Alvaro Rey, general manager, InterContinental - Travel Daily Media

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TRAVEL DAILY INDIA
TRAVEL DAILY ASIA
TRAVEL DAILY MIDDLE EAST
SINGAPORE TRAVEL NEWS
CRUISE NEWS UK
WWW.TRAVELDAILY.CO.UK
Tuesday 3rd January 2012 ▶ P 1
≪ FACE TO FACE
Alvaro Rey, general manager at
InterContinental Park Lane, arguably
the happiest hotelier in London ahead
of the Olympic games... READ MORE
≪ EYE ON NORTH AMERICA
New eco-bus tours to the Grand
Canyon launch, Hilton reopens in
Albany and Sheraton opens in Kansas
Crown Center... READ MORE
≪ FAIRMONT REVEALS 2012
OPENING PLANS
Hotel chain targets Eurovision and
Euro pilgrims in new openings, as
well as new property in Jaipur...
READ MORE
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SUMMER HOLIDAYS
High street stores
‘should adopt Apple-like
concepts’: ABTA
Association reveals trends for 2012…
Excessive card
surcharges to be
banned
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BA preps for ‘cyber
surfing Tuesday’
British Airways
has dubbed
today ‘cyber
surfi ng Tuesday’
as it expects a
rush in website
visits and bookings. The airline has
predicted that with many Brits back
at their desk today, prospective
holidaymakers will turn to travel
sites to research and book their
next escape. It expects today to be
its busiest day with a 50% increase
in traffic. “The fi rst day back at
work always leads to a spike in
visits to our website, and this year
with the excitement of The London
2012 Games and an extra holiday
for the Queen’s Jubilee, we know
planning holidays is going to be at
the forefront of everyone’s minds,”
said Andrew Crawley, commercial
director at British Airways.
High street travel agencies will
have to create an interactive
and fun store concept similar to
Apple to get consumers through
the doors, a new ABTA report
has said. The association's 2012
Travel Trends Report said that
while bookings through high
street had increased by 7%
year-on-year, shops will have
to move away from 'rows of
booking agents behind desks' to
differentiate from online. Agents
have been advised to use their
training, expertise and technology
such as iPads to develop
personalised inspiration for
clients, who will expect a tailored,
authentic holiday. Beach holidays,
'adult gap', cruises and wedding
Photo credit: 1000 Words / Shutterstock.com
will remain popular holiday types,
with all-inclusive an attraction for
those on a budget and 'remote
and discreet' trips favoured by the
luxury market. The mid-market
will continue to see the most
pressure, as middle class families
are most affected by the downturn
and holidayed less during 2011.
Meanwhile, over 55s and under
24s look set to take multiple trips
within the year.
The eurozone crisis, high
inflation and low economic
growth will impact holiday spend
alongside tax increases (APD and
ETS) so package holidays with
financial protection are expected
to remain popular. Click here for
full story.
Airlines continue tax campaign as ETS hits
Bosses at easyJet, IAG,
Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic
have continued to express their
call to scrap APD as the Emissions
Trading Scheme kicked in on
Sunday. Carolyn McCall from
easyJet, Willie Walsh from IAG,
Michael O'Leary from Ryanair
and Steve Ridgway from Virgin
Atlantic combined to ‘Axe the Tax’
in November before the Treasury
announced it was to increase APD
later this year.
It has continued to call for APD
to be scrapped but agreed that the
environmental aspect of ETS was
a step in the right direction. “Under
ETS, UK airlines face paying €400m
a year by 2020. Annual revenue
from APD already stands at £2.5bn,
and the Government wants it to
rise to £3.6bn by 2016,” the airlines
explained in a joint statement.
Click here for full story.
Excessive credit card and
debit card surcharges are to
be banned this year following an
investigation by Which?. Fees on
the sale of airline fares currently
add up to another £12 on prices,
while charges put up to £92 extra
on holiday bookings.
The ban would mean no
company could make profit from
the charges, which are thought to
have increased 1,400% in seven
years.
“We want consumers to be
able to shop around,” said Mark
Hoban, financial secretary to the
Treasury in a report from Metro.
Click here for full story.
£26m compensation
granted from 2011
collapses
Around £26 million in
compensation was paid out
to consumers last year following
24 travel company collapses, new
figures have revealed.
