Travelodge To Travel To The Seaside | UK-based budget hotel chain Travelodge has got together with other companies, such as National Express Coaches, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Sea Life, to launch the ‘Save our Seaside’ campaign in a bid to entice back the British public to holiday in domestic seaside resorts. As part of this campaign the company is implementing a £150 million seaside investment programme. The chain plans to build 55 new hotels in British coastal towns by 2015 at pace of nearly one hotel a month. Already present in 30 seaside locations, the new areas earmarked by Travelodge include Blackpool, Weymouth, Newquay, Bournemouth and Scarborough. With already 330 hotels (22,500 rooms) the firm plans to increase its portfolio to around 1,000 hotels (70,000 rooms) by 2020.

Two New Garden Inns For Turkey | As part of its recent non-exclusive strategic development agreement with Turkey’s Kosifler Group to develop 25 new hotels across Turkey, Hilton has signed up for two new Hilton Garden Inn hotels to be located in Mardin, the capital of Mardin Province in the southeast of the country, and the historic city of Sanliurfa, also in the southeast. As part of this agreement Hilton plans to triple its portfolio in Turkey over the next five years. As well as these two new hotels, Hilton has another four Garden Inn properties under development in Turkey in Diyarbakir, Bursa, Manisa and Kütahya and another seven Hilton hotels and one Conrad property already in operation in the country.

A Baccarat For The Dubai Pearl | As part of its plan to provide the world with a chain of luxury hotels and resorts under the Baccarat brand, know for its production of word-class crystal, the US-based real estate investment and development firm Starwood Capital Group has signed an agreement with Pearl Dubai FZ LLC, an investment consortium let by the Al Fahim Group, to give the emirate of Dubai a AED2.5 million (US$680 million) Baccarat Hotel and Residences. The 342-room development to be located at the Dubai Pearl mixed-use development is scheduled to open in 2011. This will be the third Baccarat property to be launched after the Baccarat Resort and Residences in Wailea, Hawaii, and Anguilla which are expected to open in 2009 and 2020, respectively.

Egypt Gets A New Address… | Emaar Hospitality Group is to build its first hotel in Egypt under its new five-star brand The Address Hotels & Resorts. The US$2.1 billion The Address, Uptown Cairo, which is expected to be complete by 2011, will offer 200 rooms and 300 apartments in Uptown Cairo, a 4 million m² development by Emaar Misr, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emaar Hospitality Group. The hotel in Cairo will be the fourth hotel launched by Emaar under this brand after the 196-room The Address, Downtown Burj Dubai; the 244-room The Address, Dubai Mall; and the 143-room The Address, Dubai Marina, which are all scheduled to open later this year. Emaar plans to roll out The Address brand in key destinations in the EMEA region, as well as the Indian Subcontinent, Asia and America, over the next ten years.

…And A Nikki Beach Resort | Emaar aren’t the only luxury operator to step foot in Egypt this week as Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts has announced that it is to develop a resort at Egyptian real estate developer Palm Hills Development’s project Hacienda Bay on Egypt’s north coast. The development will include a 125-room Nikki Beach Hotel and Spa, 55 luxury villas and a Nikki Beach Club.

Mandarin Oriental To Debut In Moscow | Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it is to manage a new hotel in Moscow, Russia, on behalf of German-based Unicor Management Company, adding a new city and a new country to its portfolio of luxury hotels. It is rumoured that Moscow’s 260-room Central Hotel, which opened in 2011, is to undergo a reported US$220 million refurbishment and upgrade by Unicor and Rossiisky Credit Bank and is expected to open as the 237-room Mandarin Oriental, Moscow in 2011.

Thirteen…Lucky For Some! | Marriott International is to add hotel number 13 to its Courtyard by Marriott portfolio in Germany. The company has signed a franchise agreement with Baum Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft Bremen for a 155-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Bremen which is due to open in 2010.

Kingdom Holding Issues A Trading Update | Kingdom Holding has announced a net profit of SR534.7 million (US$142.6 million) for the second quarter of 2008 (ending 30 June), resulting in an increase of 21.8% on the same period in 2007. The company’s net profit for the first half of 2008 totalled SR838.5 million (US$225.8 million), an increase of 15.1% on the corresponding period in 2007.

Three Months To Go Until The 2008 International Hotel Conference | The sixth annual International Hotel Conference is to be held at the Caveleri Hilton hotel in Rome, Italy, from the 15 to 17 October 2008. On this year’s agenda are interactive educational sessions and 100 industry speakers including HVS London’s Russell Kett and Gabi Baumann.

Kiessling’s Corner | Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid, is here to give us this week's news from Spain.The hotel chain Grupo Globalia Oasis has signed an agreement with the Onix group for the management of a new property in Madrid, which is expected to open in 2010. The four-star hotel will be located in the Fuencarral district and it will occupy a surface area of 3,428 m². The hotel will offer 300 rooms including 60 junior suites, a spa and a room for events. Elsewhere in the country, Alexandre Hotels recently opened its third establishment, the Hotel Front Air Congress, in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. This four-star hotel has 229 rooms, of which ten are suites, 147 premium rooms and 72 urban rooms. The hotel will be equipped with a natural spa of 1,200 m², a conference centre (of 2,000 m²) and a terrace. Alexandre Hotels is a Spanish company which was created by the Inbamar group in 2004. In response to its expansion projects, Hoteles Santos opened the four-star, 176-room Hotel Diagonal Plaza in Zaragoza last week. In addition, next season the five-star, 125-room El Val de Neu will open in the resort of Baqueira Beret in Catalonia. Furthermore the opening of the Santos Mayrytt hotel in Madrid is expected; the hotel, which is currently in a testing phase, is close to Barajas Airport and it has 112 rooms, of which 22 are twin rooms, four are suites and four are leisure rooms.

Absolute Share Price Performance Over the Past Week 17-24 July 2008

  • Millennium & Copthorne - The company has said that it has continued to trade in line with expectations in the second quarter of 2008.
  • Whitbread - A Collins Stewart buy note contributed to a rise in the company's shares.
  • Accor - SG Securites gave the company a 'buy' rating.

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