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INDUSTRY NEWS & PEOPLE  February 2008
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25 Cities’ Local Events Listed Via Avis Portable GPS System
Avis has launched a new service for business travelers that connects them with information on concerts, sporting events, museums, galleries, festivals and other activities at 25 destinations in the US. Avis customers who rent Where2, the company’s portable GPS navigation system, can also save destination information found at myWhere2.com or anywhere else on the web onto a secure digital (SD) memory card that can be transferred into the Where2 unit when they pick up their rental vehicle.
To use this feature, customers must first download a plug-in and create a bookmark to send addresses of places they want to visit to their personal SD card. When finished, customers can use any web site or tool to find an address or point of interest and save the addresses directly to their SD memory card. The site also features Avis Quick City Guides, which provide information about a destination, including maps, restaurants and contact information for amenities like 24-hour pharmacies, airlines and package-shipping outlets.
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AA, CO, NWA, US Air Eye March 2009 Lift-off To China
The US Department of Transportation has made a final decision to select US Airways to inaugurate its first US-China service in 2009 as well as to award additional US-China flights to American, Continental and Northwest in 2009. All 2009 services must begin on or about March 25, 2009.
The decision confirms the DOT’s tentative decision issued in September.
US Airways will fly between Philadelphia and Beijing, while American, Continental and Northwest each will use the awards to add a new daily flight to their existing US-China service. American will begin Chicago-Beijing service, Continental will operate a new flight between Newark and Shanghai, and Northwest will fly between Detroit and Shanghai.
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Affinia Chicago Opens In April
Affinia Hotels will unveil the Affinia Chicago, its first location outside of New York, in April. By then, Affinia Chicago, formerly The Fitzpatrick, will have completed a $25 million renovation to include all 215 guest rooms, the lobby, a new rooftop bar and 3,000 square feet of meeting space. Marcus Samuelsson of New York’s Aquivit will open C-House, a seafood restaurant, at the property.
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Air France Testing In-flight Texting, Cell Phone Calls
Air France has launched a mobile phone service on one of its Airbus A318 planes that flies European routes. Passengers on the jet are able to send and receive text and picture messages and send and receive e-mail during the first part of a six-month trial, which will last into mid-2008. During the second half of the trial, passengers will be able to make and receive phone calls.
Air France says it will regulate the voice service to “maintain passengers’ comfort and well-being,” but did not say how it would do that.
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AirTran Expanding Orlando HQ
AirTran intends to build a permanent systems operations control (SOC) center at Orlando International Airport, keep its existing Orlando headquarters, and adding jobs in Florida. AirTran plans to add 121 jobs at an average salary of $45,000 to its 300-member Orlando workforce. Many of the new jobs are tied to the SOC center, where dispatchers, schedulers and resource planners control all aspects of airline operations. The existing SOC was extensively damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Charley; AirTran says the new SOC center will be “hurricane-hardened.”
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Alaska, Air France Codeshare
Alaska Airlines and sister carrier Horizon Air have begun offering international fares under a new codeshare agreement with Air France. Under the agreement, Air France will sell codeshare tickets on Alaska- and Horizon-operated flights serving 18 cities in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
The codeshare flights connect with Air France’s nonstop Seattle-Paris flights, which offer further connections to points throughout Air France’s route system in Europe, India, Africa and the Middle East.
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BA To Launch New OpenSkies Transatlantic Airline In June
British Airways is planning to launch OpenSkies, which will operate daily flights from New York to Brussels and Paris, in June 2008. Managing director of the new airline will be Dale Moss, British Airways’ former director of worldwide sales.
First flights will be operated with one Boeing 757 aircraft, retrofitted with winglets for a greater operating range and fuel economy as well reduction of CO2 emissions. A second aircraft will be added later this year. British Airways’ plan is to operate six 757s by the end of 2009, all of which will be sourced from the current British Airways fleet.
The aircraft will carry up to 82 passengers in three cabins: business, premium economy and economy. The business class cabin will have 24 seats that convert into 6-foot flat beds. Its 28 premium economy seats will have 52” seat pitch. There will be 30 economy seats.
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Choice Brings 78 UK Franchises In-house In Pan-Europe Strategy
Choice Hotels International has negotiated to terminate the franchise agreement with Real Hotel Group for its Comfort, Quality, Sleep and Clarion brand hotels in the United Kingdom, effective January 31, 2008. Choice will directly operate the franchise in the UK, now consisting of 78 properties, from its headquarters in London. The transaction follows Choice’s fourth quarter 2006 acquisition of the franchising operations for the European countries of Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
“The acquisition of the United Kingdom franchising operation is another element of our strategy to maximize our growth opportunities across Europe,” says Mark Pearce, vice president of international operations at Choice Hotels International. “Choice is one of Europe’s leading lodging companies, with over 500 hotels throughout the continent, and in the past year, we have focused our efforts on developing and implementing a number of pan-European marketing programs. The United Kingdom market will play a key role in our efforts to enhance brand awareness across the continent while providing our franchisees the centralized support and services that will help them increase property-level performance and profitability.”
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Delta Adds Edinburgh Flights
Nonstop Delta flights between Atlanta and Edinburgh will resume June 2 and continue through October 1, complementing the airline’s new year-round service between Edinburgh and New York-JFK, which begins May 1.
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Eos Offers ‘copter Shuttle To JFK
Eos Airlines, which operates all-premium-class service between New York and London, has formed a partnership with US Helicopter to offer passengers reserving unrestricted tickets complimentary helicopter service between JFK International Airport and the East 34th Street Heliport or Downtown Manhattan Heliport. At the heliports, TSA security screening and through check-in of bags to Stansted will be completed. After the helicopter flight, passengers will be greeted by an Eos guide and escorted to the lounge or directly to their flight.
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Hertz Scraps Agents’ Rewards
Hertz has ended its 8-year-old Exactly Rewards program for travel agents. Hertz says Exactly Rewards was “brought to market based on certain market conditions that existed several years ago,” and that the car rental business has changed dramatically since 1999. “Just as you make difficult business decisions in regard to your business in order to stay competitive and profitable, we must do so as well,” Hertz wrote in a letter to Exactly Rewards members. Hertz does not plan to immediately launch another travel agent program.
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Hotels.com Debuts iPhone Booking
Hotels.com has launched a web application for the iPhone and iPod touch that enables users to research and book hotels. The application, optimized for viewing on a 3.5-inch screen, lets users view hotel photos, descriptions and amenities; check availability; book accommodations; view existing reservations; and contact Hotels.com for customer assistance.
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i:FAO’s cytric v7.8 Adds Flex To Policies, 30-second Booking
i:FAO has released cytric v7.8, featuring Air Policy Manager, a support dashboard for agents that gives them access to all bookings of any individual traveler, and improvements to its SpeedBook application that allows bookings to be made in two clicks and less than 30 seconds.
Air Policy Manager allows travel managers to configure travel policies to meet specific corporate demands. Exceptions, for example geographic, can be quickly, simply and transparently mapped; travel regulations can be associated with specific flights or journey lengths.
The Dashboard allows agents to change or cancel bookings as well as generate new ones, even for travelers already en route. Cytric has already had the capacity to book directly with vendors.
SpeedBook enhancements include more settings when managing hotel bookings, new airport selection options, and enhanced options for user authentification at cytric login.
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India’s Jet Airways Opens Its Doors In San Francisco
Jet Airways has opened an office in San Francisco in preparation for a new route launch on the West Coast in 2008. The Indian airline already has bases of operations in New York and Toronto, and operates flights to India from New York-JFK, Newark and Toronto.
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New Ritz-Carlton Offers 32-minute Alternative To Manhattan Hotels
The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester has opened in White Plains, NY, a city 23 miles northeast of New York. The 118-room hotel is amidst corporate office buildings and within walking distance from the White Plains train station and its 32-minute express trains to Manhattan. The hotel is flanked by the two towers of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, which house 185 residences.
The hotel has a ballroom that can accommodate up to 500 guests and a spa with rooftop indoor pool. Room amenities and services include 42-inch TVs, DVD players, wireless Internet, iPod docking stations and twice-daily housekeeping.
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Qdrivium Billing System Tracks, Audits Corporate Limo Expenses
Qdrivium has launched what it calls an “advanced pricing engine” for its online car service billing solution for clients who offer black car or limo services for their employees. Qdrivium notes that most corporate clients have multiple car companies servicing their account, all calculating fares differently. With the new pricing engine, Qdrivium says, clients can now uphold pricing terms using multiple rate books, different zone structures and different zone border definitions used by black car and limo companies.
The company estimates that the tool can save companies 15 percent from unsubstantiated or incorrect calculations of car service charges.
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SkyTeam Starts MEX Co-location
SkyTeam carriers Aeroméxico and Delta Air Lines have co-located at Terminal 2 in Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) Mexico City. Continental Airlines and SkyTeam Associate Copa Airlines plan to join them there later this year. This co-location will offer self-service check-in kiosks, airtrain transportation for connections and aircoaches for those who have less time between connecting flights.
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StarCite Develops Program To Promote Korean Venues
StarCite, a provider of meetings-related technology and services, has entered into an agreement with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to launch a marketing campaign to promote meeting, incentive and group travel in Korea. StarCite’s destination marketing team collaborated for 12 months with the Korea Tourism Organization to develop the “Korea, Sparkling MICE Destination” campaign aimed at developing the meetings and incentive travel segments.
The KTO’s traditional destination marketing campaign will be coupled with StarCite technology to attract meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition business to the country. StarCite will promote Korea on the StarCite Online Marketplace.
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SuperShuttle Automates Schedule To Reduce Airport Pick-up Times
SuperShuttle has introduced Auto Routing, a new pick-up and delivery system for most of the US airports that it serves. Profit Point, Pitney Bowes MapInfo and SuperShuttle collaborated to launch Auto Routing, which SuperShuttle says will reduce pick-up times, result in less time spent on the shared-ride vans for customers and produce quicker turnarounds at the airports overall.
SuperShuttle says Auto Routing can route each driver’s entire day’s work in less than a minute, whereas it would take a dispatcher anywhere from four to eight hours to accomplish the same task.
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Travel And Transport Acquires New England’s Abacus Travel
Radius Travel and Transport has acquired Abacus Travel in Peabody, MA (about 15 miles north of Boston). Abacus also has offices in Plainville and Worcester, MA, and Manchester, NH. Its 100 employees serve 450 U.S. businesses.
The acquisition gives Travel and Transport, which is headquartered in Omaha, NE, a stronger East Coast presence and a brick-and-mortar location to support the company’s on-site locations, says CEO Bill Tech. At the completion of the acquisition, Abacus Travel will assume the Travel and Transport name.
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Travelport Consolidates GDS Ops
Travelport GDS, which operates Galileo and Worldspan, is consolidating its operations in Atlanta, which is currently Worldspan’s headquarters city. Galileo operations in Rosemont, IL; Parsippany, NJ; and Denver will move to Atlanta. “The consolidation of our business and primary data center into a North American GDS headquarters is a significant step in building upon synergies across our pre-existing Galileo business and the recently acquired Worldspan business,” says Gordon Wilson, CEO and president of Travelport GDS.
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Virgin Atlantic Moves Into New Digs At Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic has opened its new check-in facility in Terminal 3 at London’s Heathrow Airport. The airline says its business class check-in, the Upper Class Wing, enables customers to transfer from limo to lounge in minutes, partly due to a dedicated security corridor. Premium economy and economy passengers will use a new check-in area that is “wider, brighter and more spacious” than what Virgin Atlantic had before.
Other improvements at Terminal 3 being undertaken by the British Airports Authority include a multimillion-dollar forecourt redevelopment and new plaza, which will open by the end of the year.