Almost 74,000 travellers were
affected by company failures
during 2011 with the average
claim at £353, although the
numbers were lower than 2009,
when 189,000 passengers were
hit and £47m was paid out.
In addition, the research by
Kelkoo showed that 71% of
consumers would find it difficult
financially to book a holiday until
compensation has come through,
which can take up to four months.
The travel company has now
warned that collapses during
2012 could take place during
peak booking periods such as
early this year and summer. Click
here for full story.
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TRAVEL DAILY INDIA
TRAVEL DAILY ASIA
TRAVEL DAILY MIDDLE EAST
SINGAPORE TRAVEL NEWS
CRUISE NEWS UK
WWW.TRAVELDAILY.CO.UK Tuesday 3rd January 2012 ▶ P 2
FACE TO FACE
Greece posts
tourism bill for
growth
Alvaro Rey, general manager at InterContinental Park Lane
▶ How did the hotel perform during 2011?
We had a great year and it feels like we haven’t stopped for the past 12 months. 2011 was one of
the best years in our history. The hotel performed well after the refurbishments (see more below) and
we have become fully fl exible in our size and service to help compete against the other luxury hotels
in London. New stand-alone and big groups with brand names have launched or re-opened hotels in
London so being fl exible has helped us to compete, plus we have explored new markets. It’s been a
perfect year.
▶ How has the hotel performed during the year?
Occupancy has increased and the average room rate has been up. Events have been good too, there
was a small drop between October and December on the amount of people participating in the events
but this was only minor. December started weak but there were a few last minute events booked in such
as cocktail evenings.
▶ How have London’s new openings affected the hotel?
Openings are always important and make you think about new product. It’ll [new openings] help the
city as London will always continue growing. I think we differentiate from the others as we are active.
Our hotel closed in 2005 and reopened in 2007 with a new lobby, bar and lounge and we are currently
going through a soft refurbishment of rooms and connecting suites.
It’s not just been the physical but also our staff training, which has helped us retain employees. Our
changed strategy has seen our 50% turnaround of staff reduced to 27% so that makes a big difference
to the dynamic of the team and service we provide to guests.
Our restaurants and bars also continue to be successful.
▶ Will you be making any changes ahead of the Olympics? How will the
games affect your hotel?
We will continue with room renovations but also some interesting new suites will be released before
the Olympics. There will also be a little renovation at the entrance to complement the lobby and bar. It’s
an innovation outside that no other hotel in London has and should be ready after Easter.
We have partnered with LOCOG during the Olympics and are part of the family so we will be totally
full during the games period. A lot of people [i.e. hoteliers] complain about the games but I think it will
be great for the city. Summer would usually be very quiet in London during a normal year so I think
people should be happy and look at ways to profi t. It’s about the pre and post event too for the future.
People will come here to see the Olympics but they should also see what is going to happen. We try
to create problems but should also see how it will benefi t from it in the future. We have the chance to
showcase the city.
▶ What new programmes will be put in place for 2012?
We have currently been working to launch programmes for our employees, so every Wednesday we
take members of different departments on a tour of the parks near the hotel. We go during different
times of the day and tell them about the surroundings and history, plus it’s a chance for us and them to
meet and catch up on life and work. It’s about listening to people in a relaxed way and talk freely.
In March 2012 we will be extending tours onto our guests, which they can choose to do on their own
or with an employee. By then all employees would have done the programme so they could be from any
department and it allows guests to increase their knowledge of London.
Throughout the year there will also be chefs, festivals, paintings and craft activities each month.
▶ How does the hotel work with UK travel agents?
We have a strong relationship as a big team [under IHG], we visit a lot of businesses and have lots of
fam trips both locally and other countries. The domestic market is important to us as more are coming
to the city and they take up dining and theatre tickets too.
Greece’s Ministry of Culture
and Tourism has presented a
new tourism bill to help boost the
country’s economy into 2012. In
a presentation on 20 December
last year, Minister of Culture and
Tourism Pavlos Yeroulanos said
its strategies would focus on
rural tourism; tourist ports and a
simplifi ed licensing process for
tourism businesses to increase its
prospects. It is hoped the former
will create jobs and support local
produce, as well as support fi shing,
gastronomy and wine tourism.
Click here for full story.
Fairmont reveals
2012 opening
plans
Baku will receive a Fairmont hotel in 2012
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has
announced it will debut in three
new destinations next year and add
more than 1,300 rooms around the
world. In the fi rst half of the year,
the hotel chain plans to open the
Fairmont Jaipur with 199 rooms,
nine villas and a Presidential Suite.
