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Hyatt Signs With Anolia Holdings Limited to Develop First Hotel in Cyprus
Grand Hyatt | July 13, 2020
CHICAGO (July 13, 2020) - Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Anolia Holdings Limited for the first Hyatt hotel on the island of Cyprus, Grand Hyatt Limassol. The 300-room luxury resort is expected to open in 2025 and signifies Hyatt’s continued growth into Europe’s leading travel destinations. The new-build beachfront resort will be situated at a Blue Flag beach east of Limassol, one of the island’s most cosmopolitan cities. With a prime beachfront location on the southern coast of the island and 300 bold, light-filled rooms offering sea views, Grand...
Hilton Introduces Hilton EventReady With CleanStay, Setting New Standards for Event Cleanliness and Customer Service
Hilton | July 13, 2020
SINGAPORE - For more than 100 years, Hilton hotels around the world have set the stage for the world’s most coveted and important meetings, events and entertainment gatherings – from star-laden award shows and movie sets to energetic political conventions, global conferences and wow-worthy weddings. Today, that tradition continues – even at a safe distance. To address safe group travel practices and evolve today’s event experience, Hilton today announced a global, industry-leading cleanliness and customer service program specific to meetings and events. Hilton EventReady with CleanStay is the next phase of the company’s recently ...
Holiday Inn Express Debuts in New Zealand With First Hotel in Queenstown
IHG | July 13, 2020
InterContinental Hotels Group’s® (IHG) fastest growing hotel brand* has made its debut in New Zealand with the launch of Holiday Inn Express & Suites Queenstown opening its doors today, 10 July. Opened in partnership with Pro-invest Group, the new-build hotel welcomes guests in time for the start of the ski season, offering an unrivalled location on the corner of Stanley and Sydney Streets in Queenstown’s city centre. The hotel features 227 contemporary guest rooms including spacious suites – a Holiday Inn Express first in Australia and New Zealand – in addition to superior rooms which provide breathtaking views of Lake Wakati...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: The Paper Can’t Talk
David Lund | July 13, 2020
By David Lund In the hotel business, we have three equal pillars. The guest, the colleague and the money. We need to realize that the third pillar—the money, the owner, the P&L, the paperwork, whatever you want to call it—needs a proper voice. The right voice, a voice that speaks to the leadership and the highest purpose that a cornerstone of our business warrants. Far too often the voice of the money is scary stingy or downright mean. If the paper is going to have a voice, we want to ensure it’s the proper one. The voice that will get and give equity to all our constituents. You’re probably thinking that the director of fin...
As Visibility of Essential Workers Surges, Frontline Communications and Operations Platform Beekeeper Closes $10 Million Series B Extension
Beekeeper | July 13, 2020
Investors say Beekeeper is setting the standard for how the modern frontline workforce operates and communicates OAKLAND, CALIF., AND ZURICH, July 13, 2020 — Beekeeper - the first communication and operations platform designed specifically for frontline workers - announced a $10 million extension on their series B round today. The extension brings the round’s total to $60 million. The extension was led by Chicago-based Energize Ventures, with investment from HighSage Ventures, SwissCanto, Thayer, Swisscom, Investiere, Alpana Ventures, and Swiss Post. The funding comes as companies across all sectors of the economy have embrace...
Contactless Technology, Hospitality Services, and the Cloud
Infor | July 13, 2020
Cloud technology in the hospitality industry is changing the way that hotels, resorts, and gaming organizations serve guests. The deciding factor to success is in how simple it is for a guest to get what they want from a hotel via their own personal devices even before they arrive at a location. Essential mobile-based technology enables them to book a room, to set arrival times, to upgrade a room, add services, and more, all without necessarily having to make contact with staff. That call for contactless solutions delivered via cloud PMS is a priority for the industry right now. This is for convenience reasons. Yet it also has social impli...