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AA Board Approves $800 Bonus For Employees
American Airlines' Board of Directors has approved a $800 bonus for each eligible employees "in recognition of their collective effort ... in a very difficult year," according to an announcement made by AMR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. Earnings in 2007 were not enough to trigger profit sharing, Arpey noted, and things are not likely to be much better this year. "Our fuel problem shows no signs of abating, the economy in the United States may be sliding into a recession, and we are facing ever more intense competition here in the US and in markets around the world." Nevertheless, he continued, "our financial foundation is much improved, and we are, in many ways, a smarter, more competitive, and better airline than we were a few short years ago."
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AA Preparing DFW-San Salvador Service
American Airlines will begin new service between its Dallas/Fort Worth hub and San Salvador, El Salvador, beginning April 7. American will fly the route four times a week with 148-seat Boeing 737 aircraft.
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Accor Takes Over Novotel Franchising Business In Canada
Accor Canada will assume the role of master franchisor for the Novotel hotel brand in Canada. Realstar Hospitality had been Accor’s master franchisor for the Novotel, Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands in Canada since 2003. Realstar will continue in that role with Motel 6 and Studio 6. Novotel, Motel 6 and Studio 6 are all brands owned by Accor.
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ACTE Partners With German Company To Conduct Green Survey
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) will partner with Verkehrsclub Deutschland, a transport and environmental organization in Germany, on a survey as part of its Green Business Travel project. The results of the survey, which will be announced in the latter half of 2008, will be used to create guidelines for environmentally friendly business travel processes and alternatives to business travel. The survey will be given to select small and medium-sized companies to “identify the lack of information and optimization potentials for implementing a green business travel initiative,” says ACTE.
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ACTE/KDS Report Of Green Influence On Travel Due February 5
Business travel behavior is beginning to change in response to global warming concerns, according to a study by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and KDS, a provider of corporate travel and expense tools. ACTE/KDS surveyed 250 business travelers and travel managers, and found that 45 percent felt that guilt about global warming directly affects their decisions about business travel. The full research findings will be announced at a joint ACTE/KDS press conference to be held on Feb. 5 at the London Business Travel Show.
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Affinia Chicago Targets April Opening
Affinia Hotels will unveil the Affinia Chicago, its first location outside of New York, in April. The Affinia Chicago, formerly the Fitzpatrick, will have completed a $25 million renovation to include all 215 guest rooms, the lobby, a new rooftop bar and 3,000 square feet of meeting space. Marcus Samuelsson, of New York's Aquivit, will open C-House, a seafood restaurant, at the property.
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Affinia To Open Its First Washington Hotel
The Affinia brand will make its DC debut on April 1 with the opening of the 343-room Liaison Capitol Hill, following a $12 million renovation of the former Holiday Inn on the Hill. Affinia also has properties in New York and Chicago.
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Air France-KLM Buys VLM Airlines
Air France-KLM has agreed to buy VLM Airlines, a carrier that specializes in flying business travelers to regional airports in Europe, for an undisclosed sum. VLM, which is the largest operator at London City Airport, flies a fleet of 18 Fokker 50 turboprops.
Air France-KLM already offers service out of London City via CityJet, a wholly owned subsidiary.
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AirCell Broadband Installed On First AA Plane
American Airlines has completed the first aircraft installation of AirCell’s Internet broadband connectivity. American plans to install and test the technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes.
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AirTran To Add More Milwaukee Service
AirTran, which lost in its bid to acquire Milwaukee-based Midwest Airlines last year, will compete with Midwest by ramping up service from the city in 2008. AirTran will launch nonstop, seasonal flights to Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego and Boston. It also will add a second daily flight from Milwaukee to Las Vegas. Flights to Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco will begin on May 6; flights to San Diego, Boston and Las Vegas will begin on May 21.
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AirTran To Expand Orlando Headquarters
AirTran intends to build a permanent systems operations control (SOC) center at Orlando International Airport, keep its existing Orlando headquarters, and adding jobs in Florida. AirTran plans to add 121 jobs at an average salary of $45,000 to its 300-member Orlando workforce. Many of the new jobs are tied to the SOC center, where dispatchers, schedulers and resource planners control all aspects of airline operations. The existing SOC was extensively damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Charley; AirTran says the new SOC center will be “hurricane-hardened.
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AirTran To Launch Milwaukee-New York Service
AirTran Airways will begin thrice-daily service between Milwaukee and New York LaGuardia on May 6. The airline says the announcement is “the first of several new service initiatives for AirTran from Milwaukee in 2008.
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Alaska Adds Flight With Shuttle Timing, In 6 California Markets
Alaska Airlines is upgrading its California flight schedule, effective in April, when it will introduce flights departing on the hour or half-hour on routes between Seattle and six California markets: Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. The shuttle-style schedule should especially appeal to business travelers, says Brad Tilden, Alaska Airlines’ executive vice president of finance and planning.
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Amadeus Signs Distribution Deal With Flybe
Amadeus has signed a contract enabling travel agents using the Amadeus GDS to gain access to Flybe’s full content, including the airline’s lowest fares. Following the acquisition of BA Connect, Flybe’s route network is 70 percent domestic UK, 20 percent European business and 10 percent European leisure destinations. Flybe has major bases at Birmingham, Southampton, Manchester, Belfast and the Channel Islands.
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Amadeus Signs Technology Deal With Nordic Online Agency
Amadeus has signed a long-term, pan-European agreement with European Travel Interactive, the Nordic region's largest online travel agency and parent company of Seat24 and SRG Online. Amadeus will provide key travel content and fare-search technology. All European Travel Interactive brands will use Amadeus Web Services to access and book the range of travel content in the Amadeus distribution system. The company will also use Amadeus Master Pricer Calendar, which returns the best available fares across multiple airlines for the three days before and three days after the chosen dates of travel and displays the results in a calendar format.
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American Express Forms Joint Venture In Spain
American Express Business Travel and Barcelo Business Travel, a Grupo Barcelo company, have established a joint venture in Spain. The joint venture brings together a workforce of more than 450 business travel professionals in the two companies’ network of offices across Spain. The new company will initially be servicing a portfolio of more than 400 customers. Barcelo Viajes, the leisure travel branch of the Grupo Barcelo travel division, will run independently from the new joint venture.
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American Launches Mobile Version Of Web Site
American Airlines has introduced a mobile version of AA.com that enables customers to check in for a flight, view their itinerary, check schedules, check the status of their flights and get information on destinations, weather or airports from their web-enabled cell phone or other web-enabled device. This spring, says the airline, further enhancements to the site will enable travelers to book flights, change their reservations, view fare specials and request upgrades.
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Andavo, Christopherson Merge, Creating Largest BCD Affiliate
Andavo Travel, a corporate travel agency based in Denver, and Christopherson Business Travel, based in Salt Lake City, have agreed to merge their operations, creating a $250 million company that employs more than 250 travel professionals. Each partner will continue to conduct business under its own brand name. Andavo’s Brenda Rivers and Christopherson’s Mike Cameron will serve as co-CEOs of the combined company.
The merger agreement — which includes Christopherson’s Denver-based company, Travel Connections and Andavo’s office in Marin, California — will maintain Andavo’s majority woman-owned business status as a nationally-certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). It also creates the largest affiliate in the BCD Travel's 40-member network.
The Andavo Green Campaign, which was kicked off in December, will be integrated into the newly-combined company, says Rivers. Andavo's green policy encourages, and at times requires, Andavo employees, clients, suppliers and partners to contribute to a sustainable environment. The Campaign includes carbon offset-provider Renewable Choice Energy. Andavo says it has purchased more than 1,289 metric tons of carbon offsets, enough to offset the carbon dioxide pollution generated by 2 million miles of flying by its clients and the air and car travel of its employees. Also, Andavo says it has committed to offset 100 percent of its electricity consumption with renewable energy credits, which fund the generation of wind power across America.
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ASTA: Bumped Airline Passengers Should Be Paid More, In Cash
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has filed comments with the US Department of Transportation on the issue of oversales and denied-boarding compensation. ASTA provided the DOT with recommendations for updating the rules. In its comments, ASTA:
• Stated that it is in favor of doubling the ceiling on compensation for involuntarily bumped passengers.
• Suggested that ceiling caps should be adjusted automatically every five years and be based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
• Objected to the DOT permitting airlines to establish, without any control, preference as to who will be involuntarily bumped when they are unable to secure volunteers.
• Argued that anyone with a confirmed seat assignment should never be bumped.
• Argued that compensation practices for international and domestic travel should be treated identically and based on a combination of length of delay and distance.
• Recommended the abolishment of the use of vouchers in favor of cash payments, stating that only cash payments will create a full incentive for airlines to closely manage denied-boarding compensation.
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Australia and US Schedule Open-Skies Talks
According to a Reuters report, Australia and the US will try to hammer out an open-skies deal between the two countries in February. Such a deal would enable more carriers to launch service between the two countries.
Qantas and United Airlines are the only carriers that operate nonstop service between the US and Australia. Virgin Blue could be a beneficiary of an open-skies deal, as the Australia-based carrier plans to launch V Australia — a long haul, international airline — in late 2008.
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Aviacsa Signs Full-Content Deal With Sabre
Mexican airline Aviacsa has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with Sabre Travel Network. Through the deal, Aviacsa has guaranteed full content to travel agencies and corporations that utilize the Sabre GDS.
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Avis Unveils Upgraded GPS
Avis has unveiled a new version of Where2, the company's portable global positioning system (GPS). The slimmer unit features a larger, high-brightness display screen, turn-by-turn directions spoken in more than 40 languages and added services such as traffic alerts, weather reports, stock updates, news updates and movie listings provided by MSN Direct. Avis' Where2 units will continue be manufactured by Garmin.
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BA Adds New Features To Environmental Program
British Airways has launched a new carbon offset scheme that uses UN certified emissions reductions to help finance clean energy projects in developing countries. That includes support for a new windfarm in one of the poorest regions of China, as well as run-of-the-river hydro electric plants in China and Brazil. The scheme will be run with Morgan Stanley, leading providers in the sourcing of certified emissions reductions from projects developed under the UN Kyoto Protocol.
In addition to the offset scheme, BA says it will invest in a range of projects to help protect the Brazilian rainforest plus research into combating greenhouse gases and a Cambridge University project aimed at establishing "robust" scientific understanding of the non-CO2 effects of aviation by 2012.
Customers can buy their offset on ba.com at the same time as they book their flight. The approximate offset cost for a return London-Paris flight would be £1.60, London-Frankfurt £3, London-Lisbon £5, London-New York £17 and London-San Francisco £26.
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Baccarat Hotel Planned For Anguilla
Baccarat Hotels and Residences, a Starwood Capital Group brand, will operate a luxury hotel and residences on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, British West Indies. The Baccarat Hotel and Residences at Temenos, Anguilla, will have 114 rooms, a spa, 38 spa villas and a Greg Norman-designed golf course, the first golf course to be built on Anguilla.
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Barcelo Opens Its First Hotel In Germany; Debuts Second Resort In Tunisia
Spain-based Barcelo Hotels & Resorts has opened its first property in Germany, the Barcelo Cologne City Center Hotel. The 301-room upscale hotel has two restaurants for casual and gourmet dining, a lobby bar, a fitness center with spa services, business services, conference space and an indoor swimming pool. Using the tram that stops directly in front of the hotel, guests have direct access to the Cologne Convention Center or to the city's historic center.
Also, Barcelo has opened its second property in Tunisia, the Barcelo Hammamet. The upscale hotel is located on the seafront and is less than two miles from the center of Hammamet. Barcelo also operates the Barcelo Carthage Thalasso in Tunisia.
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British Airways Sets Launch Date For New 'OpenSkies' Airline
British Airways is planning to launch OpenSkies, which will operate daily flights from New York to Brussels and Paris, in June 2008. First flights will be operated with one Boeing 757 aircraft; a second aircraft will be added later this year. British Airways' plan is to operate six 757s by the end of 2009, all of which will be sourced from the current British Airways fleet.
