06/23/2011  NEW WORLD HOSPITALITY TO ACQUIRE ROSEWOOD

    Hong Kong-based New World Hospitality hotel management company has signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. The closing date for the US$229.5 million purchase is 29 July 2011. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will operate as the premium luxury brand in New World Hospitalitys portfolio.

06/23/2011  BERN'S ICONIC HOTEL SCHWEIZERHOF RE-OPENS AFTER MAJOR RENOVATION

    Design Hotels welcomes Hotel Schweizerhof, Berns original luxury hotel, to its diverse portfolio of over 200 members. After a major overhaul this iconic hotel re-opens on June 24, 2011. Located inside a 1913 listed building the hotel is one of the Swiss capitals most recognizable landmarks and is enjoying a 21st-century renaissance with a lovingly restored elegant arched facade and the very latest technology. Corridors have been scaled down to make the 99 rooms and suites more spacious and restful for guests, while some feature refreshed antique furnishings alongside modern trappings like flat-screen TVs and Nespresso coffee machines. The heart of Hotel Schweizerhof is the Lobby-Lounge, which is an institution favored by well-heeled locals and hotel guests alike. From Liz Taylor to Peter Ustinov or Albert Schweitzer, Jacks Brasserie, the hotels wood-paneled restaurant serving French gourmet classics, has seen it all. www.designhotels.com/schweizerhof From the outside, Hotel Schweizerhof looks every bit as grand as it did a hundred years ago. The elegant, arched facade has been painstakingly restored to its former glory, with intricately carved coats of arms sitting atop the slender windows. There are little Juliet balconies overlooking the UNESCO-listed streets of Berns historic center, and beneath them, the Swiss flag flutters proudly in the breeze. Designers from award-winning London-based practice MKV Design were chosen to work on the project, and they skillfully helped to add a modern edge to Hotel Schweizerhofs tried and tested brand of luxury. As if to usher in a new era for the building, they slowly restored and remodeled pieces of antique furniture, creating a triumphant mix of classic fin-de-sicle architecture and comfortable modern design.

06/23/2011  EXPEDIA AND KEMPINSKI HOTELS SIGN GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

    Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world's largest online travel company, today announced a new multi-year, global partnership agreement with Kempinski Hotels, Europe's oldest independent luxury hotel group. This agreement strengthens the long-standing relationship between Expedia and Kempinski, whose more than 60 luxury properties will be made available on the more than 100 Expedia and Hotels.com travel bookings sites worldwide, as well as through Egencia, Hotwire and over 10,000 Expedia Affiliate Network sites.

06/23/2011  GREAT HOTELS OF THE WORLD SEES SURGE IN CORPORATE BOOKINGS

    Sales and marketing consortium Great Hotels of the World reports a 19% increase in corporate travel bookings from the global distribution system during the first quarter year over year, indicating growth in the corporate travel market. Most of the growth has come from increased volumes in key corporate cities, including Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon and Moscow, says John Clarke, director of sales and marketing for the London-based consortium.The value of each transaction has also seen an upturn to pre-recession levels, Clarke says.This trend indicates the beginnings of a return to pre-recession levels for the corporate travel sector as well as the economy, with more companies investing in corporate travel. However there is always caution in the marketplace, and our focus is to at least maintain current levels, if not top them.

06/22/2011  THE PULLMAN REEF HOTEL CASINO IN CAIRNS HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST HOTEL TO BE ACCREDITED TO AC

    The formal accreditation follows the recent announcement in Cairns by Federal Tourism Minister, Martin Ferguson, of a new 10-year strategic plan aimed at boosting China's inbound tourism to Australia. He extolled the tourism industry to more actively cater for the Chinese market, which is the fastest growing inbound market for Australia, and already worth over $3 billion a year to the economy.

06/22/2011  HYATT ANNOUNCES GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM

    Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. announces a new global corporate responsibility platform, Hyatt Thrive, designed to help make communities places where Hyatt associates are proud to work, where guests want to visit, where neighbors want to live and where hotel owners want to invest.



    Hyatt Thrive is grounded in four key pillars: environmental sustainability, economic development and investment, education and personal advancement, and health and wellness. The platform includes a major commitment to environmental stewardship in Hyatt hotels and the communities where they operate. Through Hyatt Earth, the company is working toward protecting natural habitats and environments in its communities, measuring results of natural resource conservation and improving efficiencies across operations by reducing energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste sent to landfills, all through the work of local green teams at properties worldwide.

06/21/2011  RITZ-CARLTON TO ADD 36 HOTELS BY 2016

    Luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton has announced a major expansion and development initiative in which it plans to add 36 hotels and residential projects from Morocco to Mexico, through 2016. The hotel chain expects to bring the total number of properties in its portfolio to over 100 around the world by 2016.



    This strategic plan will expand the brand to urban capitals and emerging tourist destinations, and represents an investment of more than $2 billion by owners. "Throughout the world, especially in Asia and the Middle East, we expect to be the leading top tier luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand by 2016," said Herve Humler, president and chief operations officer.