iRiS Software Systems, the leading provider of guest-facing technology for the hospitality industry, is pleased to announce the launch of two new and highly innovative features: iRiS Check-in & iRiS Mobile Room Key. Both will be unveiled at HITEC, the world's largest hospitality technology show, taking place in Austin, TX, from June 15th to June 18th.
The Splendid Hospitality Group has appointed James Clarke as General Manager for the new Hilton London Bankside hotel which is set to open this summer. James brings with him over 20 years of experience within the hospitality industry and joins from the London Hilton on Park Lane where he was Director of Operations. James studied in both the UK and USA and one of his prestigious early jobs included working at the Waldorf Astoria in New York as Director of Room Service and Hospitality Operations.
iRiS Software Systems, the leading provider of guest facing technology, announces an integration with ASSA ABLOY Hospitality, the leading global provider of advanced hotel locking solutions. The companies have joined forces in order to provide access to the new ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Mobile Access solution through the iRiS interactive guest services application that is available to hotels for use in enhancing guest communication and services via their personal mobile devices. Through the new technology partnership, hotel guests will now be able to use their smartphones as digital keys to their assigned guestrooms. The solution will soon be available to any hotel in the world, whether independent or chain.
Hotel online distribution specialist, eRevMax, has added 40 new technical interfaces in the first four months of 2015, continuing its long standing position as the largest distribution network provider in the industry. The new 2-way certified demand partners including Nustay, roomlia®, Bookit.com, Tourplan, EET Global, Traveltool/Logitravel, myHotelShop, NetAffinity, TravelRepublic and Southall Travel among others will add more versatility to the eRevMax Channel Ecosystem.
Belmond has announced the appointment of Klaus Kabelitz as general manager of Belmond Cadogan Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, which will reopen in autumn 2016 following a complete renovation.
Maybourne Hotel Group, London’s leading owner and operator of renowned luxury hotels Claridge’s, the Connaught and the Berkeley, has announced the appointment of Eugene Leonard as Hotel Operations Manager of the Connaught in Mayfair. Eugene Leonard joins the Connaught from Claridge’s where he held the position as Director of Food & Beverage since 2011. Prior to joining Claridge’s, Eugene Leonard was Director of Events for the Maybourne Hotel Group, overseeing sales and operations for the Berkeley, the Connaught and Claridge’s.
In April, London hotels posted negative results with a decrease in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) mainly driven by rooms revenues. On the other hand, the UK Provinces once again recorded positive year-on-year movements across all key performance indicators, according to the latest data from HotStats.
As part of the Group's strategy to restructure the assets of HotelInvest, its hotel owner and investor business, Accor today announces the sale and franchise-back of seven hotels (708 rooms) for €32.6 million, along with a commitment from the buyers to carry out €5.2 million worth of renovations.
Maud RICHARD (ESSEC IMHI) 2004 has been appointed as Director of Hotel Development Reignwood Investments UK limited, Head Office, London. Reignwood owns Ten Trinity Square, a Grade II listed building, next to Tower of London, which will host 41 residences, and a luxury hotel with 100 rooms and suites, restaurants, bars, spa and a private club operated by Four Seasons. Opening scheduled during Q4 2016. Upon graduation Maud joined Conrad Hotels Headquarters Brussels as Analyst and stayed 2 years. Then joined Accor for 6 years where she held several positions as Project Manager for top Executives and also on pre-openings.
Your Hotels™ Worldwide, a leading hotel chain of independently-managed properties in Scandinavia, has strengthened relationship with eRevMax by implementing its 2-way XML connectivity solution for seamless data transfer between its property management system and online sales channels. All 65 properties under the group are using RateTiger Channel Manager to update rates and availabilities across their distribution mix in real-time. RateTiger is a fully integrated e-distribution platform with 2-way XML channel connectivity, market intelligence and revenue management capabilities.
Bojan Jokic, CEO and co-founder of Epteca, will be a featured presenter at the upcoming Airline Retail Conference (ARC) taking place June 2-3, 2015 at Olympia Conference Centre in London. The presentation, titled "Knowing Your Customer – Content & Context" will focus on the impact of using relevance, timing, technique, channel, and the customer decision journey that define a lucrative ancillary merchandising and selling strategy focused on the traveller.
It’s not enough for revenue managers to continue learning in their ever-evolving discipline; they must also teach those (and relentlessly so) who might not be so open to this new world of doing things, said panelists at the Travel Distribution Summit Europe held in London. “Cold blooded” was the term one used to describe a personality trait required to help push top-line growth across the entire asset, chain or group. “At the moment, my colleagues are not aligned,” said Nicolas Alsterdal, total profit manager at Nordic Choice Hotels.
The Halkin by COMO, London, has appointed Andrew Thomson as its new General Manager.
Jumeirah Group, the global luxury hotel company and a member of Dubai Holding, has appointed Russell Durnell as Operations Director at Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London.
FRHI Hotels & Resorts appoints Helena Suarez as director, luxury sales. Suarez will be responsible for the Luxury Sales accounts in the UK, Scandinavia & Spain. With over 14 years of experience in the sales industry, Suarez started her career in the hospitality industry at The Halkin Hotel by COMO in 2001. In 2002, she became sales executive at The Rubens at the Palace Hotel in London. Suarez has since worked for Oberoi Hotels & Resorts as a senior account manager before joining the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group as a director of leisure sales in 2008.
Celebrating 15 years, St Martins Lane, London's first boutique hotel and Morgans Hotel Group Co.'s first European hotel, has revealed a fresh new contemporary design and updated public spaces to mark the milestone anniversary.
Jumeirah Group, the global luxury hospitality company and a member of Dubai Holding, has appointed Robert Touzel as Director of Sales and Marketing at Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London. Robert joins with an extensive range of experience across the luxury hotel industry. For over 20 years, Robert has held leadership roles across many international hotels including the Athenaeum Hotel & Apartments, Mandarin Oriental and Langham Hospitality Group. Prior to his appointment, Robert was Regional Director of Sales & Marketing at Langham Hospitality Group.
Ctrip.com International Ltd., the largest online travel agency in China, has completed integration with eRevMax to offer XML connectivity to its growing base of hotel customers. Accommodation providers using RateTiger and Connect solutions as well as the recently announced LIVE platform will now be able to make real-time ARI (Availability, Rates & Inventory) updates and receive bookings generated on the channel through eRevMax solutions directly into their property management system. This will result in more efficient rate distribution, enhanced rate optimization and the streamlining of all connections.
Whilst London hotels' profitability showed a virtually flat year-on-year movement in the month of March, the UK provinces continued to post strong performance with particular growth in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR). In particular, South East hoteliers recorded an 8.4% surge in this metric, according to the latest data from HotStats.
Renato Moretto joins Jumeirah from Al Bandary Hotel Management in Qatar, where he was Group Director of Operations, supervising the development of seven properties. He was previously pre-opening General Manager at Nungwi Resort & Spa on Zanzibar in Tanzania, a five-star all-suite beachfront resort in the Indian Ocean, before which he was Re-opening General Manager at the Regency Hotel and Convention Centre in Kuwait. His previous experience includes senior positions at the Sonesta Pharaoh Beach Resort in Egypt, the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort on St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles and the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, United Kingdom. His earlier career included assignments with Sonesta in Egypt, at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa in the UAE, with the Cliff Bay Resort Hotel in Portugal and the Holiday Inn in Muscat, Oman. He started his career with Intercontinental Hotel Group.