The aircraft will carry up to 82 passengers in three cabins: business, premium economy and economy. “By naming the airline OpenSkies, we're celebrating the first major step in 60 years towards a liberalized US/European Union aviation market, which means we can fly between any US and EU destination,” says British Airways CEO Willy Walsh. “It also signals our determination to lobby for further liberalization in this market when talks between the EU and US take place later this year.
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British Airways, Vietnam Airlines Order Dreamliners
Boeing and British Airways have finalized an order for 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The order is valued at $4.4 billion at list prices. British Airways also placed options for 18 787s and purchase rights for an additional 10. In September, British Airways announced its selection of the 787 Dreamliner as a key element of its long-haul fleet renewal. Separately, Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing have finalized an order for 12 Dreamliners in a deal worth $2 billion.
Boeing says the Dreamliner will have reduced CO2 emissions and be more fuel-efficient and quieter than previous Boeing jets. Boeing also says the planes have “the largest windows in the industry, higher cabin humidity and a lower cabin altitude that reduces the fatigue often experienced by passengers.” The planes will carry between 210 and 330 passengers. Boeing plans to deliver its first Dreamliners in late 2008.
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BTC, Teamsters Schedule Summit On Outsourced Aircraft Maintenance
The Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and International Brotherhood of Teamsters are partnering on an Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing Summit on February 11 at the Omni Shorham Hotel in Washington, DC, with the intention to "elevate a national discussion over the efficacy of current US airline industry outsourcing practices." Proceedings also will be broadcast live over the Internet.
The agenda includes keynote addresses from industry and government leaders; a briefing from Consumer Reports, which has published its own investigative report; and expert panels. Participation has been opened to all stakeholders: corporate travel buyers, airlines, maintenance technicians, FAA inspectors and administrators, aircraft maintenance firms and the DOT Inspector General's office, plus members of Congress and their staffs. There are not registration fees but seating is limited; registration is online at http://tinyurl.com/2ut7n8
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Budget Sale Of EWR Rights Completes NYC Transition To Avis Budget Group
Avis Budget Group Inc. has agreed to acquire the operating rights for the Budget brand for the Newark, NJ region. The deal includes the car rental operations of Budget at Newark Liberty International Airport. The company did not reveal the financial terms of the transaction. The deal is scheduled to close later this month. At that point, Avis Budget will own all Avis and Budget car rental operations at all of the major New York airports, including LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The rights to rent cars and trucks under the Budget name, which is being acquired by Avis, have been licensed to a third party.
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Business Travel Coalition IDs Industry's Big Issues For 2008
Business Travel Coalition has identified the five strategic issues that it will focus on in 2008, and has created interactive, member-only online forums to promote advocacy and discussion for each. BTC Bronze membership, which is free, is all that is required to participate. The five issues are:
1. aircraft maintenance outsourcing reform.
2. airline industry consolidation.
3. travel distribution.
4. aviation system security.
5. travel purchasing data privacy.
The issues BTC engaged and collaborated on in 2007 included US airline industry consolidation, travel distribution in Europe and North America, Registered Traveler, passenger rights legislation, EU-US Open Skies and aviation system congestion and delays. The Coalition's chairman, Kevin Mitchell, has cited several organizations for their collaboration and leadership on these issues: Advantage Focus Partnership, Association of Corporate Travel Executives, Belgian Association of Travel Management, Coalition for Fair Access to Reservations in Europe, Danish Business Travel Association, Finnish Business Travel Association, Guild of Travel Management Companies, Institute of Travel Management, International Airline Passengers Association, Netherlands Association for Travel Management, Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association and Travel Management Alliance, LLC.
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Caesar Park Rio Joins ALHI, Opening Brazil To Marketing Group
Caesar Park Rio de Janeiro – Ipanema has joined Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) as its first member in Brazil, and one of its first two members in South America. Offering 222 luxurious rooms and suites that provide views of the beach and sea, the resort has a new convention center can accommodate up to 200 people for events. Situated in the city’s most exclusive district, the resort is a short walk to many chic boutiques and restaurants.
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Cambria Suites To Open First Hotel In Manhattan
Cambria Suites, Choice Hotels’ upscale brand, will open a 239-room hotel in Manhattan in 2009, less than a block from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. A 300-room Cambria Suites is also being built in Brooklyn. In addition, the brand announced it is developing a hotel in South Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.
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Carlson Names Joly CEO, Succeeding Carlson Nelson; She Remains Chairman
Carlson Cos. has named Hubert Joly president and CEO, effective March 1. Joly becomes Carlson's fourth CEO in the company's 70-year history. He succeeds company co-owner Marilyn Carlson Nelson, who will continue as Carlson's chairman of the board. Joly currently serves as president and CEO of travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), which is 55 percent owned by Carlson.
CWT has initiated a search for a new CEO.
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Carry-on Restriction Terminated At Heathrow And Stansted
Heathrow and Stansted airports in London, along with several other UK airports, are now allowing passengers to bring more than one carry-on aboard planes. The one-bag restriction was abolished on January 7 but remains in place at Gatwick. Some airlines, including EasyJet, have decided to keep the one-bag limit as airline policy.
A limit of one carry-on bag per passenger was introduced in the UK in August 2006, following a failed terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic jets using liquid explosives.
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Cathay Pacific Again Increasing Hong Kong-Vancouver
Cathay Pacific plans to increase its service between its Hong Kong hub and Vancouver to three a day in late March by adding another four round trips per week. The airline added three weekly frequencies on the routes only four months ago.
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Choice Signs Development Deal For Extended-Stay Brands
Choice Hotels International and Bell Hospitality Group of Oklahoma City have executed a development agreement under which Bell will build a minimum of 50 MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay hotels, all of which are scheduled to be under development by October 31, 2009. MainStay is Choice’s mid-priced extended-stay brand; Suburban is its economy brand for extended-stay hotels.
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Clear Gets Go-ahead In Oakland, CA, and Washington, DC
Clear, the fast pass airport security service operated by Verified Identity Pass, has been chosen in a competitive bidding process to operate lanes at both Dulles International and Reagan National Airports. In addition, the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners has approved an ordinance selecting Clear to provide express passenger security lane services at Oakland International Airport (OAK).
The Oakland ordinance allows the airport to move forward with allocating space to Clear at the passenger screening checkpoints in Terminals 1 and 2 so that it can open registered traveler enrollment stations next month and express lanes soon after.
The decision by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to award the contract to Clear means that passengers of all airlines operating from Dulles and Reagan will be able to use Clear’s fast pass lanes within weeks. Clear enrollment stations are already operating at the American Express Travel Office at 15th and K Streets and in the Congressional Federal Credit Union in the Longworth House Office Building; additional stations will be installed by early February at the airports and at area hotels.
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Clear Holds Contest For Fast-Lane Technology Developers
Clear, which operates a registered traveler program and expedited security lanes at US airports, will award a $500,000 prize to a team that develops technology to speed travelers through airport security. Clear says that the winning team's technology will be purchased in bulk, once approved for use by the Transportation Security Administration at any airport where Clear operates expedited security lanes.
Clear will host a half-day symposium for invited participants on February 13 at the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum at the San Francisco International Airport to present the criteria for entry. A Clear Prize Advisory Panel, consisting of chief technology officers and/or security directors of airports and airlines that have partnered with Clear, will assist in the selection of the winner.
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Concur Adds IHG Hotels To Users Of E-receipt Service
Business travelers using the Concur Travel & Expense management system can now receive e-receipts from IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) properties delivered directly into their expense reports. Concur clients also have access to thousands of IHG properties, enabling their employees to book reservations and participate in loyalty programs from within Concur’s online travel booking services.
IHG joins a growing list of travel suppliers that not only provide Concur clients with broad access to travel inventory, but are also feeding complete electronic folio data in the form of e-receipts directly into Concur Travel & Expense. With the participation of one of the world’s largest hotel groups, Concur Connect now provides more connections to hotels, airlines, and rail providers than any other corporate travel booking system.
Concur e-receipts are complete electronic versions of the paper folio receipts traditionally delivered to hotel guests upon check-out. Concur Travel & Expense automatically captures this data – along with itinerary data entered at the time of booking and corporate card charges incurred by the employee – and reconciles it all within one seamless travel and expense management process. The resulting Smart Expense™ is a trusted transaction that requires no additional human intervention and is essentially approved and ready for reimbursement. For the vast majority of these transactions, the need for employees to edit – or companies to audit – an expense report is eliminated.
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Concur Enables IHG E-receipts For Expense-management Tool
Business travelers using Concur Travel & Expense can now get e-receipts from IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) properties delivered directly into their expense reports. Concur’s e-receipts are complete electronic versions of the paper folio receipts traditionally delivered to hotel guests upon checkout.
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Conrad Hotel Planned For Beijing
Hilton Hotels Corp. has signed an agreement to manage the Conrad Beijing, scheduled to be open at the end of 2010. The Conrad Beijing will be located in the city's central business district, close to the newly built China Central TV Tower.
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Continental Adds $60M To Employee Pension Fund
Continental Airlines has contributed $60 million in cash to its defined benefit pension plans "in appreciation of the continued hard work of our co-workers,” says Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner. “We want to keep our promises and remain focused on retirement security.” Continental contributed $336 million to its pension plans in 2007, significantly exceeding its minimum funding requirement for the calendar year.
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Continental Domestic Flights To Get Live TV And E-mail
Continental Airlines has entered into an agreement with LiveTV that will enable the carrier to offer 36 channels of in-flight, satellite-based programming provided by DIRECTV. The service is expected to be available to customers on flights operating within the continental US, beginning in January 2009.
In addition, Continental will be introducing onboard Wi-Fi services, including e-mail and instant-messaging connectivity, also offered by LiveTV. Customers will be able to use the complimentary service with Wi-Fi-enabled phones, BlackBerries and laptops.
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Continental Field Crews Turn Down Teamsters Bid
Continental Airlines has announced that its field service employees have rejected representation by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU). The TWU filed an election application with the National Mediation Board in October 2007. Continental's field services employees covered by the election included ramp, operations and cargo agents.
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Crescent Adds Georgian Terrace To Hotel Portfolio
Crescent Hotel & Resorts has added the Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta to its portfolio. Built in 1911, the Georgian Terrace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Guest suites feature antique-style furnishings, large bathrooms, microwave ovens, full-size refrigerators and electric ranges. The hotel offers more than 16,000 square feet of meeting space and The Savoy, an upscale restaurant featuring contemporary Southern cuisine.
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Crown Plaza To Emerge From Conversion In Louisville
InterContinental Hotels Group says it will convert an Executive West Hotel near the Louisville International Airport to a Crowne Plaza in time to reopen in this year's fourth quarter. The eight-story hotel will offer 588 guest rooms and a variety of amenities, including a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pool, gift shop, airport and local business shuttle and multiple dining outlets. It will also feature 50,000 sq. ft. of meeting and banquet space.
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Crowne Plaza Opens Hotels In Cleveland And Memphis
The 230-room Crowne Plaza Memphis will open within a month following a multi million dollar renovation and conversion from a Wyndham Garden Hotel. The 11-story hotel is in downtown Memphis, within walking distance of Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Also, the 238-room Crowne Plaza Cleveland Airport, a renovated hotel, has opened. It is Crowne Plaza’s second property in the Cleveland market.
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CWT Buys Travel Division Of Spanish Insurance Company
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has acquired the assets of Viajes MAPFRE from MAPFRE, an insurance company in Spain. Viajes MAPFRE was created in 1992 as a travel services provider to the companies of the MAPFRE Group, but more than 60 percent of its present sales comes from non-MAPFRE clients. The transaction encompasses business travel management, meetings, events and leisure travel in Spain, with an option to acquire these activities in Latin America, as well.
Total sales of the newly acquired business, which will be operated under the CWT brand, are approximately 60 million euros, or nearly $90 million. Under the agreement, CWT will be the travel management company for MAPFRE in Spain for at least three years. The possibility of later servicing MAPFRE on an international basis is also part of the agreement.