Strong Indications Consumer Confidence Is Slowly Returning
Duetto | July 13, 2020
By Sarah McCay Tams Consumer confidence is slowly returning, with two main trends: short-term booking windows and long-term reservations towards the end of 2021, reports the latest edition of the Duetto Pulse Report, which tracked data from June 15-28 across three key hotel metrics - bookings, cancellations and web traffic. In North America, new bookings for July, August, and September saw double-digit growth in the current Pulse Report, when compared to data from the previous edition, which tracked data from June 1-14. Overall, pick up for the North American market is still pacing 42% behind same time last year (STLY), although some...
Rocco Forte Hotels Plans Five Star Hotel in Milan
July 9, 2020
Set to open in 2023, Sir Rocco Forte's eighth Italian hotel will occupy the historic address in Via della Spiga July 2020 - Rocco Forte Hotels is proud to announce a new five-star hotel opening in Milan’s fashionable centre. It will be the first Rocco Forte property in the Italian city and is set to welcome guests in 2023 after a full refurbishment. Rocco Forte Hotel’s Director of Design, Olga Polizzi, will collaborate with interior designers Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen to recreate an authentic Milanese experience that represents the sophistication and style of this design capital. Elegant interiors and furnishings will ac...
Change Is on the Horizon: What’s Next for Marketing in a Post-Pandemic World
Alan Young | July 9, 2020
It is time to shift from "here's why you should buy this service/product" to "here's how we can help" By Alan E. Young Around the world and across industries, marketers now face arguably one of the toughest challenges of their careers. There is, after all, no universally established gold-standard for marketing during a wide-spread pandemic, because a global crisis of this magnitude is hardly ‘textbook’. As the media coverage so often reiterates, we now find ourselves in uncharted territory. Although the importance of brand agility and frequent innovation is well-understood by business owners and B2B marketers, the coronavirus pan...
Casetta Group Relaunches The Pearl Hotel in San Diego, California
Casetta Group | July 9, 2020
LOS ANGELES (July 9, 2020) – The Pearl Hotel, operated by brand and hospitality management firm Casetta Group, reemerges as San Diego’s newest urban retreat and social hub following substantial renovations. Newly redesigned to celebrate the boutique hotel’s 1960s aesthetic paired with Casetta’s philosophy of sustainability without compromising style, The Pearl Hotel welcomes guests with refurbished guest rooms, lobby and public spaces along with an updated dining experience at onsite restaurant, Charles + Dinorah. “For more than 60 years, The Pearl Hotel has been an integral part of San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood,” said ...
Breaking Even and the 5 Stages of Grief
HotStats | July 9, 2020
By David Eisen In 1969, Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross published “On Death and Dying,” which posited five stages of grief: Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Hotel owners have been made to suffer through these phases at the cruel hands of COVID-19, which at its outset thoroughly destroyed the collective industry, bringing travel to a halt, wrecking revenue and drying up profit. After the preceding years of relative operational success, 2020 was the wakeup call the hotel industry didn’t want to hear, but was forced to. When occupancy rates instantly fell 50 percentage points, ho...
STR: U.S. Hotel Results for Week Ending 4 July
STR | July 9, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—U.S. hotel performance data for the week ending 4 July showed a slight decline in occupancy from the previous week, according to STR. 28 June through 4 July 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019): Occupancy: 45.6% (-30.2%) Average daily rate (ADR): US$101.36 (-20.9%) Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$46.21 (-44.8%) Occupancy had risen in week-to-week comparisons for 11 straight weeks since mid-April. “Demand came in 67,000 rooms lower than the previous week, and beyond that, July 1 was a reopening day for a lot of hotels, further impacting the occupancy equation,” said J...
