Newsletter - February 1, 2002

The World's Most Romantic Hotels

Christina Valhouli, Forbes.com

The end of January is not an especially remarkable date--except for the fact that by the time Feb. 1 dawns, you only have two weeks until Valentine's Day.

If that thought causes your heart to beat a little faster--but not in a romantic way--it means that you probably haven't made any plans yet. Fortunately, it's not too late: Rather than taking the easy way out and just sending several dozen overpriced roses, you can still book a room at one of the world's most romantic hotels and turn Feb. 14 into a day that neither of you will ever forget.

From a 17th-century palazzo in Venice to a small discreet hotel on New York's elegant Gramercy Park or a sultry resort in Bali--plus many others besides--Forbes.com presents 11 places that will show her what a romantic guy you really are.

TravelCLICK NAMES THE PENINSULA NEW YORK “E-MARKETER OF THE YEAR”

The electronic distribution of hotel rooms is now a $15 billion marketplace, so hotels must understand tools required to maximize their booking performance in order to compete. To underscore the critical business importance of e-marketing, TravelCLICK has identified four hotel marketers for "E-Marketer of the Year" recognition. The four are: The Peninsula Hotel New York; Hilton Back Bay, Boston; the Sheraton Suites Orlando Airport; and The Savoy Hotel Group, London.

TravelCLICK teamed with the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International to present the first annual E-Marketer of the Year Award to The Peninsula Hotel, New York. Peninsula General Manager, Niklaus Leuenberger accepted the award from TravelCLICK at the HSMAI Awards Gala in
New York on January 29th.

"The winners are recognized as leading-edge adopters of e-marketing
practices," said Bruce W. Mainzer, senior vice president of marketing,
TravelCLICK. "Thousands of hotels are proactively using electronic marketing
to increase revenues and profitability. These four winners in particular use
every resource available. This is the leadership that this HSMAI award
category has been established to recognize."

Each of the award recipients has demonstrated a special e-marketing strength
or discipline. The 241-room Peninsula Hotel earned the attention of the
E-Marketer Award committee for its smart maniplation of the oldest form of
electronic marketing - the GDS systems - which account for 30-40% of all
hotel bookings and represent greater commercial value than all Internet
transactions combined. The Peninsula retains all of its negotiated rates
within its GDS channels and runs GDS advertising campaigns during need
periods, directly targeting its key customers to promote special rates or
negotiated rates.

The 385 Back Bay Hilton Hotel has leveraged the e-marketing leadership of
the Hilton Hotels chain by maximizing programs such as "Hilton Values" and
"Hilton Savers." Hotel sales executives proactively call on leading travel
agent and corporate booking producers they identify in their TravelCLICK
Hotelligence reports. In addition, the hotel links with the other
Boston-area Hilton Hotel Web sites for cross-selling; and created a direct
link with the Boston Symphony Web site, producing 200 room nights in just
three months.

The 150-room Sheraton Suites Orlando Airport holds daily yield management
meetings to keep track of its rate performance against its competitive set.
The hotel "religiously" uses PHASER Complete Access and Hotelligence reports
to benchmark their performance versus competitors.

The Savoy Group is recognized for having doubled its GDS bookings over the
past two years, thereby significantly increasing its revenues from
electronic commerce. Additionally, after The Savoy Group installed an
enhanced and customized new booking engine from Amadeus and made booking the
Savoy, a 237-room luxury property in London a more customer friendly
experience, online bookings increased 294%. The Savoy Hotel Group applies
its e-marketing savvy to the other four U.K. hotels in its group as well:
Claridge's, The Connaught, The Berkeley and The Lygon Arms.

"All four of the award recipients share the consistent quality we looked for
in selecting the TravelCLICK/HSMAI E-Marketer of the Year: vision," said
Mainzer. "The winners' e-marketing decisions were - and are-based on their
ROI. They continue to demand evaluation measures from their e-marketing
partners. And they insist that whatever solutions they implement maximize
their control over their business: they never give away control of their
rates and inventory. E-business is not a special science. It doesn't change
marketing principles, it just makes them more effective."

TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net) is the leading provider of digital media
and data solutions to the worldwide travel industry. The company's products
help hotels and other travel industry suppliers improve profits through
electronic distribution channels. TravelCLICK's exclusive electronic
marketing networks allow hotels and other travel and entertainment related
suppliers to target promotional messages to specific travel agents and
consumers when they are booking travel. The company's competitive
benchmarking reports provide hotels with price and booking performance
information unavailable through any other source. Established in 1996 and
headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK operates in more than 140
countries around the world. The company has over 5,000 clients, including
national and international companies such as Accor, Air France, Avis,
British Airways, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts,
Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels &
Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, Lufthansa, Marriott Hotels, Resorts
and Suites, The Peninsula Group, Radisson, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company,
SAS, The Savoy Group, Shangri-La Hotels, Sol Melia, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts, Thistle Hotels, USAirways, Virgin Atlantic and Wyndham Hotels &
Resorts.

ACCOR REPORTS CONSOLIDATED SALES UP 4 % IN 2001

Paris, January 29, 2002. - Consolidated sales rose 4% to € 7,290 million in 2001. Excluding asset disposals and the currency effect, sales increased by 8.3% during the year. 