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Delta AirElite Adds Learjet 45 To Charter Fleet
Delta AirElite Business Jets has added another Learjet 45 to its expanding fleet of charter aircraft. The new aircraft, which will be based in Tulsa, will support continued growth of the Fleet Membership program, according to Brandon Greene, the company's sales director. The Bombardier Learjet 45 offers seating for up to eight passengers and a range of 2,200 statute miles, with speeds up to 534 mph.
Delta AirElite Business Jets is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, and the only business jet operator owned by a major US airline.
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Delta Seeks Merger Deal
During its fourth-quarter earnings call this week, Delta announced that it is wants to merge with another airline. Delta CEO Richard Anderson did not provide any details about specific talks, but according to published reports, Delta is in talks with United and Northwest.
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Denver Airport Scraps Wireless Access Fee; Now It's Free
Denver International Airport has scrapped a $7.95 charge for daily Internet access, and now offers the wireless service for free. According to FreeFi Networks, the company providing the service, Denver International is the largest airport in North America to offer free wireless Internet access throughout its terminals.
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DHS Receives Border Security Report That Includes NBTA Input
The Department of Homeland Security has received a report on travel and border issues compiled by its Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee (SBODAC). Bill Connors, executive director of the National Business Travel Association, provided some of the expert testimony included in the report, mostly concerning an international registered traveler program.
The SBODAC report is intended to bring high-level government attention to both the progress that has been made and the areas that need improvement.
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Dolce Rebrands Dow Chemical's Conference Center
The Ashman Court Hotel in Midland, Michigan, is now known as the H Hotel, a Dolce Hotel and Conference Destination. Owned by Dow Chemical and managed by Dolce International since 2006, the property is currently undergoing a $25 million renovation and expansion project.
The H is dually named for Herbert Henry Dow, Dow Chemical's founder and "The Human Element,” Dow's advertising campaign. As part of the rebranding, a new logo has been introduced and the hotel's restaurants and bar will be renamed as "The Table,” "Café Zinc” and "Oxygen- O2.” As part of the expansion, The H will debut the H.H. Dow Academy, a premier executive learning program for Dow's global leaders, scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008.
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DOT Finalizes China Decision: US Air, AA, Continental, NWA Are In
The US Department of Transportation has made a final decision to select US Airways to inaugurate its first US-China service in 2009 as well as to award additional US-China flights to American, Continental and Northwest in 2009. The decision confirms the DOT’s tentative decision issued in September.
US Airways will fly between Philadelphia and Beijing, while American, Continental and Northwest each will use the awards to add a new daily flight to their existing US-China service. American will begin Chicago-Beijing service, Continental will operate a new flight between Newark and Shanghai, and Northwest will fly between Detroit and Shanghai. All 2009 services must begin on or about March 25, 2009.
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Doubletree Opens 2 Hotels In Costa Rica
Doubletree Hotels & Resorts has opened two hotels in Costa Rica: the Doubletree Cariari by Hilton San Jose and the Doubletree Resort by Hilton Puntarenas. The Doubletree Cariari is five miles from Juan Santamaria International Airport and seven miles west of San Jose’s city center. Upgrades have been made to the hotel’s 174 guest rooms and 48 suites. The hotel offers two restaurants, a pool bar and a casino.
The 314-room Doubletree Puntarenas, formerly the Fiesta Resort, has also been renovated. The resort has four restaurants, four swimming pools, seven bars, an upgraded fitness center, tennis courts and a casino.
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Duane Street Hotel Opens In New York
The Duane Street Hotel has opened in New York's Tribeca neighborhood. Guest rooms at the 45-room hotel have custom-designed residential furniture and slate bathrooms with chrome and marble fixtures. Amenities include a work desk, high-speed and Wi-Fi Internet access, and 32-inch plasma TV. Also, the Duane Street Hotel is home to 'beca Restaurant.
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e-Travel Tracker Allows Real-time Alerts To Travelers
e-Travel Technologies Inc is offering its new e-Travel Tracker for subscribers to their travel risk management services. With it, travel providers are able to identify and contact travelers whose itineraries or safety may be at risk. Utilizing an interactive real time world map pinpointing Alerts, providers can drill down to a list of travelers by country and display their individual contact information. Included is a scrolling marquee of the 10 most recently posted Alerts, as well as a pull down list of active Alerts by country as well as a country level travel risk rating.
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El Al To Surrender Route Monopoly
Israel’s government will pay 80 percent of El Al’s security costs, up from 50 percent, according to a Reuters report. In return, El Al is expected to cede its national exclusivity in Tel Aviv, enabling other Israeli airlines to offer service from the airport.
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Elite Meetings Buys Internet Domain Name
Elite Meetings International has purchased the domain name EliteMeetings.com, formerly owned by an unrelated company. The domain procurement ensures Elite Meetings owns all assets related to its brand. The company intends to launch a new version of its web site in the first quarter, in conjunction with the release of the 2008 edition of Elite Meetings magazine. The redesigned site will offer intuitive search functions, tutorials and enhanced RFP tools.
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Embassy Suites Offers Online Tips To Keep Business Travelers Sharp
Embassy Suites Hotels has introduced Business Balance, an initiative designed to help business travelers stay healthy and alert while traveling. Accredited sources on nutrition, exercise and sleep will offer business travelers guidance and tips to help maintain balance on the road.
The BusinessBalance.com web site will be divided into two paths. Strength on the Road will feature articles and tips on keeping a strong body, a strong mind, getting the proper nutrition, looking your best and maintaining family ties while on the road. Serenity on the Road will offer tips for business travelers to get better sleep, reduce stress on the road and pack efficiently. Site content will be edited by husband-and-wife team Gary and Charlyn Chisholm. He is the business travel expert for About.com, where she is the hotel expert.
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Embassy Suites Opens Near Detroit Airport
The Embassy Suites Detroit-Metro Airport has opened. The hotel has seven meeting rooms and 2,500 square feet of meeting space. Each of the hotel’s 151 suites include an ergonomic Herman Miller chair and two 32-inch, high-definition TVs.
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Embassy Suites Unveils Cafe Concept
Embassy Suites Hotels has added good food to its format with a new restaurant concept called Flying Spoons, which combines the styles of European cafes and American coffeehouses in the "fast casual concept made popular by Panera Bread." The restaurants will be located in the hotel lobbies, sharing space with the brand’s complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and Manager’s Reception. The first Flying Spoons will debut in late 2008 at the Embassy Suites Jackson-North/Ridgeland, MS, which will also be the brand’s first Design Option III prototype to open.
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Enterprise Carbon Offset Program Officially Underway
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car have officially launched their carbon offset program, which Enterprise says is the largest in the rental car industry. Customers can opt to pay $1.25 per rental (plus applicable taxes) to purchase a carbon offset when reserving a car through the company’s call-in reservation centers or online. The collected funds will be used to purchase certified offset projects through TerraPass. Enterprise has committed to match of its customers’ offset purchases dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million.
TerraPass calculated the $1.25 charge based on the average vehicle fuel economy (28 highway mpg), miles driven per rental (71 miles per day), and number of days per rental over the past year for the combined Enterprise, National and Alamo North American fleet. (Total offsets purchased will vary, based on factors such as the current market rates for the offsets.)
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Eos Offers Complimentary Helicopter Service To Passengers
Eos Airlines, which operates all-premium-class service between New York and London, has formed a partnership with US Helicopter to offer passengers reserving unrestricted tickets complimentary helicopter service between JFK International Airport and the East 34th Street Heliport or Downtown Manhattan Heliport. At the heliports, TSA security screening and through check-in of bags to Stansted will be completed. After the helicopter flight, passengers will be greeted by an Eos guide and escorted to the lounge or directly to their flight.
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Ernst & Young Report: Hotels Can Weather Recession
The unique fundamentals of the hotel industry over the last few years suggest that the industry will be able to weather a recession, if that's where the economy is headed, says Michael Fishbin, Hospitality & Leisure practice director for Ernst & Young US. Fishbin points to a supply growth slowdown prior to last year's correction in the debt markets as contributing to the positive cycle in the hotel sector. Moreover, with the financing tap essentially turned off for a few months and underwriting terms changing dramatically, there will be less new construction in the next two to three years than originally planned: that means supply will continue to maintain a balance with demand, Fishbin says.
The report points to globalization as another major influence on growth in the hospitality sector. The weak dollar is attracting capital into the US hotel sector from a variety of sources, says Fishbin. At the same time, US hotel operators and investors are looking to Europe and Asia in search of new opportunities. Ernst & Young expects to see more international investment from major US hotel companies in the near- to mid-term. This may include new US entrants to the international hotel scene.
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Europcar Installing Mobile Rental Booths In Paths Of Customers
Europcar is introducing mobile car rental facilities in the UK, setting up its first small rental booths at London's Euston train station. The booths are linked to Europcar's booking system and are manned by a representative during peak hours. During off hours, customers can drop off keys and make their own reservations over a built-in reservation hotline.
Europcar, which has 130 outlets in the UK, will move its booths to wherever potential customers are. Some booths will be installed temporarily, for example to cope with increased demand during tourist seasons, major events and exhibitions. Long-term rental points will be installed wherever it isn't feasible to build full-size outlets, like city centers.
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Farelogix Integrates ITA Air Pricing Tool
Farelogix, a provider of a low-cost travel distribution platform, has agreed to install ITA Software’s airfare pricing and shopping system into Farelogix’s solution. Travel management companies will be able to apply all the unique business, usage and optimization rules available through Farelogix’s platform to content sourced from ITA’s technology. Farelogix says ITA’s system computes potentially billions of combinations of flights and fares in order to deliver better and more comprehensive search results.
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FlightStats' Annual Report Confirms Drop In On-time Arrivals
FlightStats.com has released its annual reports on performance at major US airports through 2007, revealing a considerable decline in timely flight arrivals compared to the previous year. Although 4.3 million flights out of 6 million flights arrived on time at the 28 airports, the resulting 71.65 percent record is nearly 5 percentage points lower than 2006 numbers. Just over 11 percent of arrivals were delayed by more than 45 minutes, raising the probability that "scores of travelers" missed their connections.
The best on-time arrival performance for 2007 was at Orlando's MCO (78.49 percent on time), Phoenix's PHX with 78.17 percent on time and Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky's CVG with 77.9 percent on time for the year.
Least timely arrivals for the year landed at the three New York metro airports; JFK International (59.78 percent on-time), Newark's EWR (58.05 percent) and LaGuardia International LGA (57.62 percent).
Only Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport and Seattle's SEA-TAC saw an improvement in on-time arrivals. ATL's performance increased by two percentage points to 74.25 percent; and SEA, up nearly 1 point to 73.39 percent.
In addition, 20 of the top 28 airports experienced more canceled arrivals in 2007 than in 2006. The largest increase was at Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP) with 1.62 percentage point increase than in 2006. JFK had a canceled flight rate 1.47 points higher than last year and the Dallas/FortWorth (DFW) cancellation rate was 2.37 percentage points higher than in 2006.
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Furnished Quarters Expands To NY's Westchester County
Furnished Quarters has further expanded its portfolio outside of Manhattan, now offering corporate housing in two of White Plains, NY, newest luxury high-rise apartment communities: Bank Street Commons and One City Place at City Center.
Bank Street Commons, located adjacent to the White Plains Metro-North train station, offers state-of-the-art amenities including on-site controlled-access parking, an indoor swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness center with weight training and cardio equipment and a beautifully landscaped common plaza. At One City Place, residents have access to the private health club, an indoor pool, spa and sauna, a media center with oversized theater seating, a private children’s recreation center, a business center, a cyber café, a billiards room and a spacious landscaped outdoor terrace.
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GolfClubsAway Unveils Rental Service For Events, Corporate Accounts
GolfClubsAway.com, an online golf club rental service, has launched. The company says the service enables clients to “rent a set of top-of-the-line clubs online for free delivery to their hotel room or event location.” Event planners can have clients log onto the web site, input the code number assigned to the event and select a set of golf clubs. A sleeve of balls and tees are included with each rental. At the end of the event, customers leave the clubs with the hotel staff.