STR: Canada Hotel Results for Week Ending 4 July
STR | July 9, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—STR data for 28 June through 4 July 2020 shows Canadian hotel performance up slightly from previous weeks with the same significant level of year-over-year declines. In comparison with the week of 30 June through 6 July 2019, the industry reported the following: Occupancy: -59.6% to 28.9% Average daily rate (ADR): -33.1% to CAD121.68 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -73.0% to CAD35.16 The previous three weeks produced absolute occupancy levels of 27.5%, 25.6% and 23.6%. Two provinces reached a 30% occupancy level: British Columbia (40.8%) and Manitoba (31.3%). Vancouver (30.8%) was the only ...
Margaritaville Welcomes New Hotel Collection: Compass by Margaritaville
Margaritaville | July 9, 2020
ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla., July 9, 2020 - On July 15 the first Compass by Margaritaville, Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound, will open as the newest addition to the brand's expanding portfolio of concepts, offering guests a fresh way to relax, rejuvenate and escape the everyday, in a more intimate hotel setting. Developed by Floridays Development Company and managed by Hostmark Hospitality Group, Compass Hotel Anna Maria Sound is situated on a 220-acre private island community. The first-of-its-kind hotel combines the brand's signature casual luxury with convenience and comfort on Florida's Gulf Coast. "As a global lifestyle brand, it's of ...
Hyatt Bringing Alila Brand to Southern California With First New-Build Resort in the Americas
Alila | July 9, 2020
CHICAGO (July 9, 2020) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today plans for the first new-build Alila resort in the Americas, located in Encinitas, Calif., a quintessential beach town in San Diego’s North County Coastal region. Developed by JMI Realty and Fenway Capital Advisors, Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas will add to Hyatt’s growing Alila brand portfolio, joining Ventana Big Sur, an Alila Resort, as the brand’s second hotel in California and the U.S., along with 14 other luxury properties worldwide. The Alila brand features luxury hotels and resorts in unique locations, distinguished by innovative eco-design, a stro...
Investable Hotel Market in Germany Hit All-Time High in 2019 – Consolidation Expected
July 9, 2020
The investable hotel market in Germany has grown to EUR 61.1 billion over the last 12 years. Even during the financial crisis of 2008/2009 the market expanded slightly overall. The latest calculations by Union Investment and bulwiengesa show that the investable hotel market in Germany increased in value by around 6.3 per cent compared to 2018 (EUR 57.5 billion). As in previous years, growth in 2019 (prior year: +9.5 per cent) was due to sustained strong new-build activity in the hotel sector (= quantity effect) and increasing asset values (= performance effect), reflecting the excellent tourism and property market environment in Germany in 20...
The Tuxon, Newest Member of Marriott International’s Design Hotels Portfolio, Features Furnishings by Eclipse Hospitality
Eclipse Hospitality | July 9, 2020
PHOENIX, July 9, 2020 - After months of renovation and construction, the newest member of Marriott International’s Design Hotels portfolio, The Tuxon, opened July 3rd in Tucson, Arizona with casegoods manufactured by Phoenix-based Eclipse Hospitality. The Tuxon, pronounced “Tuck-son,” a playful nod to visitors to Tucson who mis-pronounce the silent “c” in the city’s name, joins Marriott’s elite group of more than 300 hotels located around the globe that promise their guests an immersive local experience. The Tuxon is set to be the first Marriott Design Hotels property in Arizona. “Furnishing The Tuxon was a beginning-to-end...
Gulph Creek Hotels Opens Four Points by Sheraton in Newton, Massachusetts
Four Points by Sheraton | July 9, 2020
The Four Points by Sheraton Boston Newton has officially opened. Catering to the needs of today’s everyday traveler, the hotel offers approachable design, stylish comfort and all the brand’s popular extras including a 24-hour fitness center, heated pool, fast and free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, and the Best Brews program. The Four Points Boston Newton underwent a major renovation starting in October. The renovation included all guestrooms, meeting rooms, restaurant, lobby and public spaces. Some of the notable changes include; larger bathrooms on the executive floors, high-speed Cat 6 wiring throughout to ensure a fast Internet connec...
