holiday experiences. These include Tall Ships-McLaren's Landing, Off-site Connections, Dreamworld, Aries Tours, Sentinel Sailing, Coastal Productions, Hannaford's Special Events, Eagle Harley Tours, MV Circa Cruises, Canungra Valley Vineyards, Sabre Corporate Development, Event Production Management, The Glades Resort and Spa, Warner Bros Movie World and Sea World.

The new Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre is profiled. About 20,000 copies of the brochure, aimed at high-end incentive decision makers in North America and Europe, will be inserted into sales kits, used in direct mail campaigns and distributed at trade shows.

Entitled Destination Gold Coast - Australia's Incentive Capital, the brochure was unveiled at Australia's premier incentive travel trade show, Dreamtime, in Alice Springs last week.

Destination Gold Coast follows the release of a new survey showing the Coast is Queensland's undisputed, No.1 destination for business tourism. The Business Events Survey, produced by the Queensland Government, showed the State earned $ 1.6 billion from the business tourism (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry in 2000-2001.

AH&LA Releases Annual Lodging Industry Profile - Confirms A General Overall Weakening Of The Economy And The After-Effects Of The September 11 Terrorist Attacks

As predicted by industry experts, a general overall weakening of the economy and the after-effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks tremendously affected the lodging industry following 10 years of record-breaking performance. This is reflected in the American Hotel & Lodging Association's (AH&LA) recently released 2002 Lodging Industry Profile (LIP), a statistical analysis of the lodging industry for year-end 2001.

According to the LIP, the lodging industry's overall profitability declined in 2001, by grossing $103.6 billion in total sales and $16.1 billion in pretax profits - compared to 2000's $108.5 billion and $24.0 billion, respectively. However, the LIP's other facts -promotional spending, employment impact, average occupancy rate, and average room rate - illustrate the hotel business' steady and forthcoming growth.

"The events of last year had a damaging effect on our industry as well as our nation. After being successful for several years, adjusting to the unexpected was and continues to be a ongoing process for several hoteliers. However, our industry is built with leaders who have exemplary skills and are pushing through this period without changing the way they treat their guests," said AH&LA President and CEO Joseph A. McInerney, CHA. "Though this time may seem discouraging, we are hopeful that a full recovery is imminent in the upcoming quarters."

Information contained in the LIP is based on data provided by the American Economics Group, Inc.; D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd.; Smith Travel Research; the Travel Industry Association of America; and the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

A complimentary copy of the 2002 AH&LA Lodging Industry Profile is available on the AH&LA Web site, www.ahla.com.

AH&LA is a 92-year-old federation of state lodging associations throughout the United States with some 13,000 property members worldwide, representing more than 1.7 million guest rooms. AH&LA provides its members with assistance in operations, education, and communications, and lobbies on Capitol Hill to provide a business climate in which the industry can continue to prosper. Individual state associations provide representation at the state level and offer many additional cost-saving benefits

TravelAsia.com - Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR) 2003 promises to be bigger and better. The International Tourism Trade Fair will take place from January 29 to February 2 at the Juan Carlos I Exhibition Centre, Feria de Madrid in Spain. This time round, the 135,000-sq m exhibition area is bigger by 12 percent whilst a new Residential Tourism Exhibition will be added.

Spain’s Meetings and Incentive Travel Workshop, FITUR Congresos, will be staged just before the main trade forum on January 27 and 28. This is the platform for Spanish sellers and international buyers within the meetings market to do business. Pre-tour itineraries will include visits to congress destinations in the country.

To facilitate FITUR 2003, a stand at Terminal 2–Arrivals of Barajas International Airport provides extensive services, including a comprehensive event listing, as well as details for FITUR 2003. Accreditation for delegates can also be completed here. Tourism professionals can log on to www.fituronline.com for more information. This online communication tool was used for about 10 million consultations last year, 66 percent of which were from overseas.

The newly-opened Barajas Airport Terminal at the underground station of Nuevos Ministerios is another boon for delegates. Located right in the city centre, the line provides a direct route to Feria de Madrid, and also enables passengers to checkin their luggage directly at the station.

Australia's disappointing international visitor arrivals figures for August 2002, released today, were colourfully labelled "Drum Beat of War - Black Cloud for Tourism" in a statement released by the Australian Tourism Export Council.

ATEC said the figures confirmed the tourism industry's worst fears that continuing global economic uncertainty and the potential for war in the Middle East had compounded the low levels of consumer confidence to travel.

The figures reveal the number of arrivals to Australia was 7.4 percent down on the same period last year.

"The threat of war in the Middle East and the rhetoric surrounding Australia's potential involvement in any conflict is causing nervousness among international travellers," said ATEC managing director Peter Shelley.

"Further concerns over reduced air capacity to Australia and a lack of discount fares in the market are also exacerbating the situation.

"The 17 billion dollar tourism export industry has already lost A$1.5 –2 billion in earnings and more than 10,000 jobs over the last 12 months," Shelley added.

In August, Australia's major markets - US, UK, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan - continued to show negative growth. For the eight months of this year the total number of international visitors to Australia is down almost 200,000 compared to the same period in 2001.

Newsletter - October 1, 2002