Reported growth of 4% broke down as follows: 

• Like-for-like + 2.5%

• Business expansion + 5.8%

• Currency effect - 0.7%

• Asset disposals - 3.5%

Hotels: up 6.6%

Hotel sales grew by 6.6%, reflecting a 0.8% increase in existing units and a 7.1% gain from business expansion. 

Services: up 14%

Services continued to enjoy strong growth, as sales rose 14% despite the negative currency effect (mainly the Brazilian real). On a comparable basis, sales were up 18.4%.

Other activities: down 5.1% (up 3.1% on a comparable basis)

Travel agencies - 5.9% (- 6.6% on a comparable basis)

Casinos + 24.6% (+ 9.8% on a comparable basis)

Restaurants - 13.1% (+ 7.5% on a comparable basis)

Onboard train services - 16.4% (+ 6.7% on a comparable basis)

Fourth quarter 2001 

In the aftermath of September 11, the fourth quarter figures were in line with Accor’s expectations. The economy hotel segment held up very well in Europe, with comparable sales rising 3.9%, while in the US, economy hotel sales dropped by 7.1% still outperforming its competitive set. Mid- and upscale hotels lost 4% overall from the year-earlier period. The negative impact was more noticeable for Sofitel in the US, as the European business was supported by results from Novotel and Mercure and firm demand in the French and the UK provinces. Services turned in a remarkable performance in the fourth quarter, with revenues up 18.9% in Europe and 18.3% in Latin America.

2001 earnings outlook

In light of the reported data at December 31, 2001, Accor confirms its September 18 forecast that 2001 profit before tax and earnings per share will be close to those realized in 2000.  

HILTON (US) ‘REASONABLY OPTIMISTIC’ DESPITE 30% PROFIT DROP

In the year to 31 December 2001 US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation recorded profits of $166m (£118m), down 39% from $272m (£193m) in 2000.
Turnover fell 12% from $3.5bn to $3.05bn.

Profits during the last quarter of 2001 plunged 93% to $4m, while turnover dropped nearly 25% to $662m.

Hilton blamed the decline on a ‘severe slowdown in travel’ following the 11 September terrorist attacks.
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Steven Bollenbach, HHC president and chief executive, said: ‘The last 14 weeks of 2001 represented perhaps the most trying and difficult period in the history of the hotel business.’
He added that while Hilton was ‘reasonably optimistic’ about the future it needed to keep focussed on the ‘very real challenges ahead’.
The company said it expected turnover to fall by 15%-20% in the first quarter of 2002 and 1% over the year as a whole.

SWISS – SWITZERLAND’S NEW INTERNATIONAL QUALITY AIRLINE

Swiss qualities and a Swiss name: the new inter-continental airline will fly under the trade mark SWISS. At an international press conference, Crossair CEO Andre Dose outlined the brand strategy under which the new airline will enter the market. The name reflects the multi-cultural, cosmopolitan character and the typical Swiss characteristics of quality. With the introduction of the Summer timetable on March 31, SWISS will take flight.

Andre Dose, Chief Executive Officer of Crossair and of the new airline, said that there were two decisive factors in the choice of name. "The new airline is a unique instance in Swiss post-war history, of a collective alliance of politics, industry and the people of Switzerland. It will be the qualities, which have made our country great, on which we are banking in the building up of our new airline". These are reliability, friendliness, safety, elegance and perfect service characterized by innovation, coupled with a multi- cultural cosmopolitan attitude. It is on this foundation, Andre Dose is convinced, " that the integration of Crossair and Swissair employees in the new project can be successfully accomplished." Today's presentation was just the first step, the Crossair CEO stressed. This will be followed by another important milestone in March. At an organised event it will explained in detail how the new airline will function and how the individual phases will implemented. In this way, SWISS will become increasingly real and comprehensible to both clients and to the public.

The new brand concept and its visual appearance were presented to more than 200 national and international journalists by Andre Dose, the Canadian Creative Director, Tyler Brule and Arjen Pen, Head of Sales and Marketing for the new airline. "A brand is more than a logo", Brule said, at the media briefing in Basel is a set of distinct traits built on a solid foundations. The brand shows who we are, what we do, how we think, what our traditions are and where we want to go". For the Canadian, resident in London and Switzerland, who has \been a Swissair fan for years and who can regularly be seen here, it was evident from the start that the new airline should inscribe "Swissness" on its banner. "Swiss quality values were not attributed solely to Crossair and Swissair. They are accepted shorthand for excellence around the world. "It is on these values", said Burl, " that we are building what will the most respected airline in world".

In order to communicate this basic position clearly and understandably. Brule and his team chose the concept of SWISS. The registered company name will be Swiss Air Lines Ltd. For legal reasons, the change from Crossair cannot be made until October and the start of the Winter timetable 2002, as it must be authorised at the next General Assembly of the shareholders.

At the media brief in Basel, Dose and Brule presented the first examples of the planned new designs and of the qualitative improvements being planned for Economy, Business and First Class. The journalists were shown, in addition to aircraft models, a genuine Airbus A320 in the new livery and with the new logo.

Arjen Pan, head of Sales and Marketing, gave a briefing on the routes and the fleet of the new inter-continental Swiss national airline, as well as on business developments over the next few months. These are proceeding better than had been foreseen in the business plan. Reservations for the next few weeks indicate that the predictions for load factors and revenues will be exceeded.

Website:  http://www.fly-swiss.com