Azora, the Madrid-based European private equity real estate manager, announces that it has completed the acquisition of Bluserena SPA, the second largest resort operator in Italy, from the Maresca family. The acquisition has been completed on behalf of Azora’s latest pan-European hospitality fund, Azora European Hotel & Lodging, F.C.R. (the “Fund”).
The “101 Best Hotels in Germany” Awards, the only ranking list of its kind to combine objective quality benchmarks with individual customer satisfaction perceptions, have just been published for the second time. Six Steigenberger Hotels are confirmed as being amongst the leading lights of the German hotel sector. In the individual “Grand Hotel” category, the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof and the Steigenberger Parkhotel Düsseldorf were placed sixth and ninth respectively.
Cycas Hospitality, the award-winning pan-European operator, has signed a deal to operate London Town Group’s portfolio of upscale boutique hotels in the UK capital.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says the UK’s Travel & Tourism sector’s year on year recovery may only claw back a third, whilst international travel spending continues to plummet.
Highgate, a leading real estate investment and hospitality management company, has announced two new additions in the UK market – the acquisition of Dorsett City London Hotel and the management of Grosvenor House Suites in London's Mayfair District. The additions mark Highgate's return to the UK and European markets and the company's confidence for tourism and business travel to return.
Sonder Holdings Inc. (“Sonder”), a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design, has expanded into France. Sonder recently launched inaugural operations in the country with the management of the Sonder Atala, a 48-unit property located steps from the iconic Champs-Elysées in Paris. The property also features several suites with views of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.
The Business Travel Association (BTA), the authoritative voice of business travel, has today revealed 76% of travellers returning to the UK said their PCR test result was not looked at or verified by the UK Border Force.
33 years ago, Joachim Marusczyk was a young public servant at the headquarters of German railway company Deutsche Bahn and a man who was always one step ahead. He was responsible for the revamping of major stations and for hotel and catering leases. Then he had the idea of developing a standardised and high-quality hotel product to be located at major transport hubs.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today warned the UK government that with the furlough scheme coming to an end, it has just 30 days left to save travel businesses which are struggling to survive.
Julia Simpson, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said: “It’s a welcome and positive step by the Italian government to remove quarantine for those from the UK who are fully-jabbed. Quarantines are a relic of early COVID and are not needed for those who have chosen to be fully vaccinated."
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called upon the UK government to finally bring an end to the widely discredited travel traffic light system.
Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President and Acting CEO, said: “It’s time the government removed the ambiguity by abandoning the confusing and damaging traffic light system and replacing it with a simple system with green and red countries only, so travellers know exactly where they stand.
U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the news that England would soon begin welcoming fully vaccinated Americans:
Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President and Acting CEO, said: "The Travel & Tourism sector - and the UK economy - will get a huge boost following news that fully-vaccinated US and EU visitors will at last be able to travel quarantine-free to England.
U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s decision to uphold travel restrictions:
Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President, said: "Today we should reflect on how hard won our newly re-found ‘freedoms’ are, which have been curbed for the best part of 18 months as together we have fought against the pandemic - at huge social, economic and personal cost.
Scrambling to bring under control a worrying COVID-19 surge, tourism-dependent Portugal imposed stricter rules on Thursday, requiring holidaymakers to show a negative test, a vaccination certificate or proof of recovery to stay in hotels.
Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President, said: "Holidaymakers and the Travel & Tourism sector will breathe a sigh of relief now that quarantine-free holidays have been given the green light by the government for those that have been fully jabbed. “While it’s a step in the right direction, there is still a long way to go before holidays become truly affordable - and accessible. The requirement for PCR tests to return from amber list countries will remain, pricing out many hard-working families from being able to take holidays abroad.“And though it's great news for the double jabbed and under-18’s who also are exempt from quarantines, it still leaves more than one in three UK adults who’ve only received a single dose, forced into quarantine when they arrive back in the UK from an amber list country.“Countries must take a coordinated and harmonised approach and align policies to avoid confusion among holidaymakers who need easy to understand rules and regulations more than ever before.”
Virginia Messina, Senior Vice President WTTC, said: “After more than a year of lockdowns and severe restrictions, this is great news, and we welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to allow those who are double-jabbed to avoid quarantine after returning from an amber-list country.
London, UK: UK families face yet another ‘lost summer’ thanks to the controversial traffic light system, quarantines, costly COVID-19 tests and confusing travel rules and regulations, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).