Compass confirms talks with one party for Little Chef/Travelodge

eTid.com  -  Compass Group’s finance director, Andrew Lynch, has said that the catering group is holding exclusive talks with one party, tipped to be VC group Permira, for its Little Chef and Travelodge businesses.

Lynch said that there has been a lot of interest in the two brands but that Compass had narrowed it down to one interested party. He added that the ‘process is going very well’ dismissing suggestions that by not naming a buyer in today’s FYs Compass was admitting to a problem with the disposal.

French news service AFX reports that chairman Frances Mackay admitted to having received more than 20 offers. Mackay declined to comment on the Permira connection.
The current edition of Hotel Report also names Permira as the would-be buyer. Permira was formerly known as Schroder Ventures.

Travelodge and Little Chef are tipped to be worth between £600m-£700m.
Catering group Compass posted a pretax pre-ex profit of £654m compared with £583m a year earlier. The market was expecting £645-£660m.

Operating profit was 19% up on last time at £805m. The final dividend, widely expected to be 6-6.8p, came in a 7.1%.

Compass announced plans to sell its budget hotel chain and roadside restaurants in June.
Last week at the Hotel Marketing Association’s annual lecture Hugh Taylor, Hilton’s VP of marketing, UK & Ireland, said: ‘I believe that the middle market is going to get stronger and like other sectors will become increasingly brand led.’

Source:  e-Tid.com

Vietnam’s tourism booming

(AP)  -  Vietnam's reputation as a safe haven in a troubled region is fueling a tourist and business boom that is pushing hotel occupancy rates to record highs of 80 to 90 percent, hotel operators and tourism officials said Tuesday.

"We're seeing a bull run," said Julian Wong, director of marketing at the Renaissance Riverside Hotel in southern Ho Chi Minh City. "My feeling is that Vietnam is becoming one of the most in-demand destinations."

The 349-room hotel has recently recorded double-digit growth in business travelers and tourists, especially from Japan, he said.

Pham Tu, deputy director general of the Vietnam Administration of Tourism, said the country's hotels are seeing their highest-ever occupancy rates - a huge change from the nearly empty hotels during the Asian financial crisis in the late 90s.

Hotel operators attribute part of the increase to people changing travel plans after terrorist bombings on Indonesia's famous resort island of Bali killed nearly 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, in October.

Last year, travel executives ranked Vietnam as the region's safest destination in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a poll by a Hong Kong-based consultancy.

"The bombing in Indonesia had some impact. This past month alone, we had 95-percent occupancy," said Fay Paras, director of marketing for the country's largest hotel, the 557-room New World Hotel Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City.

Paras said the rise has been mainly in corporate travel, especially conferences, and in group bookings.

Wong said the Renaissance hotel is booked through March of next year with business conferences.

Tourism official Tu said Vietnam has done much to improve its infrastructure for tourism and promoted itself heavily as a vacation spot. But he acknowledged that Vietnam can also cash in on its safe image.

"Vietnam can further make use of its advantage as a safe and friendly place to foreigners," he said.

Vietnam had 2.4 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of this year, an increase of 12 percent over the same period last year, Tu said.

The country expects to end the year with 2.6 million visitors, 100,000 more than projected, he said. Last year, it had a total of 2.33 million foreign arrivals.

China remained at the top of the list with 700,000 visitors to Vietnam this year compared with 670,000 last year. Japanese visitors increased most - 34 percent this year - to 260,000.

Australian Hoteliers Upbeat

Australian Financial Review  -  Australia's hotel operators are getting into recovery mode, and anecdotal evidence suggests that occupancy rates are on the way up.

After a lacklustre year the blame for which lies squarely on the demise of Ansett and the global terrorism attacks occupancies in key CBD markets are improving.

Confidential figures disclosed to The Australian Financial Review show that occupancy rates for five-star hotels in the Sydney CBD rose to 76 per cent in October, against 61 per cent for the same period last year.

But there is plenty of room for improvement. While volumes were up, five-star hotels generally collected the same room rates as they did last year. The average cost of a room in a five-star Sydney hotel in October was $ 203 per night.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' senior vice-president investment sales, Mark Durran, said the industry was definitely more optimistic. "When you look at the evidence it augurs well for the future if it continues," he said.

Sydney hotels have benefited from a reduction of stock. More than 11 hotels, most in the eastern corridor, have succumbed to residential redevelopment. It is impossible to say what impact that has had on hotels, but for the two remaining in the Kings Cross/Potts Point area the lower competition has been a bonanza.

Occupancies in that area, now serviced by a Holiday Inn and a Millennium Hotel, rose to 84 per cent from 52 per cent the previous year. Not only that, it was one of the few markets to record an increase in average room rates, which rose from$ 96 per night in October 2001 to $ 99 per night this October.

Colliers International's Chris Martin said the recovery had been slower than expected. "May, June and July were worse than expected and that threw everyone's confidence, but I do think we are at the turning point. Traditionally, though, December and January are slower months because the corporate world goes on leave."

For the first time in more than a year, the Australian Hotels Association says its members are optimistic. AHA national executive director Richard Mulcahy said thereappeared to be a "general recovery" across the board.

