Cedar Capital Buys The Mandarin Oriental, Prague | Cedar Capital Partners is a firm that invests in hotels; and this week has been no exception. In partnership with one of its institutional investors, the company has paid an undisclosed sum for the Mandarin Oriental, Prague. This luxury 99-room hotel opened in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, in September.
The RevPAR for hotel chains in France on the first 3 quarters of 2006 is up by 5.4%. This result is perfectly in line with MKG Consulting’s forecast for growth between 5% and 7%, confirming an acceleration of the business recovery for the sector with respect to growth in the RevPAR in France by 3.0% in 2005.
TAMPA, Florida, According to the results of its annual survey of North American convention centers, PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that demand from conventions and trade shows continues to rebound following industry-wide declines from 2000 through 2002.
Here's '1' For Green Campaigners | 1 Hotel and Residences will leave no grubby carbon footprints in the greenhouse of life; this new brand from Starwood Capital Group is the world’s first luxury, eco-friendly hotel brand. Eco-warriors may rest easy in the treetops, since all of the hotels will be constructed and operated in an environmentally friendly manner. Four of the first five hotels will be built in the USA; Seattle will have the honour of being the first city to roll out the green carpet, in late 2008. The fifth hotel will be in the French capital Paris, but weep not for the earth, for no gouging will be going on here. The property will occupy an existing building that is to be renovated.
Thanks to the Paris Motor show, the first two weeks of October have been excellent for the hotel industry: in this period, the RevPAR rose by 13.8% over the same period in 2005.
Death Announced Of Howard 'Butch' Kerzner | Readers will already be aware of the untimely death in a helicopter crash in the Dominican Republic on 11 October of Howard ‘Butch’ Kerzner, 42, the chief executive of Kerzner International. We were greatly saddened by this news and we send our condolences to his family and the company.
Sale Detected In Germany | Van der Valk Hotels & Restaurants has made the short journey from its home in the Netherlands to take possession of what is its tenth hotel in Germany. The company has paid an undisclosed sum to Starman Hotels for the 110-room former Le Meridien hotel in the northern city of Hildesheim.
This summer, the hotel industry has noted good results. The month of July has ended with a rise of the RevPAR, a trend which continues to manifest itself during the month of August. This is mainly due to growth in demand.
Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in providing accurate, actionable information and analysis to the lodging industry. Since 1985, the company has served the industry operating on the key principals of integrity, confidentiality and customer service. STR provides timely information and analysis to all major North American hotel chains and a growing number of chains in Europe and Asia. Individual hotels, management companies, appraisers, consultants, lenders and other lodging industry analysts also rely on STR data for the accuracy they require.
Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in providing accurate, actionable information and analysis to the lodging industry. Since 1985, the company has served the industry operating on the key principals of integrity, confidentiality and customer service. STR provides timely information and analysis to all major North American hotel chains and a growing number of chains in Europe and Asia. Individual hotels, management companies, appraisers, consultants, lenders and other lodging industry analysts also rely on STR data for the accuracy they require.
A recently published study of Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas, an Athens-based tourism and hospitality consultant, sheds light on the relationship of Greek resort hotels with European tour operators, with the former relying for 60% of their total business on the latter's inclusive tours. One single operator, the European market leader TUI Group, represents 2.6 million vacationers or 29% of all tourist arrivals from the twelve main source markets of Greece such as Germany, the UK, France, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Nordic countries. Greek tourism is also highly dependent on charter flights operated by tour operators, as 75% of all West Europeans - and 58% of all international tourists - vacationing in Greece arrive on charter flights.
Square Footage Meeting Space Occupied, Square Footage Catered, Estimated Number of Attendees. Data derived from reader board reports covering 652 hotels in 48 markets across 36 states and provinces. Total number of events surveyed for time period: 27,498
Friday 29 september 2006 | Hilton Establishes Its First Hotel In Russia | Another of those hotels in Moscow dating from the era of Stalin is being updated. The Leningradskaya Hotel is spared the fate of demolition; instead, it is to be extensively renovated. Choosing the new wallpaper is Hilton Hotels Corporation, which has signed a franchise agreement with JSC Sadko Hotel on what will become the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya. When it reopens in mid 2007, the 275-room hotel, Hilton’s first in Russia, will be operated by Interstate Management Services, a subsidiary of Interstate Hotels & Resorts.
NEEDHAM, Mass. | According to a recent TripAdvisor(TM) survey of more than 2,100 travelers from around the world, 68 percent of travelers regularly stay at the same hotel chain when on business trips. Marriott was selected as the top hotel choice when traveling for work. Thirty-four percent of respondents plan to take one to three business trips this year, and nearly ten percent will take ten or more trips for work this year.
Five-Star Sector Bows To The Royal Tulip | Hoteliers, particularly those of a horticultural bent, will be interested to hear of a new species of tulip: a Royal Tulip, no less, which will flourish in the five-star sector. Golden Tulip Hospitality (GTH) announced that the 210-room Royal Tulip Amsterdam Symphony would be the first hotel to flower; it is due to arrive in the Dutch city of Amsterdam in spring 2009. GTH noted that the soil in Berlin, the Moroccan city of Casablanca, Dallas, in the USA, and Mirbāţ, in the sultanate of Oman, is also suitable for growing the brand...
In Paris as well as in the other regions, the upscale hotel markets have noted the strongest growth rates during the month of July. 4 star hotels in Paris have seen their room revenue increase by +14.0%, those of the other regions by +15.2%. 3 star hotels, while tending to register lesser growth rates, did not lag behind this time. The 2 star hotel market however, only posted moderate growth of around 2% of their room revenue both in Paris and in the rest of France.
Square Footage Meeting Space Occupied, Square Footage Catered, Estimated Number of Attendees | Data derived from reader board reports covering 564 hotels in 45 markets across 34 states and provinces* | Total number of events surveyed for time period: 21,383
Monday 4 september 2006| A Second InterContinental Hotel For Kazakhstan | My first is in Astana, my second in Almaty: what am I? An InterContinental hotel in Kazakhstan? Yes, absolutely correct. The 294-room InterContinental Astana in the Kazakh capital is to have a companion in Kazakhstan’s former capital. The former Regent Almaty Hotel will be extensively refurbished in October and the property will emerge from this work as the 290-room InterContinental Almaty. InterContinental Hotels Group signed an agreement on the hotel with Ayt-Otel, which is part of the Turkish firm Ahsel Holding.
Due to dramatic demographic changes around the globe and the aging of the Baby Boomer market, by 2008 companies in a range of sectors–including the consumer packaged goods, retail, financial services, healthcare, automotive, real estate and hotel and lodging businesses—will have to focus with ever greater savvy on serving the needs of a different type of consumer: one who is age 50-plus with shifting biological, psychological, social, and economic characteristics, needs and expectations.
Great Southern Hotels Greet Their Buyers | Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) decided in February that it wanted to sell Great Southern Hotels. Buyers for seven of the eight hotels in the Republic of Ireland have been found and deals involving three separate sets of purchasers should be concluded by the end of next month. DAA expects to realise more than €265 million from the sale. Irish development firm Edward Holdings has acquired the hotel in Killarney, and the two in Co. Galway. Spentor, a company controlled by Bernard McNamara, chose the Parknasilla hotel in Co. Kerry...