In addition it will open a property
in Baku, Azerbaijan, which is host
nation for the Eurovision Song
Contest next year. it will have 318
rooms and is based in the Flame
Towers, a multi-use building
overlooking the Caspian Sea.
Meanwhile, Fairmont will also
be targeting football fans with the
opening of Fairmont Grand Hotel
Kyiv in Ukraine, the fi rst luxury hotel
in the city. “International growth is
a key focus at Fairmont and I fully
expect 2012 to be a busy year for
us,” said Jennifer Fox, president of
Fairmont. Click here for full story.
Domestic tourism
team up for
campaign
VisitEngland has teamed up
with cottages4you to launch a
marketing campaign for domestic
breaks. Advertisements will begin
on Boxing Day as part of a £1
million campaign to promote
holidays in the UK to Brits. “The
self-catering sector is incredibly
important to domestic tourism – *5.2
million overnight domestic holidays
were taken in a rented property
last year generating £17 billion in
tourism spend,” said Tim Holt, head
of marketing at VisitEngland.
Click here for full story.
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TRAVEL DAILY INDIA
TRAVEL DAILY ASIA
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SINGAPORE TRAVEL NEWS
CRUISE NEWS UK
WWW.TRAVELDAILY.CO.UK Tuesday 3rd January 2012 ▶ P 3
Funway kicks off 20th anniversary
Iberostar opens second Tenerife hotel
Funway Holidays has started to
celebrate its 20th anniversary
in 2012 by offering travel agents
the chance to win a bottle of
champagne. Any agent who makes
a Far East booking between 1
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January and 31 March 2012 will
be entered into a draw. In addition,
every booking more than £2, 000
during the celebration period will be
entered into a draw to win £20 of
shopping.
Tune Hotels opens
second London
property
Malaysian budget hotel
chain Tune Hotels opened
its second London property at
Liverpool Street last week. Located
just 500m from Liverpool Street
train station, the new Tune Hotels
property features 183 en-suite
bedrooms and a private courtyard
garden.
"We are committed to London as
one of our core markets and will be
striving for Liverpool Street to follow
in the success of our Westminster
property which has achieved
average occupancies in excess
of 96% since opening in August
2010,” said Mark Lankester, group
CEO of Tune Hotels.
Iberostar Hotels & Resort s
opened its second city hotel last
week, in Tenerife. The Iberostar
Grand Hotel Mencey was opened
by Miguel Fluxa, executive chairman
at the hotel chain in a ceremony
mirroring its original opening in the
1950s. The hotel opening follows the
group’s fi rst city hotel in Istanbul and
is based in Santa Cruz.
EYEONAMERICA
NORTH
٭
New Grand Canyon eco bus tours launch
Grand Canyon Tour and Travel has launched
new environmentally friendly tours to the
tourist attraction. The new tours, known as
VIP Spirit, use low emission mini-buses
to reach the national park with just 12
seats and extras such as larger windows,
flat-screen TVs, surround sound, upgraded seating and
limousine lighting. “We’ve provided the best full size motor
coach tours to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam for many
years” said the company’s Mike Rancilio. “We’re now able
to integrate that knowledge, superior customer service and
experience into the VIP Spirit brand and are extending it to
reach our other destinations such as Zion National Park,
Hollywood and Death Valley”.
٭
Hilton reopens Albany hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts has returned to Albany
in New York state by renaming a Crowne
Plaza hotel in the city. The property will now be
known as Hotel Albany and is the first Hilton
in the Capital District region. Its 386 rooms will
now go through a renovation, as well as the
lobby, offices and garages in the first months of this year.
٭
Sheraton opens in Kansas Crown Center
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts has taken over a hotel in Kansas
City’s Crown Center. The 730-room hotel will now be redesigned
to the chain’s name and product offering in a £8.3m renovation.
Its lobby will be converted into a Link@Sheraton hub with
technology powered by Microsoft. It will also receive an indoor
and outdoor pool, Sheraton Club Lounge and fi tness centre
alongside the current meetings and events space.
follow us on
Managing Editor: Amanda Greenwood | Managing Director & Editor: Gary Marshall
Advertise with TDUK today! Email us at advertising@traveldaily.co.uk 36-38 Hanway Street London W1T 1UP United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 207 2686560