He said there were signs of a recovery in the corporate travel market often a key economic sentiment indicator and that domestic travel was holding up well.

"The occupation levels are the best in Australia since September 11, (2001)" he said.

"The forward bookings, as we move into 2003, are looking significantly improved," Mr Mulcahy said. "Central Australia and Perth aren't looking as good. Sydney is particularly strong and there are mixed messages coming out of Melbourne."

Ex-Méridien boss plans designer hotels group

Caterer.com  -  The former UK and Ireland general manager for luxury hotel chain Le Méridien has bought the Queensgate hotel in London for £4.5m as the first of a planned designer group.

Alan Corlett, who was with Principal Hotels before Le Méridien, has set up his own company, Niche Hotels.

He had backing from a group of institutional investors to buy the 26-bedroom hotel on a freehold basis.

The Queensgate is opposite the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, west London. It was previously owned by developer and designer pair Peter and Marcelle Morris, who carried out a full refurbishment, completed late last year.

Corlett plans a rapid expansion for Niche Hotels, focussing on high-quality hotels in central London and regional cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.

He said: "Niche Hotels' aim is to provide modern, stylish accommodation that will exceed guests' expectations of high-end comfort and personalised service.

"We are now looking at further hotel opportunities and plan to grow the Niche umbrella through strategic expansion and management contracts over the coming years."

Agent Knight Frank acted for the vendor and will now help Niche Hotels look for more properties.

Source:  Caterer.com

Japanese Tourism Up Again for Holidays

(AP) -- Rebounding from a steep decline after last year's terror attacks on the United States, Japanese tourists are once again expected to flood abroad during the holiday season, major travel associations said Wednesday. Reservations for package tours in December made through Japan's five main travel agencies were up 147 percent from the same month in 2001, according to the Japan Association of Travel Agents. The association said this year's holiday exodus was nearly back to the pre-Sept. 11 levels, reaching 92 percent of the number of reservations made in December 2000.

The most popular destination for Japanese tourists is China, which is seeing a 206 percent increase from the same month last year, the association said. Next is Europe, which marks a 187 percent increase. Travel to the United States and Canada is also recovering, the association said. Overall, travel to U.S. and Canadian destinations was up 162 percent from December last year, and to Hawaii up 140 percent. Still, the number of reservations to the U.S.-Canada was just 48 percent of its December 2000 level. Hawaii fared better, with travel this year roughly equal -- 99.2 percent -- to before the attacks.

``Last year, travel was down because of the terrorist attacks,'' she said. ``But this year, there's been a big rebound."

'A spokesman for the travel agents organization confirmed the figures Wednesday, which were compiled on Oct. 31. It did not release the actual number of reservations, only the percentage of increase or decrease. Norie Kamiwatari, a spokeswoman for Japan's largest travel agent, the Japan Travel Bureau, said the number of reservations for packaged tours has increased 170 percent for the coming holiday season.  

A World Premiere in Hamburg: BMW Suite at the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic

On Tuesday, December 3^rd 2002, the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg and BMW Group Niederlassung Hamburg have presented  the new BMW Suite in an exclusive world premiere. The BMW Suite is located on the third floor of the hotel, directly under the suite known as the ‘James Bond Suite’, in which scenes from ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ were filmed.

The designers, Suzan Buchholz and Helmut Warnstedt of W+P Interiors, implemented a harmonious concept, combining the existing architecture of high ceilings and stucco with design, light and the materials from BMW limousines.  The particular characteristics of the décor are silver-grey velour, walls and ceilings in a delicate tone of grey, a special Xenon light bar system, luxury chromed lounges in anthracite drapery, glassware and hand-made leather panels.

In the suite’s 80 square metres the designers have played with the colours of the BMW world. Even the bolstered up leather panels of the walk-in cupboard and the bed remind with discreet yet typical odour of the exclusive fitting of a deluxe automobile. The new BMW Suite is composed of a bedroom, a sitting room with views over the Alster Lake, a dressing room with walk-in cupboard and a bathroom in the hotel’s trademark colours of black, white and chrome.

The BMW Suite documents the close collaboration between BMW and the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic in a very different and revolutionary way. Thomas Magold, head of BMW Group Niederlassung Hamburg, and Sebastian Heinemann, General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic Hamburg, proudly outline their unique collaboration: ‘At first, our idea was of more experimental character, which has now been spectacularly fulfilled.  After having co-operated for years, we not only had much fun in developing a new model of architecture, reflecting the two distinguished worlds of grand hotels and noble limousines, but we also see many possibilities of synergy.  Drivers of stylish cars appreciate the amenities of top hotels, and this also applies for the reverse approach.’

Sebastian Heinemann continues: “This is the first suite we have equipped together with a partner. There are other co-operations with luxury brands to follow.  I particularly think of companies whose lifestyle products are placed on the highest segment and worth to be presented to a blue chip target group in a rather unusual way.’

The co-operation between BMW Group Niederlassung Hamburg and the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic Hamburg also includes diverse mutual marketing activities. Guests who book the BMW suite will have the hotel’s BMW limousine available for a test drive. Other customer loyalty programmes can include benefits such as special conditions for the suite and reduced prices in the Atlantic-Restaurant.  The BMW Group Niederlassung Hamburg can use the suite on a year-round basis to entertain VIPs and arrange events.