The service is currently available in Florida’s Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Group discounts starting at 20 percent are available to destination management companies and corporate accounts for groups of 20 or more.
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Hampton Inn Enters Atlantic Canadian Market
The new 116-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Saint John, NB, has opened its doors, offering three King Suites and 29 King Studio Suites. It marks the brand’s entry into the Atlantic Canadian market. The four-story property provides 1,200 square feet of meeting space to accommodate up to 45 people, a 24-hour business center, indoor swimming pool, hot tub and 80-foot waterslide. Guest rooms are equipped with complimentary, high-speed Internet access, flat screen televisions and granite-topped vanities, and a complimentary hot and cold breakfast is offered each morning.
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Hampton Opens First Hotel In Atlantic Canada
Hampton has opened the 116-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton in Saint John, New Brunswick, marking the brand’s entry into the Atlantic Canadian market. The property provides 1,200 square feet of meeting space to accommodate up to 45 people, a 24-hour business center and an indoor swimming pool.
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Hotel Indigo Properties Open In Boston And Chicago Areas
Hotel Indigo, InterContinental Hotels Group’s boutique brand, has opened its first hotel in New England, a 191-room property in Newton, MA, a few miles from Boston. The hotel is a redeveloped Holiday Inn.
Also, Hotel Indigo Hotel plans to open its third property to the Chicago area after converting an AmeriSuites hotel. The 127-room Hotel Indigo Vernon Hills is scheduled to open in early spring in Vernon Hills, a suburb of Chicago.
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Hotel Marina El Cid Opens Convention Center
Hotel Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, has finished a $50 million expansion that entailed the opening of 150 luxury suites, a gourmet restaurant, a Maya-inspired spa, a beachfront bar and a convention center. Located next to the spa, the Hotel Marina El Cid Convention Center offers 7,500 square feet of flexible function space. The center’s Gran Salon, which can accommodate up to 400 people, can be subdivided into six separate breakout rooms for smaller meetings.
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Hotels.com Introduces Booking Tool For iPhone
Hotels.com has launched a web application for the iPhone and iPod touch that enables users to research and book hotels. The application, optimized for viewing on a 3.5-inch screen, lets users view hotel photos, descriptions and amenities; check availability; book accommodations; view existing reservations; and contact Hotels.com for customer assistance.
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HSMAI Publishes 2008 Sourcebook
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has published its Sourcebook for Meeting Planners 2008, a comprehensive guide featuring articles from 10 of the educational seminars that were presented during the Association’s Affordable Meetings shows last year. The Sourcebook also lists a variety of meeting facilities, convention and visitors bureaus, and other meeting products and services, arranged alphabetically by city, state or region. Additional details, such as transportation, airports, city population, average temperatures and rainfall, number of hotels/hotel rooms and area attractions are outlined for selected locations.
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Hyatt To Open Three Middle East Hotels In 2008
Hyatt Hotels will open three hotels in the Middle East region in 2008. The Grand Hyatt Doha in Qatar, is set to open in the spring, followed by Park Hyatt Istanbul in Turkey in the summer. The Park Hyatt Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is due to debut in late 2008.
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i:FAO's New cytric v7.8 Fine-tunes Policy Oversight, Allows 30-second Booking
i:FAO has released cytric v7.8, featuring Air Policy Manager, a support dashboard for agents that gives them access to all bookings of any individual traveler, and improvements to its SpeedBook application that allows bookings to be made in two clicks and less than 30 seconds.
Air Policy Manager allows travel managers to flexibly configure travel policies to meet specific corporate demands. Exceptions, for example geographic, can be quickly, simply and transparently mapped; different travel regulations can be associated with specific flights or journey lengths.
The Dashboard allows agents to change or cancel bookings as well as generate new ones, even for travelers already en route. Cytric has already had the capacity to make reservations directly with vendors.
SpeedBook enhancements include more settings when managing hotel bookings, new airport selection options, and enhanced options for authentification at cytric login.
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IHG Signs Development Agreements For UAE & Qatar
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Aldar Properties have signed a development agreement that will result in the development of a number of new IHG-branded hotels in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. At the same time, IHG has signed an agreement with H.E. Mohammed Bin Ajaj Al-Kubaisi to develop the InterContinental Doha West Bay in Doha, Qatar.
The Aldar agreement calls for the development of a Crowne Plaza with 430 rooms and apartments and Abu Dhabi’s first Staybridge Suites hotel, a 165-room property. Both properties are scheduled to open in 2009. The companies also agreed to build a 300-room InterContinental hotel with a conference facility; that hotel is due to open in 2011.
Targeted to open by March 2009, Doha West Bay, a 60-story tower, will be located in the city center, close to both the main shopping precinct and the business district. The 540-room luxury property, which will comprise both hotel rooms and serviced apartments, will be the second InterContinental in the Qatari capital and will cater to business travelers and conference attendees.
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IHG Signs Holiday Inn Express Deal For Saudi Arabia
InterContinental Hotels Group has signed an exclusive franchise development agreement with Siraj Capital to develop the Holiday Inn Express brand in Saudi Arabia. A total of 12 new properties are scheduled to open in the kingdom within five years.
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Interstate To Manage Bourbon Orleans
Interstate Hotels & Resorts has signed an agreement to manage the historic Bourbon Orleans hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter. It is the third hotel Interstate manages in New Orleans, all owned by a local group of hotel developers. Interstate is in discussions with the same group of investors regarding management of a fourth hotel expected to open this fall. The 218-room Bourbon Orleans is situated directly behind the St. Louis Cathedral.
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Interstate To Manage Courtyards Near Boston & Yale
Interstate Hotels & Resorts has contracted to manage two Courtyard by Marriott hotels, one in Westborough, MA, the other in Orange, CT. The hotels are owned by Pittsburgh-based FFC Capital Corporation. The 98-room Westborough facility is 20 miles west of downtown Boston. The 121-room Courtyard by Marriott Orange is close to Yale University and downtown New Haven. Among its amenities are nearly 4,000 square feet of meeting space.
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Jet Airways Establishes San Francisco Office
Jet Airways has opened an office in San Francisco in preparation for a new route launch on the West Coast in 2008. The Indian airline already has bases of operations in New York and Toronto, and operates flights to India from New York-JFK, Newark and Toronto.
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JetBlue Completes Sale Of Stock To Lufthansa
JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa have completed their stock purchase transaction; Lufthansa now holds a 19 percent stake in JetBlue. With the conclusion of the financial transaction, Lufthansa and JetBlue say they will “begin exploring innovative commercial arrangements designed to benefit both airlines and their customers.
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JetBlue Introduces Fully Refundable Fares
JetBlue Airways has begun offering refundable fares, which are available direct from the airline or through the GDS and other third-party channels. Customers who buy refundable fares will be able to make unlimited reservation changes, including name changes, or opt for a full refund any time prior to the flight’s departure.
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Kempinski To Manage Saudi Hotel
Kempinski Hotels has been awarded the management contract for a new luxury hotel on Jeddah Cornish, overlooking the Red Sea shores in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Kempinski Hotel Jeddah, the brand's first in Saudi Arabia, is expected to open in winter 2010. The 321-key property will have 250 guest rooms and suites, while the rest will be serviced apartments.
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Korean Air To Augment DFW Service
Korean Air will increase its nonstop service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Seoul this summer. Korean Air will go from three to four flights per week.
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LAN Debuts Premium Economy Class On Domestic Routes
LAN has launched its new Business Express premium cabin on routes from Lima to Quito, Bogotá, and Caracas. It will be extended across its shorthaul network in the year ahead. According to the oneworld alliance, which includes LAN, this is the first time a carrier in Latin American has offered a European-style business class service on flights within the region.
LAN Group's Airbus A320s are being reconfigured to provide 12 seats in the new cabin, each offering around 50 percent more space than in Economy. The service also includes dedicated check-in desks, lounge access, preferential boarding, disembarkation and baggage delivery. Tickets enable customers to change the date and time of their flight up to two hours before departure.
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Lodgian Offers 9 Hotels For Sale But Suspends Talks To Sell Company
Lodgian, an independent owner and operator of full-service hotels, says it will continue to consider selling the company, but that “the current volatility in the debt and credit markets may inhibit or delay the signing or consummation of a transaction to sell the company.” As a result, Lodgian has suspended discussions with interested parties.
As part of a review of strategic alternatives, Lodgian has continued with its previously announced plan for the sale of certain assets. It has identified nine hotels that it considers “non-strategic properties,” including five Holiday Inns, a Holiday Inn Select, a Hilton, a Crowne Plaza and the French Quarter Suites in Memphis. Lodgian said selling these hotels would enable it to “concentrate operationally on hotels that will generate the highest returns and produce long-term growth for the company.
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Lufthansa Plans To Hire 4,300 Employees In Germany
To accommodate expansion, Lufthansa said it will be taking on close to 4,300 new staff in 2008, including 2,000 flight attendants and 1,000 staff for passenger support at Frankfurt and Munich airports. Up to 360 trainee pilots will commence training courses at the Lufthansa Flight Training institute in Bremen.
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Lufthansa, TUI Could Merge Low-Cost Carriers
According to published reports, Lufthansa is in talks With TUI to merge its low-cost airline, Germanwings, with TUI’s low-cost carrier, Tuifly. A deal could include Eurowings, a low-cost airline in which Lufthansa has a 49 percent stake.
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LXR Eyes April Opening For West Hollywood Hotel
LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels will reopen the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood, CA, as the London West Hollywood in April 2008, following a refurbishment in design, amenities and service. The opening will come a little over a year after the launch of its sister property, the London NYC in Manhattan. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay will make his Los Angeles debut with the opening of Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood. The hotel will have five private dining rooms in addition to a 3,960-square-foot ballroom. The hotel’s 223 guest suites will feature bathrooms with separate soaking tubs and walk-in showers with both jet and raindrop shower heads. The living spaces will have chaise sofas; marble-topped, ergonomic work desks; dining tables with seating for two; and full-service wet bars. Each room will include multiple docking outlets for cell phones, iPods and laptops plus complimentary wired and wireless Internet access.
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Macdonald Hotels Renews Pact With Online Marketing Firm
Macdonald Hotels and ABC Connection have renewed their agreement, in which ABC will continue to provide its online marketing services, including a number of solutions developed specifically for Macdonald Hotels, which has more than 40 properties throughout the UK. The hotels have been represented by ABC over the last three years to agents and corporate and leisure partners, according to Andrew Watson, marketing manager for Macdonald Hotels.
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Management Alternatives, Travel Tech Consulting Form Alliance
Management Alternatives (MAI), an independent business travel expense management consulting firm, and Travel Tech Consulting, an authority on emerging travel technologies, have formed a strategic alliance aimed at leveraging their combined knowledge bases and offering MAI clients expanded technology procurement services.
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Marriott Nears End Of Renovation At Woodland Hills, CA, Facility
Warner Center Marriott, located in the heart of West San Fernando Valley in Woodland Hills, CA, is close to completing an extensive $6 million renovation of its 474 guest rooms and suites, and guest room corridors. The project, begun in December 2007, is slated for completion this spring. The hotel features 25,000 square feet of recently enhanced meeting and event space.
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Marriott To Take Over Phuket Resort
Marriott will open a 202-room resort in Phuket, Thailand, this year. The Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa at Kamala Cove is a conversion of the Kamala Terrace Resort, which originally opened in 1993. The hotel was closed in 2005 and is currently undergoing a major renovation and expansion. Located on a hill south of Kamala Beach, the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa at Kamala Cove will provide unobstructed, panoramic views of the Andaman Sea and will offer many rooms with large terraces, most of which will have either a plunge pool, an outdoor Jacuzzi or a personal pool.
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Marriott’s New Boutique Brand Named Edition
Hotel entrepreneur Ian Schrager and J.W. Marriott Jr., CEO of Marriott International, have introduced the name of their new their new boutique brand: Edition. The brand’s first hotels are scheduled to open in 2010. Development agreements call for Edition hotels in Paris, Madrid, Costa Rica, Miami, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, AZ. Hotels will have 150 to 200 rooms.