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta Appoints Nancy Chacon as New General Manager
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts | July 9, 2020
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta welcomes General Manager Nancy Chacon to the city’s leading hotel. A nearly 30 year veteran with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Chacon’s invaluable experience and insights began in San Francisco as a front desk agent in 1991. Since then, she has proven her impact in a variety of roles at Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles; Austin; Scottsdale; Caracas, Venezuela; Punta Mita, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and most recently, Baltimore, Maryland, where she served as Hotel Manager. Atlanta marks her eighth hotel with the company. "I’m elated about my move to Atlanta, where I look forward to experienc...
Hotel Operators Must Be flexible, Be Lean and React Quickly to Change, Says HVS Webinar Panellists
HVS | July 9, 2020
09 July 2020, London: Financing the cost of re-opening the hotel sector was the hot topic tackled in the second hotel webinar organised by global hotel consultancy HVS, legal firm Bird & Bird, EP Hospitality and AlixPartners, which was held yesterday [8th July]. The seminar, with nearly 350 industry executives attending, kicked off with an overview from EP Hospitality chief executive Chris Sheppardson, who said that Covid-19 was “the greatest catalyst for change for the last 60 years”. It’s vital, he said, to share information and communicate as noone has ever experienced anything with such a far-reaching impact.AlixPartners’ m...
Valor Hospitality Partners Appoints Devin Walline as Executive Chef for The Harpeth Hotel
The Harpeth Hotel | July 8, 2020
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – July 8, 2020 – The Harpeth Hotel, a part of the Curio Collection by Hilton™, and Valor Hospitality Partners, announced today the appointment of Devin Walline as Executive Chef to lead the property’s dining concepts and culinary team. In this role, Chef Walline will spearhead all culinary operations at the 119-room property, overseeing 1799 Kitchen & Cocktails and McGavock’s Coffee Bar & Provisions, as well as the boutique luxury hotel’s catering program. Under Chef Walline’s direction, The Harpeth’s upscale, signature restaurant, 1799 Kitchen & Cocktails, will offer an approachable yet adven...
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Boston and Cambridge Hotel Industry
July 8, 2020
By RKG Associates and Pinnacle Advisory Group For 2019, Pinnacle Advisory Group estimated that Boston and Cambridge hotels generated nearly $2 billion in rooms revenue, based on a total supply of nearly 25,700 rooms, an average occupancy of 81.4 percent and an average daily rate (ADR) of $259. Over 13,300 people are employed in the hotel industry sector in Boston and Cambridge. Due to the pandemic and the stay-at-home requirements starting in March of this year, demand for hotel rooms has dropped precipitously. On March 31, Governor Baker began a provision of lodging that was defined as a COVID-19 Essential Service, allowing hotels in th...
Looking Forward: How Hotels Can Safely Leverage Small Meeting Space
Ryan Hamilton | July 8, 2020
By Ryan Hamilton You glance at the clock in the top right-hand corner of your computer screen. It reads 1:27 PM, and you realize that, once again, your post-lunch work is about to be interrupted by another meeting. Of course, not a physical meeting. Rather, another Zoom call to add to the frequent barrage of virtual meet-ups that have consumed much of your days since the pandemic struck. While you relish the lack of a commute and the flexibility associated with working from home, you can’t help but acknowledge that the influx of emails, Slack notifications, Zoom calls, and meeting invites has paved the way to fragmented workflow over ...
Hotel Marketing in the Summer of Covid
Larry Mogelonsky | July 8, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) With a vaccine far off, the balance of 2020 and some of 2021 will find us working under a powerful Covid cloud. Marketing is still needed, though, as it’s the lifeblood for driving awareness and generating demand. The summer months and early stretch of fall are critical for maintaining your current audience as well as finding new ones closer to home. While each property will have its own unique circumstances, there are some generalities that you can use to guide your budget planning. Below is a guide, not in any particular order of priority, split into those programs you should av...
