Top Stories
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Caribbean island’s tourism bleeds after Virgin Atlantic cuts capacity
TransportThere is a very fine line when writing a column like this. The risk of being branded as a pessimist is high. I only hope that readers will focus on the message that I am trying to convey and perhaps apply some of the content objectively to look at issues in a broader, more holistic [...]
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Asian hotel groups fight for their share of China’s growing tourism sector
DestinationsThe Carlyle hotel overlooking New York’s Central Park exudes glamour, history and, most of all, fabulous wealth. And for nearly two years, it has been owned and run by the Hong Kong family behind one of China’s most common high-street jewellery chains. The Cheng family, which runs New World Group, made its fortune with the Chow [...]
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Dubai hotel chain sees growth in mid-market properties, not seven-star gems
DestinationsDubai retail giant Landmark Group will open more than ten new hotels under its mid-market Citymax brand over the next four to five years. Landmark, owned by billionaire Mickey Jagtiani, currently operates a trio of three-star properties in Dubai and Sharjah. According to the CEO of Landmark’s hospitality division, the new hotels will be across [...]
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France’s legendary Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc goes real estate shopping in London
DestinationsThe company behind the famous Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the south of France is on the hunt for a London property to add to its portfolio. The Oetker Collection, part of German family conglomerate the Oetker Group, wants to find a base in the capital as part of expansion plans which include New York and [...]
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Trendy travel buzzwords for your next mancation or floatel stay
RoomsAs a boating holiday specialist comes up with a grating new buzzword – flocation – we round-up some other awful examples. This week Lateboat.com, a boating holiday specialist, unveiled the latest in a long line of irritating travel buzzwords. According to a report in Travelmole, the travel industry publication, the firm is now calling on [...]
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The Chinese firm that wants to cram an entire city into the world’s tallest building
DestinationsA Chinese firm best known for building air conditioning units is constructing a vertical city. Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB) said this week that next month it will finally break ground on its the tower that will not only be the world’s tallest but could, according to BSB, become a model for how China deals with mass urbanization. The 838-meter-tall (2,749 [...]
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Dubai’s Atlantis hotel is in the market for loan to refinance its debt
DestinationsAtlantis the Palm, the hotel owned by Dubai World Corp. unit Istithmar World PJSC, is seeking an $850 million loan to refinance debt due in 2017, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The resort, which spent $20 million on its launch party in 2008, has hired Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Barclays [...]
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Starwood hotel vet and Hawaii/Pacific local to step down from leadership role
DestinationsLongtime Starwood Hotels & Resorts veteran Keith Vieira is retiring at year’s end from his leadership role as head of a region that includes Hawaii and French Polynesia. Vieira, 57, who has been Starwood’s senior vice president of operations for the two areas since 1998, has been a fixture in Hawaii’s hospitality industry for 40 [...]
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Luxury hotels personalize wake-up calls to build brand loyalty
RoomsIn the ever-competitive race for loyal customers, however, many properties, especially luxury and boutique hotels, are now getting creative with the wake-up call, he says. Some boutique hotels even have recordings of celebrity voices. Personalizing the wake-up call, Chekitan Dev, an associate professor of marketing and branding at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration says, is [...]
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Choice Hotels’ big three priorities on tech: cloud, mobile, big data
DigitalChoice Hotels‘ tech team has identified three tech trends it hopes to capitalize on in the next few years: cloud-based technology, mobile and big data. Having Choice’s property management system housed in the cloud–which [it] says is the first of its kind–means owners and managers can access a property’s performance data from anywhere at any [...]
