Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which operates some of the world's most storied and luxurious hotel properties such as The Plaza in New York, London's The Savoy, Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai and Fairmont San Francisco, will soon welcome another notable icon, Moscow's Pekin Hotel, to its collection. Following an extensive restoration program, this historic property will be rebranded Fairmont Pekin Moscow and will reopen in 2017.
Horwath HTL, the world's largest hotel consulting network, hosted a panel discussion on Investment Opportunities in Russia's '500k Club' those 37 regional cities with a population of more than 500 thousand inhabitants. The session, part of the Russia and CIS Hotel Investment Conference was led by Michael O'Hare, Managing Director of Horwath HTL Russia and Hungary and featured Petr Chitipakhovyan, President, CH Group, Mike Collini, VP Development, Turkey, Russia and Eastern Europe for Hilton Worldwide and Alexander Gendelsman, CEO, LLC, AZIMUT Hotels Company.
Hilton Worldwide today announced growth in its Russian presence, confirming four new hotel signings and potential for a further 11 as part of a multi-site development agreement. The four new hotel signings add almost 1,000 bedrooms to the pipeline and the multi-site development agreement is expected to bring an additional 1,500 plus bedrooms. With 23 hotels that are either trading or under development across the country, these latest signings place the Russian market as the leading development pipeline for Hilton Worldwide in Europe.
Hotel values in Russia, the CIS and Georgia are expected to increase 7% by the end of 2011 – nearly double the forecasted growth rate of hotels in Europe, according to the annual Hotel Valuation Index (HVI) of the region by the HVS offices in London and Moscow.
Due to increased hotel development in Russia and the CIS, it is important for owners to better understand different types of relations with the hotel operators. In this article we address some of the main terms of a typical management contract.
Capella Hotels and Resorts will open the new ultra-luxurious Capella Sochi Hotel in 2013, scheduled in time to welcome the VIP guests of the 2014 Olympic Games in Russia. The new hotel will be located within the desirable village of Gorki Gorod 960, home to villas, chalets and exclusive properties in the vicinity of the celebrated Krasnaya Polyana, 40 km from Sochi-Adler international airport. The village is planned as a year-round international resort in the most southern point of Russia.
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is to add another Russian hotel to its portfolio: the international hotel chain has signed a management contract for a hotel in the Russian year-round mountain resort Gorky-Gorod, in the city of Sochi. The deluxe hotel will be part of the Krasnaya Polyana winter sports area, which is due to be completed in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics. By then, 59 ski lifts should be up and running, providing access to around 200 kilometres of ski pistes.
Horwath HTL, the world's largest hotel consulting network, hosted a round table discussion on Investment Opportunities in Eastern Europe, under the heading 'Investment Opportunities across the Continent – A taste of Europe'. The round table, which was led by Petr Chitipakhovyan, President, Polis Service Development and Michael O'Hare, Managing Director, Horwath HTL Hungary and Russia was part of the inaugural Hotel Investment Conference Europe, organized by Burba Hotel Networks. The discussion focused on three primary issues, whether Russia could be considered open for business for external investment and the risks associated with that. What lessons could be learned from Petr Chitipakhovyan's experience of developing and owning a portfolio of hotels in Russia and where the market was headed.
Hyatt Regency Vladivostok, Golden Horn will feature 217 guest rooms and suites, food and beverage outlets, a spa and health club and banqueting and meeting facilities. Located at the Korabelnaya Embankment in the city's central business district, the property will be situated along Svetlanskaya Street – the city's "High Street" – with the back of the hotel directly facing the Golden Horn Bay. Guests will be within walking distance of the city's main government and business buildings as well as its exclusive shore line. Visitors attending the 2012 APEC Summit will have easy accessibility to Russky Island, the event's main venue.
Angela Brav, chief executive officer for IHG in Europe, is on a trade mission to Russia with the British Prime Minister to boost trade ties between the two countries.
A hotel in orbit, lunar sightseeing flights and luxury rides into the cosmos -- all are part of Russia's vision to ensure it is not left behind in the growing space tourism industry. Russian firms unveiled their plans at the country's premiere air show this week at Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, saying the race was on to build a new craft to take people into space following the retirement of NASA's space shuttle in April.
There has been a fundamental shift in the past decade in the way hotel companies operate. They have moved to an asset light model, focusing on branding and operations while selling off real estate. This model which separates operating companies from brand owners has been pioneered successfully for sometime by Interstate in Russia.
Best Western International, the World's Biggest Hotel Family(SM), continues its global expansion with the addition of the company's first hotel in Russia, the BEST WESTERN Vega Hotel & Convention Centre, in the country's capital city of Moscow. With 970 guest rooms, the BEST WESTERN Vega Hotel & Convention Centre is the largest hotel in Best Western's portfolio of more than 4,000 hotels worldwide.
"Hyatt Regency Sochi represents a key opportunity to increase preference for Hyatt's brands in one of Russia's top tourist destinations," said Peter Norman, senior vice president, real estate and development for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts for Europe, Africa, and Middle East. "While the 2014 Games have heightened Sochi's profile, it has long been a popular destination for travelers in the region. Hyatt's Regency Sochi will join other Hyatt hotel's in Russia, which include Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow and Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg."
Confidence is returning to the Russian markets although consumers opting for premium hotel brands are more demanding. At a meeting hosted by Ernst & Young, Dr Daniel Thorniley, President at DT Global Business Consulting reported 'Looking at some of the larger consumer products, companies grew organic top-line sales in 2010 at about 8% to 10% and were budgeting for 12% to 14% this year.
"Russia is where we began our international outreach more than 16 years ago," said Thomas F. Hewitt, Interstate's chairman and chief executive officer. "These six properties add to our growing European portfolio. We pioneered independent third-party management in Russia and currently operate seven significant hotels in Moscow. We believe there are continued opportunities throughout the region and have a full team in place to oversee this expected growth."
STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world's hotel industry, is pleased to announce the introduction of Yekaterinburg to their coverage of the Russian hotel market alongside Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The five-star resort hotel Kempinski Grand Hotel Gelendzhik is the third hotel managed by Kempinski Hotels in Russia, and the first on the Black Sea coast. Kempinski Grand Hotel Gelendzhik sits on the first line of the Black Sea coast, in Cape Tolstiy on Gelendzhik Bay. The 8 hectare site encompasses: five-star hotel with 379 rooms, including 7 bungalows, private beach, indoor and outdoor pools, a multi-functional congress centre, an amphitheatre for outdoor events, both street level and underground parking, tennis courts and sports ground, spa centre, aquatic centre, 3 restaurants, a children's playground.
"We are excited to bring W to St. Petersburg, a major European cultural as well as an international hot spot especially during the White Night Festival. It is another milestone of W's global expansion in 2011 after the opening of W London, W Taipei and W Retreat and Spa Bali-Seminyak this year," said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide and Le Méridien. "With W's passion for design, fashion and music, W St. Petersburg will set the stage for fabulous and will ensure that the White Nights never end."
Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is to add another Russian hotel to its portfolio: the international hotel chain with Swiss Roots has signed a management contract for a deluxe hotel in the Russian city of Sochi. Sochi is renowned as a beach destination and due to the nearby Caucasus Mountains has been chosen as host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics. From then on the city will also host the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix for ten years.