The new BMW suite is the first result of the extensive renovation programme for almost 200 rooms at the Kempinski Hotel Atlantic Hamburg. The elegant lobby will be officially launched on 31^st December 2002 and will be additionally equipped with an air conditioning system. During the first weeks of 2003, there will also a completely new telephone system installed. In addition, all rooms will be provided with new telephone sets to offer full ISDN access capability. Wireless LAN Service – already available in all function rooms and the lobby – will be amplified and available in the hotel rooms and suites too.

The Kempinski Hotel Atlantic Hamburg first opened its portals in 1909. Its snow-white facade, a local landmark, also served as an unmistakable scenery for BMW driver “James Bond” during the location shooting for “Tomorrow Never Dies”. As reverence to “Her Majesty’s Secret Agent”, there will also be photographs of the shooting at the hotel displayed in the new BMW Suite.

Website:  www.kempinski.atlantic.de

Hilton penetrates India

Hilton International and Blue Coast Hotels & Resorts have signed an agreement to form a joint-venture company – Hospitality Holdings India, to develop first-class and luxury hotels and resorts in India.

Thailand’s Royal Garden Resort Group to expand

Bangkok Post - Royal Garden Resort,  the hospitality division of the Minor Group, will spend almost one billion baht to expand its hotel chain over the next two years, despite terrorist threats that could undermine the tourism industry. 

The company's portfolio, which already includes nine hotels, will be strengthened by the construction and acquisition of hotel properties on Ko Samui and Chiang Rai. 

According to Pratana Manomaiphiboon, Royal Garden Resort's chief financial officer, more than 400 million baht had been set aside for the construction of a "six-star" hotel on Ko Samui. The company is in talks with international hotel chains -- including Four Seasons -- to operate the new establishment, which is scheduled for completion in 2004. 

RGR will invest another 300 million baht in the rebranding and refurbishment of another hotel on the island. It will open in 2003 under the name of Anantara

Meanwhile, in Chang Rai, the firm will spend 100 million baht on a 20-room hotel. The new hotel will be built next to the Baan Boran, a five-star hotel located in the Golden Triangle that will also undergo a revamp. 

Royal Garden Resort paid 145 million baht for the property earlier this year and now plans to spend 120 million baht converting it from a 110-room to a 90-room property. Baan Boran will reopen at the end of 2003 under the name Anantara Golden Triangle. 

"Opening more hotels in Chang Rai will help strengthen the company's hotel network in the north," Ms Pratana said, explaining the company's strategy. 

The announcement of Royal Garden Resort's expansion comes just two months after bomb attacks in Bali threatened to devastate Thailand's tourism sector. 

But Bill Heinecke, chairman and chief executive officer of the Minor Group, said the events in Bali had prompted more tourists to flock to the country. Further grounds for optimism for the local tourism industry next year could be found in the continued recovery of the economy and strong consumer spending, he said. 

This year, RGR expects its sales revenue will grow by more than 15 percent from last year's two billion baht, with a net profit of 265 million expected for the year. 

In the first nine months of this year, the firm earned 1.8 billion baht with a net profit of 248 million baht. 

RGR shares closed yesterday at 11 baht, up 30 satang, in thin trade worth 634,000 baht. 

Dutch returning to Bali

Less than a month after their government dropped its travel ban on Indonesia, the Dutch market is already experiencing a resurgence of business back to Bali.

The Dutch government withdrew its travel ban against Indonesia on November 14th, at the same time as Bali was attempting a comeback at London’s World Travel Market.

According to Arjen de Haan of Bali-based ground handler Agung Holidays, Dutch operators including Oad Reizen and Neckermann Holland have been among the first European operators to recover their markets to Bali. As a result, December was already looking much healthier than the lows of last month for Agung.

“This month we are back on at least 65 percent of what we would normally do. Seats to Bali are the main challenge now,” said de Haan.

The beginnings of a comeback were hard-fought for the Dutch, he said.

“Of course they have done some work for this, like special promotions in newspapers and up to 30 weekly retail agent promotions and educationals to Bali,” noted de Haan.

A large group of Dutch journalists was expected to visit Bali in February 2003, said De Haan.

Sleep Now -- Fly Later with Best Western International

(Business Wire) - Earn a complimentary companion fare after two stays at any Best Western hotel in the world between now and Jan. 14, 2003. This offer is available for all residents of the continental United States who stay twice at Best Western, pay for the stays with their MasterCard(R) card and are members of Gold Crown Club International.

To be eligible for the companion fare, residents of the continental United States must register online at www.bestwestern.com. A registration form for the companion fare will be mailed at the end of the promotional period. The complimentary fare is available on select tickets purchased on most major airlines. A complete listing of program requirements can be found online as well.

Gold Crown Club International is Best Western International's newly enhanced frequency program. It offers a global free room night award that is redeemable any day of the week and has no blackout dates. The program offers one of the most generous reward structures and is rated among the best programs in the industry according to Inside Flyer magazine.