Schrager is leading the effort on concept, design, marketing, branding and food and beverage for Edition. Marriott International is overseeing the development process and will operate the properties.
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Marshall Signs Four Hotel Management Contracts
Marshall Management, a hotel management company, has inked four new management contracts. The company acquired three of the four contracts in the last quarter of 2007, including a Hampton Inn in Greensboro, N.C.; a Clarion in Memphis, Tenn.; and a Country Inn & Suites in Chesapeake, Va. A fourth contract, for a Hampton Inn in Pittsburgh, is the company's first of 2008.
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Mesa Reports $62M Loss, Much Of It From Lawsuit Judgment
Mesa Air Group has reported fourth quarter losses from continuing operations of $62.2 million on gross operating revenues of $327.8 million. The results include a pre-tax charge of $86.9 million related to a legal judgment against Mesa in its lawsuit with Hawaiian Airlines. That decision is under appeal.
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MGM Mirage And Dubai World To Repurchase Shares
MGM Mirage and Dubai World, a company owned by the government of Dubai, are making a cash tender offer for up to 10 million shares of common stock of MGM Mirage at a price of $75 to $80 per share. The company has 293.8 million shares outstanding. Dubai World currently has approximately a 6.5 percent stake in MGM Mirage.
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Midwest Extends Northwest Codeshare To Indianapolis Flights
Midwest Airlines is extending its codeshare agreement with Northwest Airlines to include nonstop Northwest routes from Indianapolis to Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle and Tampa. Travelers may purchase tickets now for travel beginning January 8.
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Names In The News 01/10/08
Alaska Airlines has named Gary Beck vice president of flight operations, succeeding Kevin Finan, who retired from the airline last month. Beck comes to Alaska from Delta, where he served as senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has named Hakan Ericson president of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Latin America, succeeding Richard Lovell, who will retire in March after 17 years with the company. Ericson, currently CEO of Loomis AB, a global provider of cash-handling services, will join CWT on January 28 and be based in Paris.
Harrah's Entertainment has extended Gary Loveman's employment as the company's chairman, president and CEO following the completion of the merger of Harrah's with affiliates of TPG and Apollo Management.
Intrawest, a ski resort developer and manager, has named Bill Jensen CEO, effective June 1. Jensen will succeed Alex Wasilov, who has served as CEO over the last 15 months and will serve as a member of the Intrawest board of directors to focus on long-term vision and strategy for the company. Jensen joins Intrawest from Vail Resorts, where he was president of Vail Resorts' mountain division.
Mesa Air Group has made changes to its senior management team. Jorn Bates was appointed chief operating officer of Mesa Airlines. Bates joined Mesa Air Group in January 2007 as vice president of East Coast operations and later became president of Freedom Airlines. Joe Serratelli joins Mesa as chief operating officer Freedom Airlines, following a career of more than 25 years with Delta. Mickey Moman was appointed vice president of safety and regulatory compliance, Mesa Air Group. Moman was vice president of flight operations. Eric Gust was appointed vice president of flight operations, Mesa Airlines. He was with the internal evaluations department, working as an airworthiness auditor. Zaka Khogyani was appointed director of operations, Mesa Airlines. Khogyani most recently was senior director of dispatch for Mesa.
NBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Business Travel Association, has named Fay Beauchine chairwoman. Beauchine is executive vice president of Carlson Marketing. Before joining Carlson in 2005, Beauchine had a 27-year career with Northwest Airlines; she was vice president of sales when she left Northwest.
Palmer Hospitality Group, which markets, manages and develops luxury hotels, has named Lesley Anne Carey president and John Sears vice president of K Hotels (Palmer's sales and marketing division). Carey previously held senior operational positions at the Orlando Hotel, Los Angeles; the Lodge at Rancho Mirage; and the Crescent Hotel, Beverly Hills. Sears was president of Boutique Hotel Advisors and then executive vice president of marketing and chief operating officer of Boutique Hotels & Resorts International.
Rearden Commerce, provider of a travel services platform, has named Kendall Collins vice president of marketing and general manager of B2B, Paul Kilmartin vice president of network operations and Heather Brooks vice president of program management and quality assurance. Most recently, Collins was the senior vice president of corporate and product marketing at Salesforce.com. Kilmartin joined Rearden Commerce after eight years with eBay, where he managed several different operational teams for both eBay and PayPal. Brooks was senior director of the PayPal New Ventures and Consumer Technology Group at eBay.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has appointed James Perrin senior director of global sales for the Washington, Virginia and Maryland marketplace. Perrin was director of sales and marketing for the Westin Boston Waterfront.
TravelClick, a provider of e-marketing solutions for the hotel industry, has appointed Robert Dowdell chairman of the Board. The selection of Dowdell follows the recent addition of TravelClick to the Genstar Capital portfolio of companies through its acquisition in December. Dowdell is a founder and chairman of Career Education Corp. and has been a director of the company since its inception in 1994.
Vail Resorts has appointed John Garnsey, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Beaver Creek Resort, and Blaise Carrig, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Heavenly Mountain Resort, to executive vice president of the company's mountain division. Together, they will be responsible for oversight of the entire division. They will replace Bill Jensen, who is leaving the company to become CEO of Intrawest. Garnsey will remain chief operating officer of Beaver Creek Resort and will also have direct oversight of Vail Mountain. Carrig will remain chief operating officer of Heavenly and will have direct oversight for both Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Resort.
Wyndham Hotel Group has appointed Nicolas Le Bras director of global sales for France. Based in Paris, Le Bras is responsible for managing key French global sales accounts, driving request for proposal solicitations from new and existing accounts and developing business within the meetings segment. For the last four years, Le Bras had held a similar role with Hilton in Paris.
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Names In The News 1-24-08
Amadeus North America has named Tom Cates to the newly created position of chief commercial officer. He had been senior vice president of sales and marketing for Amadeus North America. In this new role, Cates’ chief responsibilities will be to manage and increase commercial interest, profitability and growth related to Amadeus’ technology and service offerings to travel agencies in North America.
American Airlines has named Rob Friedman president of the airline’s AAdvantage marketing programs. Friedman, who was American’s managing director of reservations, fills a vacancy created by Kurt Stache, who recently was named American’s vice president and general sales manager.
Barcelo Hotels & Resorts has appointed Christy Ortiz director of marketing for Latin America. Previously Ortiz was manager of sales and promotions for USA3000, a scheduled-services airline.
Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Nate Waldron director of conference services for The Heldrich in New Brunswick, NJ. Waldron was most recently the director of conference services for the Dolce Basking Ridge in New Jersey, formerly the Benchmark-operated North Maple Inn. Benchmark has also named Heath Patrick director of conference services for Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. Patrick had been director of catering sales and event management for the Colorado Springs Marriott.
Carlson Hotels Worldwide has named Paul Kirwin president of the Americas region. Kirwin has served the last five years as president and managing director of Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific. He takes over for Yvonne LaPenotiere, who has been named to the newly-created position of chief branding officer. Also, Carlson Hotels has appointed Carmen Baker to the newly-created role of vice president of responsible business. Baker, who served most recently as vice president of diversity for Carlson, will lead the company’s initiatives in environment sustainability, charitable giving and community relations.
Christopherson Travel in Salt Lake City has hired Verl Boyack to be a consultant in its corporate travel division. Boyack, an international travel specialist, was most recently with Morris Murdock, another Utah-based travel agency.
Crestline Hotels & Resorts has named Stephan Rice director of sales for the Courtyard by Marriott and the Residence Inn by Marriott in Aberdeen, MD. Rice rejoins Crestline from the Radisson Resort Orlando — Celebration, where he was senior sales manager.
Marriott International has named Jimmie Walton Paschall global diversity officer, a newly created position, to spearhead the company’s diversity outreach both inside and outside the U.S. Most recently, Paschall was executive vice president of external affairs at Volunteers of America, where she developed and implemented a strategic plan to dramatically expand the visibility, stature and impact of the organization.
MGM Mirage Hospitality has appointed Michael Evans executive vice president of global development. Evans most recently served as senior vice president of international hotel development for Marriott International. MGM Mirage Hospitality, formed in May 2007, is principally focused on extending MGM Mirage’s hotel brands and developing luxury concepts for destinations in the US and abroad.
The San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau has named Lisa Volpi national sales manager. Volpi will be responsible for conducting corporate business within the Midwest, Northeast and Southwest regions of the US. Volpi has been a sales manager and director of catering for various hotels in California’s Santa Clara County, including at the San Jose Marriott, Hilton Santa Clara and Crowne Plaza.
Starwood Capital Group, a real estate investment firm and owner of luxury hotel brands, has hired Neil Jacobs as president of global hotel operations. His portfolio will include Baccarat Hotels and Resorts, 1 Hotels and Residences and Crillon Hotels. Jacobs joins the company after 14 years with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, where he most recently served as senior vice president for the Asia Pacific region.
Value Place, an extended-stay hotel chain, has named Paul Mangiamele chief development officer and senior vice president of franchise development. He most recently served four years with Austin, Texas-based Sport Clips in various senior management capacities, including chief operating officer.
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Names In The News 1-31-08
ACTE (The Association of Corporate Travel Executives) has announced that Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, will be a keynote speaker at its global education conference in Washington, DC, May 18-20. Prior to her current position, Blakey served a five-year term as administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration.
AirPlus International has promoted Alex Houston and Aaron Kelling to vice president of sales for the south and north regions respectively, in recognition of their roles in the rapid growth of AirPlus in the US market. AirPlus has also named three new sales professionals to its staff: Robert Galbo, now director of sales for the Southwest, based in Phoenix; Janet Wyer, based in San Francisco, as director of sales for the Northwest; and Francine Rose, director of sales for the North Central region, based in Detroit.
Barcelo Hotels & Resorts has named Larry Pagac director of meeting and incentive sales for the Northern California and Pacific Northwest regions. Pagac joins Barcelo from Pegasus Premier Collection, where he represented group sales throughout the entire Western region for eight luxury hotels.
Crestline Hotels & Resorts has appointed Keith Brophy e-commerce marketing manager. Brophy joins Crestline from Kimpton Hotels, where he was the manager of customer relations and responsible for growing that company’s revenue through e-commerce and electronic media marketing.
The Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council has promoted Pamela Watkins to director of sales. She has represented Beaches of South Walton in Florida for more than 10 years. As director of sales and special events, she will continue to manage domestic sales as well as begin to target international markets in preparation for the opening of the Panama City-Bay County Airport. Watkins is active in traditional and online marketing to niche audiences, including meeting planners and travel agents.
The Detroit Metro CVB has named Christopher Ilitch chairman. He is president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, which includes Little Caesars Pizza, the Detroit Tigers baseball franchise and the Detroit Red Wings hockey franchise.
Dolce International, operator of a portfolio of conference hotels, has appointed Carl Cohen chief sales and marketing officer. Cohen at one time was a senior vice president at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, where he was responsible for the introduction of broadband services at more than 600 hotels globally. Prior to the Dolce appointment, he was president of the marketing solutions division of Dendrite International, an Internet, direct response and relationship marketing firm based in Bedminster, NJ.
InterContinental Hotels Group’s Kirk Kinsell will participate on the advisory board of Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research. Kinsell, IHG’s president of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is a Cornell alumnus. He will share his expertise with researchers, industry leaders and students as well as participate in the center’s roundtables.
NYLO Hotels has named Michael Brown vice president of franchise development. Before joining NYLO, Brown played a key role in the expansion of the extended-stay hotel category. He was vice president of franchise development for Atlanta-based U.S. Franchise Systems, a subsidiary of Global Hyatt Corp.
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Names In The News 1/17/08
Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Mark Dallman as director of sales & marketing for The Northland Inn, the hotel and executive conference center located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Dallman most recently was director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.
