Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

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hospITALITy Global downturn and Indian hospitality The recent global market shock has not spared the Indian tourism industry as the inbound tourist trade braces itself for a slowdown. During 2009, foreign tourist arrivals in India plummeted as Hilton Worldwide is all set to re-establish the Hilton brand in India. The hotel chain will be adding up to 50 properties to its portfolio in the next five years. Luxury brands —Waldorf Astoria and Conrad, upscale brand Doubletree and the mid-market brand, Hampton, will be introduced for the first time in the Indian market. Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn have already been launched in the country while six more hotels will be opened in the next nine months under the Hilton and Doubletree brands in Gurgaon, Bangalore, Gujarat and in the Mumbai The ITC Group has acquired a 26% stake in a 275-room, fivestar luxury hotel property being developed by Noida-based Logix Group in Noida’s Sector 105. The company plans to invest close to `100 crore in the project and will also manage it under the top-end ITC hotels brand. The total project cost of the hotel, which is part of a larger sevenacre commercial and retail Hilton Worldwide expands Hilton Worldwide announced expansion plans for South America at the South America Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference hosted by HVS Argentina in Santiago, Chile. “Hilton Americans and Europeans who patronise India’s luxury resorts, slashed luxury spending. The number of foreign tourists visiting India fell from 5.4 million to 5.2 million from 2008 to 2009, Hilton expansion in India region. Lenny Menezes, country manager - India, Hilton International Hotels, believes mid-scale brands Hampton Hotels and ITC acquires stake development called Riviera 105, is `440 crore. The construction of the hotel is expected to finish in 36 months. Logix Worldwide has a strategic commitment to expand globally, and Latin America is a high priority target for our expansion,” Bill Fortier, senior vice president, Hilton Worldwide was quoted before recovering last year to 5.5 million, according to a report in the Financial Times. According to PRS Oberoi, chairman and chief executive officer, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, global economies and the economic environment are volatile. On the foreign direct investment (FDI) front too, Oberoi was bearish, saying inflation, escalating interest rates and corruption scandals had tarnished India’s reputation as a chosen destination for FDIs. But tourism within India is flourishing. The number of domestic tourists has grown steadily to around 700 million annually. In some parts of India, domestic travellers are spending more than foreign visitors. Tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai said Hilton Garden Inn will drive the company’s growth in the country as they are well-suited to expand in secondary and tertiary cities. is constructing an 800,000 sq ft of commercial office space, 500,000 sq ft of retail space and a budget hotel as well in Sector 105, which is just ahead of Unitech’s Grande project on the Noida-Greater Noida expressway. It has already inked pact with global food retail chain Spar International for a hypermarket and is also planning an 11-screen multiplex. saying. The Group currently has 45 hotels and resorts throughout Latin America. By the end of 2013, the company’s presence in Latin America is expected to surpass 60 hotels. recently domestic tourism had witnessed an annual growth of over 10% over the previous year. Sahai added that domestic tourism was likely to grow at the rate of 12% in the next five years. This Marriott International announced the opening of three-hotel Doha City Centre complex including the Renaissance Doha City Centre Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Doha City Centre and Marriott Executive Apartments. The Renaissance Doha City Centre Hotel, has 257 rooms and suites, The Courtyard by Marriott Doha City Center has 204 guest rooms and The Marriott Executive Apartments creates tremendous opportunities for budget and mid-market hotels. Little wonder, a number of international hotel chains have announced ambitious expansion plans in India. Marriott debuts properties in Doha Doha City Center, offers 123 serviced apartments. The opening marks the debut of the three brands in Qatar. Ideally located in West Bay across Qatar Financial Centre in two modern 48-storey towers, on the doorstep of the new business district of Doha and 15 minutes from the Doha International Airport, the hotel complex reinforces Doha’s futuristic vision and growing potential of tourism in Qatar.
TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST · November 2011 hospITALITy 21 London hotels set for Olympic price hike Hotel prices could rise between 30% and 50% during the Olympic Games in London 2012, according to Hotels.com. The company said that in the build-up to the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa, its hotel price index showed an average increase of 12% in hotel rooms in Johannesburg, while the rise in Cape Town The new Hotel Finder service from Google, launched during the end of July as an experiment, is a handy tool when it comes to researching and booking hotels, but the product reportedly has some major flaws. Hotel Finder allows users to enter a location, check-in (and check-out) date as well as specify the hotel by price and hotel class and rating. An integration with Google Maps also allows travellers to draw a ‘shape’ in which they want their hotel to be located over a city. Some of the shortcomings was 54% compared with the previous year. Hotels.com said when Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games in October 2010, room prices in the Indian city rose by an average 12%. When the Euro 2008 football championship was held in Switzerland and Austria, prices in Switzerland rose by an average of 22%. Alison Couper, Google Hotel Finder reported by users are that the hotel lists lack transparency as they show the base rate and not total price. Rates from hotel websites are often missing. The shape feature is also difficult to manipulate. Hotel photos are promotional and rarely show people. Moreover, the feature is only available at present for hotels in the US. Dennis Schaal of USA Today concludes that Kayak is a more comprehensive hotel metasearch tool and provides more booking options and features. Hospitality Industry-Vision 2020 The first convention of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) will be held at the Leela Palace, Amritsar, from September 23-25, 2011. The theme for the convention this year is “Hospitality Industry- Vision 2020”. There will be sessions to discuss like tips on making your property eco-friendly, tapping franchising opportunities with global chains, training staff and new management mantras. Major impediments to the growth of small hotels and chains — sensitivity to business cycles, adverse political and social events (including terrorist attacks) — will be discussed and analysed during the convention. Human Resource issues, responsible tourism, marketing practices and security issues will also be covered at the convention. from Hotels.com, said that it is expected that more than 12,000 additional hotel rooms will be available in London in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, yet despite this, the increase in demand from across the globe looks set to increase the price of hotel rooms in the lead-up to the event. New York’s tallest hotel Marriott International and Granite Broadway Development have signed an agreement to create the tallest hotel in New York. The hotel, to come up at 1717 Broadway at 54th Street, will be a joint-venture between Marriott’s Courtyard and Residence Inn brands. The over-752 feet high hotel is set to open in late 2013. The Courtyard by Marriott hotel will have 378 rooms located on floors from 6th to 32nd while the 261-room Residence Inn will offer suites on floors from 36th to 64th. Toshali Resorts looks at guest houses The Orissa-based Toshali Resorts has successfully bid for four Odisha Tourismowned guest houses for management under Lease Development Agreement (LDA). The state tourism department had floated tenders for leasing out 33 hotel properties spread across the state from private hospitality investors recently. According to Harihar Patra, director, (marketing), Toshali Group, the company has successfully bid for properties located in Macau casinos reaping profits Wynn Resorts Limited’s casino resort in Macau has bought a rare set of four ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain baluster vases from an auction for over Pathrajpur, Ratnagiri, Udaigiri and Lalitgiri, all falling in the Buddhist circuit. Since all these places are part of the Buddhist circuit, we will have a clear advantage to cater to this pilgrim segment in future, he said. Toshali Resorts, which currently owns three properties, two in Orrisa, and one in Shimla, will now focus on lease/ management contracts for their brand expansion. The company has already taken on lease a beach property in Goa. US $12.7 million. The only other known similar example of vases is held by the British Royal Family. The purchase of the historic artefacts is reportedly a part of Wynn’s efforts to bring Chinese art back to China. The pieces will go on display in the company’s Cotai resort that is scheduled to open in 2015. Of late, M a c a u hotels and casinos have been doing very well. Main drivers are strong visi t a t i o n numbers from China and Hong Kong with a total increase of 14.5% in the first half of 2011 and a gaming revenue increase of 21% over the same period.
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Page 5 and 6: TouroperATors Germany revises trave
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