The prestigious HSMAI European Awards 2011 were rewarded six European travel and hospitality companies and professionals during an event taking place at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo Thursday night, following the day-time HSMAI Marketing Strategy Conference held at same venue.
19.9% of hoteliers in the Provinces and 19% of hoteliers in London believe that better revenue management will be the solution to increasing average room rate in 2012, according to the latest Hotel Confidence Monitor – UK Regions by HotStats. In London, 19% of general managers believe that an increase in sales and marketing activities will increase the average room rate in 2012 with 28.6% of respondents believing that changing the market mix will do the same. In the Provinces, 17.4% of respondents believe that an increase in sales and marketing activities will increase average room rate, with investment in the product (12.5%) and an economic recovery (9.4%) also cited as methods that would encourage growth.
Your Hotel™ Worldwide has appointed David Warren as its Regional Sales Director for its UK business unit as part of the company"s wider expansion plan. With over 20 years of hotel system sales experience covering Property Management Systems (PMS) and Channel Management, David will help small, independent and privately owned hotels better understand the new and increasingly complex sales marketplace to improve bookings and revenue.
Having evaluated the major PMS solutions in the marketplace, Clarenco chose Xn Hotel Systems to implement protel Multi Property Edition (MPE) across 6 properties. "We needed a solution that was capable of managing our business both at the properties and centrally", stated Greg Ward, Sales & Operations Director. "Of crucial importance is the event management capability within protel, as well as the integrated CRM functionality provided, which avoids the need to interface to a third party system or to maintain separate databases. We were also keen to outsource the hosting of the chosen solution to the vendor."
Anthony Worrall has joined InterContinental Hotels Group as the new general manager at Crowne Plaza London - The City, after spending 19 years with Hilton Worldwide.Immediately prior to joining the Crowne Plaza London, Worrall was general manager at the Trafalgar hotel, where he opened the property's successful rooftop bar, Vista. After studying hotel management in Leeds, he joined the cruise industry, first on the Canberra and then later on the QE2, working in the ship's fine-dining restaurants.
MICROS Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce thatG1 Group plc, a leading leisure operator in Scotland, has selected MICROS as its technology partner for its estate of restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas and hotels. All 40 of the G1 outlets will implement MICROS RES, MICROS Materials Control, MICROS Enterprise Management, MICROS XBR Loss Prevention, and rugged MICROS point-of-sale hardware. The G1 hotels will implement MICROS OPERA, with its largest sites utilizing Mobile MICROS.
No one would ever imagine, that London could not offer a sufficient number of hotel rooms or premium hotel properties. The UK capital still is the melting-pot of the British Empire and talking point in respect to its numerous hotel projects. According to TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the leading information service for international hotel construction and development projects, 20 new four and five star rated hotels with more than 4,200 rooms have opened their doors during the past year. Over the next three years further 37 new top hotels with more than 8,800 rooms will be inaugurated. Among them the 195-room Shangri-La in the new skyscraper "The Shard" (TOPHOTELPROJECTS Nr. 616), expected to open up in spring 2013.
People were eager to book holidays last year despite natural, political and financial uncertainty, say leading online travel retailer, Holiday Hypermarket. According to the UNWTO's World Tourism Barometer for March, a total of 88 countries reported increases in international tourist arrivals in 2011, with just 15 reporting a decline. This contributed to a worldwide tourism increase of 4.4 per cent on 2010.
Hotel management and development company, Sanguine Hospitality, has appointed Mark Davies as its new general manager for Hotel Indigo Birmingham. Davies (40) will lead the 52-bedroom upscale hotel and its skyline Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill restaurant at The Cube.
Russell Kett has been appointed Chairman of the London offices of HVS, from his previous role as managing director. As Chairman he will be able to continue to develop the company’s dominant position in providing hotel real estate and advisory services to clients of the London offices throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
HVS is pleased to announce that Charles Human has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer for the London offices of HVS, overseeing the firm’s valuation and consulting division as well as retaining his current responsibility for managing HVS Hodges Ward Elliott, the brokerage and investment banking division of HVS in Europe.
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has appointed Ray Keogh as the General Manager of the Park Inn by Radisson Peterborough. Ray, who is Irish, has a solid background in the hospitality industry. Having joined Rezidor in 2002 as Assistant bar Manager at the Park Inn Northampton, he was then promoted to Front Office manager at the hotel four years later.
A new hotel group, Puma Hotels' Collection, has launched after taking over 20 properties across the UK from Spanish hotel company Barceló. The new group encompasses 21 four-star properties across the UK, including the 152-bedroom Imperial hotel in Torquay and the 77-bedroom Lygon Arms in Gloucestershire.
The UK will only welcome an additional 330,000 international visitors as a direct result of hosting the London 2012 Olympics, reveals research at WTM Vision Conference London. Euromonitor International Head of Travel and Tourism Research Caroline Bremner told senior travel industry delegates, at the event organised by Reed Travel Exhibition"s World Travel Market, the UK will welcome 29.4m international visitors this year, a 2% increase on 2011, or 588,000.
Bournemouth University recently held its first Hospitality Student Conference in London with over 150 of its final year undergraduate and Master"s postgraduate students in attendance. The event was held at the Kensington Hilton Hotel and received generous supported from Hilton Hotels Worldwide.
Sascha brings over nine years' experience in hotel Food & Beverage management and joins from Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg in Russia where he worked for almost three years and most recently was responsible for directing the Hotel's seven food & beverage outlets, including room service and private events. Previously Sascha worked at the Grand Hyatt Berlin where he was assistant director of Food & Beverage.
Quadriga has announced today that it has created a new specialist business unit called "QNetworks", designed to respond to the growing technology and operational challenges facing hotels as they transition their networks to achieve greater efficiencies, build competitive advantage and meet demanding guest requirements.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today that its global powerhouse, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, continues to enhance its portfolio with the re-opening of the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh following a full multi-million dollar renovation.
Hotels across the country rebounded from a challenging winter season in March, according to preliminary figures released today by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services. Rooms yield in London grew by an impressive 5.5% to £105.26 from £99.73 in March 2011. This was driven by a 7.6% rise in room rate to £131.93, compared with £122.65 a year earlier, which more than offset a 1.9% decline in occupancy from 81.3% to 79.7%.
Rezidor's President & CEO Kurt Ritter is a new member of the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame. The prestigious award was presented at the Hall of Fame's Annual Dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London yesterday, and honours Ritter "for having created a major and highly successful leading organisation in the global travel and hospitality industry".