CyberShift, a provider of workforce management and expense management software and services, has named Gene Wronko as director of IT and On Demand (ITOD). Wronko most recently was managing director for IT services for the e-commerce division of Online Resources, a provider of web-based financial services.
Hilton Hotels has named Nayla Chowdhury general manager for the 458-room Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. Chowdhury most recently was general manager at the Embassy Suites Tysons Corner.
The Heldrich, based in New Brunswick, NJ, has appointment of Meaghan A. Cannon as sales manager. Prior to joining The Heldrich, Cannon was the association and convention market senior sales manager for the Hilton East Brunswick Hotel.
Star Alliance has appointed Christopher Korenke as vice president, commercial, effective February 1. He will be responsible for all loyalty, marketing and sales functions at Star Alliance Services GmbH. Korenke joins Star Alliance from Air France, where he was commercial director for Europe and North Africa, based in Paris.
Worktopia Inc. has appointed Peter McElynn to vice president of corporate market development for its online booking engine for meeting space in hotels, business centers, airport lounges and other venues. McElynn most recently served as vice president of strategic business development in American Express's Corporate Services division.
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Names In The News 1/3/08
Crestline Hotels & Resorts has appointed Sally Malouf director of sales for the 357-room Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile. Malouf was director of sales and marketing at the Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Lakefront.
Gaylord Hotels has added six new sales professionals to its national sales office: Annette Bale; Peter Cronin; Christine Faiman; Cindy Meyerer; Gary Onorio; and Lynn Pescherine. Bales had been a field director of sales and marketing for Commonwealth Hotels in Covington, KY. Cronin has filled several positions within Hilton, most recently as the director of national accounts for the Omni CNN Center in Atlanta. Faiman comes to Gaylord following a position as director of sales for Associated Luxury Hotels, International. Meyerer most recently was district director of sales for the Hyatt Place Orlando Convention Center, Orlando Airport NE/NW and Universal Studios locations. Onorio joins Gaylord following a stint as senior sales manager at the Hilton Anaheim. Pescherine has held a series of positions with Hilton Hotels, most recently as director of Northeast/Northwest sales for Hilton’s LaQuinta Resort and Club.
Jetcraft Corporation's president and CEO, John Ames, was killed in a snowmobile accident near his Wisconsin lake home on December 31.
Regal Sun Resort, formerly known as The Grosvenor, has added Efrain Vargas and Kristine Messuri-Cloonan to its team of national sales managers. Vargas is responsible for sales efforts in the Southeastern corporate market; Messuri-Cloonan, for the state of Florida and the Southeastern association market. Regal sun is inside the Walt Disney World Resort and is the closest resort to Downtown Disney; it completed a $25 million renovation and enhancement on September 1.
United Airlines has named Keith Halbert senior vice president and chief information officer. Halbert joins United from Electronic Data Systems (EDS), where he was vice president and chief information officer.
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NBTA Gives The Government C-Plus Average On Travel Issues
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) has published its Business Travel Government Affairs Report Card, which looks at the state of the most important business travel issues facing the US government. The overall grade earned by the performance of Congress and the Administration in 2007 is a C-plus.
The issues whose progress was graded by NBTA included Federal Aviation Administration funding, airline performance and air traffic congestion, domestic US Registered Traveler program, international Registered Traveler program, traveler taxes, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (new passport rules), the Model Ports of Entry Program, and visa processing and the Visa Waiver Program.
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NYLO Brand Plans Second Dallas-area Facility
NYLO Hotels, which just opened its first property, located in Plano, TX, is preparing to break ground on its second, nearby in Irving — about 10 minutes from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 15 minutes from downtown Dallas. The upscale NYLO Las Colinas is expected to attract business in the market for high-end conventions, meetings and conferences that is developing in the area, as well as attract business travelers coming to the city's growing community of corporate headquarters.
When the Las Colinas property opens in February 2009, there will already be a NYLO in Warwick, RI. A fourth is scheduled to open in Broomfield, CO, in April 2009.
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NYLO Launches Another Brand, And A Franchise Business
NYLO Hotels, which opened its first property late last year, has unveiled a brand extension called XP by NYLO. The spin-off brand caters to business travelers looking for “mid-priced lodgings with unique design and enhanced amenities,” says NYLO. Each property will feature NYLO’s signature urban-loft design, the lobby as gathering place and high-tech amenities. Rates will be $90 to $110 per night. With strategic partner and equity investor Lehman Brothers, NYLO says it will build XP hotels in “high-demand business markets across the country,” but outside city centers, near major roads, airports and office complexes.
NYLO also announced that franchise opportunities are now available for its core brand, NYLO Hotels, as well for its new brand extension, XP by NYLO. The company says it also will continue to own, develop and manage hotels.
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Omni Hotels Unveils Mobile Web Site
Omni Hotels has launched a brand-wide web site that gives guests access to hotel information from any web-enabled mobile device. The site can be used to book a reservation, get hotel information, view special offers and check in before they arrive. In the coming months, Omni plans to have additional services accessible through the mobile web site, enabling guests to gather more extensive information about amenities and make requests from the hotel during their stay (Omni recently announced the piloting of online room service at the Omni Mandalay Hotel just outside Dallas).
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Omni Implements Online Services At Dallas Hotel
Omni Hotels is piloting GBCblue’s Orion system at the Omni Mandalay in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The system enables the hotel to provide a variety of online services such as room service ordering, valet service, baggage retrieval, comment cards and housekeeping requests. The first phase of Orion, launched late last year, was the deployment of the online room service ordering. Guests at the hotel enter the system via their laptops.
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Orbitz Survey: Biz Travelers Lukewarm About In-flight Cell Phone Use
Orbitz for Business found in its January survey that 57 percent of business travelers oppose cell phone usage in-flight, if it is ever approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission. “Many travelers feel it would be hard to rest with the person next to them talking on a cell phone,” says Dean Sivley, general manager of Orbitz for Business. When asked if they would take less convenient or more costly flights in order to get Wi-Fi service, only 8 percent said yes. Fifty-six percent said it was not a necessity; 36 percent said they would try to get a flight with Wi-Fi available but wouldn’t be bothered if it weren’t.
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Orbitz Travel Experts Launch Information Blog
Orbitz said it has launched a travel blog that “leverages the knowledge and expertise of Orbitz's in-house team of travel experts.” Visitors to the blog can find regularly updated information, along with photos and videos. Orbitz says each post is categorized and easily accessible so visitors can find information on a specific topic or browse and read posts of interest. Travelers can also receive regular updates from the blog by subscribing to an RSS feed.
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Orbitz Worldwide Adds Spain's NH Hoteles To Inventory
Orbitz Worldwide has reached a distribution agreement with Madrid-based NH Hoteles to make its inventory available to Orbitz.com, CheapTickets, ebookers.com and HotelClub. NH Hoteles has 341 hotels, primarily in Europe, but it also has a presence in South America and Africa. The inventory includes the Italian chain Jolly Hotels, which was purchased by NH Hoteles last year.
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Palazzo Opens In Las Vegas
Las Vegas Sands has opened the $1.9 billion Palazzo Las Vegas, a 50-story hotel on the Strip with 3,000 suites, high-end shopping, fine dining and entertainment. Celebrity chefs Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Charlie Trotter and Wolfgang Puck have opened restaurants at the Palazzo.
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PHH-GECC Merger Terminated By Pressure In Mortgage Market
PHH Corp. has terminated its $1.8 billion merger agreement with General Electric Capital Corp. (GECC), saying The Blackstone Group, a private equity company, could not obtain financing to acquire its mortgage business. GECC and Blackstone had agreed on March 15, 2007 to acquire PHH Corp.; part of the agreement was that GECC would sell the mortgage business to Pearl Mortgage Acquisition 2 L.L.C., immediately following the close of the merger. Pearl Mortgage is and affiliate of Blackstone.
The acquisition was thrown into doubt on Sept. 17, when Blackstone said it might have a financing shortfall of up to $750 million amid a recent tightening in credit markets. PHH says it called off the sale because it had not been completed by December 31, as stipulated by the agreement, and is seeking a $50 million termination fee from Blackstone.
PHH Mortgage, which formerly did business as Cendant Mortgage, is among the top 10 originators of residential mortgage loans in the US. PHH Arval, the fleet management business unit, accounts for more than two-thirds of company sales.
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Pinnacle Purchases Preferred Share From Northwest
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. has purchased its Class A Preferred Share from Northwest Airlines Corp. for $20 million. The purchase is in accordance with the airline service agreement reached last year between Pinnacle and Northwest. “This is the last step in the process of becoming independent that began with our IPO in 2003,” says Philip Trenary, Pinnacle's president and CEO. “We remain firmly committed to Northwest Airlines, our largest customer.” Pinnacle, which operates regional flights for Northwest, has a contract with Northwest that runs through 2017.
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Playa Acquires Five Properties From AMResorts
Playa Hotels & Resorts, a private equity fund formed last year by Spanish company Grupo Barcelo, has closed on the purchase of five resorts operated and branded by AMResorts. The resorts, located throughout Mexico and the Dominican Republic, are Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun, Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa, Dreams Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa, Sunscape Puerto Aventuras Riviera Maya and Dreams Punta Cana Resort & Spa. Playa has committed to spend more than $25 million over the next 12 months to upgrade the five properties, which will retain their AMResorts branding and management.
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Priceline Renews Deal With Worldspan
Priceline.com and Travelport GDS have reached a new, long-term agreement under which Priceline will process reservations through the Worldspan GDS. Terms of the agreement were not announced. Worldspan has been Priceline’s GDS partner since the travel web site launched 10 years ago.
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Prime Numbers Adds Grading, New Metrics To Benchmarking Service
Prime Numbers Technology has released version 1.1 of its Travel GPA, a comprehensive real-time travel database providing benchmarking services to travel management companies (TMCs) and corporate travel departments (CTDs).
The enhanced Travel GPA provides more in-depth, real-time industry benchmarking utilizing advanced patent-pending algorithms to produce the Travel GPA Report Card based on user-defined goals and metrics. Among the new metrics: number of preferred contracts by category (air, car and hotel); contract compliance measurement; and a carbon foot print gauge based upon number or airline miles flown.
"All of these new features were added at the request of our clients," states Rock Blanco, president of Prime Numbers. "Competitive information is powerful and our partners told us that they needed to know how they ranked against their peers in terms of total contracts as well as their environmental impact, version 1.1 provides this information in an easy to use format."
Since August of 2007, several TMCs have participated in the beta test of Travel GPA, also providing aggregate travel data on hundreds of corporations to build the foundation of the benchmarking database.
Travel GPA Report Card provides three grades to measure performance; Goal Metrics GPA, Industry Benchmark GPA and an overall Travel GPA. "We analyze and benchmark all aspects of the travel spend including air, car rental, and hotel average cost expenditures, and top airline markets and carrier comparisons," explains Blanco. "Your overall grade point average gives you a rating in each category allowing you to make the best business decisions to move forward."
TMCs and CTDs can participate in the analysis for a small annual fee and are able to upload data to the system and run an unlimited number of Report Cards, change benchmark settings and performance indicators.
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PrivatAir Orders Second Dreamliner For Charter Fleet
PrivatAir S.A. has order its second Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, citing an "ever-increasing demand from charter customers for long-range, large-cabin aircraft." The plane is due for delivery in 2016. The order will complement PrivatAir’s existing Boeing fleet which already includes a 767, a 757, a BBJ2 and two BBJ1s – all configured for either VIP or business-class-only use. The fleet will be further boosted by the arrival of PrivatAir’s first Boeing 787-8, which is due to be delivered in 2012.
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PublicRoutes Eases Navigation Around NYC
PublicRoutes Eases Navigation Around NYC
PublicRoutes.com, the international web resource for public transportation and driving directions, has begun working with NewYork.com by providing directions for tourists and visitors to the city. PublicRoutes.com technology appears on the NewYork.com site, helping visitors to quickly find their way around New York City using all modes of transportation available.
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Pure Budget Hotel Brand Gets Unexpected Boost In Costa Rica
The Hotel Pure line of managed properties has added a second property, Las Palmas Inn, located in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. Pure is a subsidiary of Oriens Travel and Hotel Management Corp. According to Ken Chua, president and CEO of Oriens, the new contract may mean a rewrite of the company's business plan for 2008, giving more emphasis to expanding its line of budget hotels in Costa Rica.
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Qdrivium Unveils Limo Billing Tool To Smooth Varied Fare Structures
Qdrivium has launched what it calls an “advanced pricing engine” for its online car service billing solution for clients who offer black car or limo services for their employees. Qdrivium notes that most corporate clients have multiple car companies servicing their account, all calculating fares differently. With the new pricing engine, Qdrivium says, clients can now uphold pricing terms using multiple rate books, different zone structures and different zone border definitions used by black car and limo companies.
The company estimates that the tool can save companies 15 percent from unsubstantiated or incorrect calculations of car service charges.
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Radius Travel and Transport Acquires New England's Abacus Travel
Radius Travel and Transport, a travel management company headquartered in Omaha, Neb., has acquired Abacus Travel in Peabody, MA (about 15 miles north of Boston). Abacus also has offices in Plainville and Worcester, MA, and Manchester, NH. Abacus has 100 employees serving 450 businesses in the US.
The acquisition gives Travel and Transport a stronger East Coast presence and a brick-and-mortar location to support the company’s on-site locations, says CEO Bill Tech. At the completion of the acquisition, Abacus Travel will assume the Travel and Transport name.
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Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Reopens After $160 Million Renovation
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua on the Hawaiian island of Maui has reopened following a $160 million renovation. The hotel had been closed since July. The 463 guest rooms and suites now feature dark wood floors, all new furnishings, travertine bathrooms and Hawaiian print artwork framed with Koa wood. Guest rooms also have LCD flat-screen televisions, iPod docking stations, DVD players and wireless Internet access. The new full-ownership residential suites, which will be available to hotel guests, offer kitchen areas and spacious living rooms, which will be available to hotel guests. The resort's spa will open in May.
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Ritz-Carlton Opens In New York’s Westchester County
The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester has opened in White Plains, NY, a city 23 miles northeast of New York. The 118-room hotel is amidst corporate office buildings and within walking distance from the White Plains train station and its 32-minute express trains to Manhattan. The hotel has a ballroom that can accommodate up to 500 guests and a spa with rooftop indoor pool. Room amenities and services include 42-inch TVs, DVD players, wireless Internet, iPod docking stations and twice-daily housekeeping. Chef Laurent Tourondel has opened a BLT, or Bistro Laurent Tourondel, at the hotel. The hotel is flanked by the two towers of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, which house 185 residences.
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RockResorts Opens Vail Property
RockResorts has opened the Arrabelle at Vail Square in Vail, CO. The ski resort has 36 luxury hotel rooms and 66 condominiums that are based on the Biedermeier design style, an early 19th century German and Austrian art. The resort's mountainside restaurant, Centre V, is a French-inspired brasserie. Meeting facilities at the Arrabelle feature a 2,622-square-foot ballroom that can be split evenly into two rooms, four additional meeting rooms and pre-function space.
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Rosewood Resort Opens In Mexico
The Rosewood Mayakoba, located on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the Riviera Maya region, has opened. The 128-suite luxury hotel overlooks a Greg Norman-designed golf course; 120 of the guest rooms sit on small islands in Mayakoba’s network of lagoons. Each room has its own dock, where a lancha, a teakwood boat with a thatched roof, arrives to transport guests to the beach, spa or restaurant.
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Runzheimer Study: Car Rentals 9 Percent Of Corporate Travel Costs
According to Runzheimer's 2007 Car Rental Negotiation Survey, car rental costs represent approximately 9 percent of total travel and entertainment costs, with the largest group of respondents spending between $125,000 and $500,000 per year and renting an average of 21,158 cars annually. Eighty-three percent of respondent organizations negotiate with car rental companies on a nationwide basis, with most discounts ranging from 16 percent to 25 percent below published rates. Nearly three-fourths of respondents reported having contracts with two car rental companies and most often receive collision and loss damage waivers at discounted rates or no charge. Concessions such as unlimited mileage, upgrades and premium club memberships are a negotiation tactic that has proven successful, says Runzheimer.
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Ryanair Increases Checked-Baggage Charges
Ryanair has increased the fees for checked baggage and airport check-in, in what the airline calls its “continued drive to encourage passengers to travel without checked in bags and avail [themselves] of Ryanair’s online check-in.” Ryanair’s checked-baggage fee has increased from 5 pounds to 6 pounds per bag; the airport check-in fee has increased from 2 pounds to 3 pounds.
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Scandic To Open Business Hotel In Moscow
In partnership with furniture mega-store IKEA, Scandic is planning to build a 300-room hotel in Khimki Business Park in Moscow. The hotel, which is scheduled for completion in 2010, is the first step in Scandic’s Russian expansion. The property will have 300 guest rooms, conference facilities, restaurants and a fitness center. IKEA runs Khimki Business Park, where one of its furniture stores is located, and the nearby MEGA shopping center. IKEA will build and own the hotel, and Scandic will operate it.
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Sentient Jet Acquires Aircraft Management Firm
Sentient Jet Holdings has bought The Air Group, an aircraft management company based in Van Nuys, CA. The acquisition expands Sentient's presence in the Southern California market. The Air Group will be an operating subsidiary of Sentient and will continue to offer aircraft management and aircraft charter services. The Air Group's current management team, including president Jon Winthrop, will continue to lead operations in Van Nuys.
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SGTP Plans Spring Conference
The Society of Government Travel Professionals will hold its annual conference on February 6-8 at the Hilton Mark Center in Alexandria, VA. Topics to be included in the sessions include an EPA presentation on government requirements for travel and how to meet green standards; Department of Labor on contract labor requirements and calculations; and responding to government hotel RFPs.
Registration is online at www.sgtp.org.
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Shandong Airlines Joins UATP
Shandong Airlines, a Chinese carrier, has joined the Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) network as a merchant. Shandong now accepts all UATP corporate cards and is a part of the UATP global payment network.
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Shangri-La Has Two Shanghai Hotels In The Works
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts will open two luxury hotels in Shanghai in 2011. The hotels will be the focal points of the Jing An Kerry Centre, a new business, retail, entertainment, dining and conference complex in the city's Jing An District.
The 347-room Jing An Shangri-La, Shanghai will open in mid-2011. The hotel will occupy the top 24 floors of a 58-story building, with the lower floors comprising restaurants, offices and retail shops. The 600-room Shangri-La Jing An Kerry Centre Hotel, to open at the end of 2011, will be modeled on the group's Kerry Centre Hotel in Beijing. Guests on the 116-room Horizon Club floors will have access to a spacious club lounge with its own bar, with express check-in and check-out and complimentary breakfast and cocktails. Both hotels will overlook a central courtyard featuring pathways, gardens and al fresco dining.
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Silverjet To Build New Lounge In Newark
Silverjet, an all-premium-class airline operating service between Newark and London Luton airports, intends to construct a private lounge at Newark. Scheduled to open later this year, the facility will be nearly triple in size of the current lounge, says Silverjet, and will provide an exclusive, curb-side entrance for customers. Features will include valet parking, concierge service and a dining area serving gourmet meals.
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Singapore Airlines Sets March 18 For Inaugural A380 Flight
Singapore Airlines will fly the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, on the daily Singapore-London Heathrow route, starting March 18, after the airline takes delivery of its third A380 into its fleet. The inaugural flight is also the first-ever A380 commercial service to Europe. The Singapore Airlines A380 seats 471 passengers in three classes: 12 in Singapore Airlines Suites, 60 in business class and 399 in coach.
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SITA Bolsters Travelsky’s GDS Technology
China’s main GDS provider, Travelsky Technology, has chosen SITA to make major improvements to its technology platform, including the installation of a disaster-recovery data center in Beijing as the country gears up for the 2008 Olympic Games. Airlines around the world are expected to increase the number of flights arriving in Beijing by over 70 percent during the Olympic Games. SITA is a provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the air transport industry.
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SkyTeam Carriers Begin Co-location Transition In Mexico City
SkyTeam carriers Aeroméxico and Delta Air Lines will co-locate at Terminal 2 in Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) Mexico City effective January 15. Later this year, Continental Airlines and SkyTeam Associate Copa Airlines will join them there. This co-location will offer self-service check-in kiosks, airtrain transportation for connections and aircoaches for those who have less time between connecting flights.
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StarCite To Promote Meetings Business In Korea
StarCite, a provider of meetings-related technology and services, has entered into an agreement with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to launch a marketing campaign to promote meeting, incentive and group travel in Korea. StarCite's destination marketing team collaborated for 12 months with the Korea Tourism Organization to develop the “Korea, Sparkling MICE Destination” campaign aimed at developing the meetings and incentive travel segments. The KTO's traditional destination marketing campaign will be coupled with StarCite technology to attract meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition business to the country. StarCite will promote Korea on the StarCite Online Marketplace.
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Starwood Agrees To Sell Three Hotels In Italy
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has signed a binding agreement to sell three hotels in Italy to EST Capital for 156 million euros, or approximately $229 million. Under the agreement, EST Capital would acquire the Westin Excelsior and the Hotel Des Bains in Venice Lido and the Villa Cipriani in Asolo, plus some office, retail and storage facilities. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Starwood is in talks with EST regarding Starwood’s continued management of the Lido hotels.
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Starwood Opens Sheraton Resort In The Bahamas
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has completed the Sheraton Cable Beach Resort in Nassau, the Bahamas. The resort features an array of dining options as well as more than 25,000 square feet of meeting space. The Sheraton, along with the Wyndham Nassau, offer 1,544 guest rooms at the Cable Beach resort area.
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Staybridge's First Outdoor Living Model To Open In Alabama
When Montgomery, AL, gets its first Staybridge Suites this spring, it will also be the first to offer the brand's new Outdoor Living Room Concept. That includes comfortable, all-weather teak furniture; resort-inspired landscaping (including three oversized date palm trees imported from Arizona); an outdoor stacked-stone fireplace with semi-circular seating; and multi-level garden trellises with ceiling fans. The $13 million property will offer 92 suites, ranging from studio to two-bedroom sizes. The hotel will also feature an outdoor swimming pool, sports court and 12-seat home theater.
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Super 8 China Exceeds Development Goal
Super 8 China says it has exceeded its 2007 development projection of 120 properties open or under construction by the end of 2007, due to “continued strong growth in domestic demand for branded economy lodging in China.” Super 8 China now has 124 properties either open or under construction in China; 65 properties are open.
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Supertel Hospitality Expands Holdings In Kentucky
Supertel Hospitality, a real estate investment trust that owns 125 hotels in the limited-service, economy and economy extended-stay sectors, has completed the acquisition of 10 hotels Musselman for a combined purchase price of approximately $21.8 million. The franchise brands and locations of the hotels include:
* Days Inn Hotels in Sioux Falls, SD, and Ashland and Glasgow, KY.
* Comfort Inns in Brooks and Glasgow, KY.
* Comfort Suites in Louisville, KY.
* Quality Inn in Cave City, KY.
* Sleep Inn in Louisville, KY.
* Super 8 in Green Bay, WI.
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Swiss-Belhotel Opens Oman Property
Swiss-Belhotel International has opened its sixth hotel in 14 months in the Middle East, the Sohar Beach by Swiss-Belhotel in Oman. The resort is a rebranding of the former Sohar Beach Resort. Last July, the Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait became the first hotel in the Middle East for the brand. Swiss-Belhotel went on to secure properties in Jordan, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab later in 2007.
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Synxis Provides Distribution Technology To Shangri-La
Synxis, the Sabre Holdings business that provides hotel distribution and Internet marketing services, has announced that Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has chosen Synxis as its long-term distribution partner. Shangri-La properties will use the RedX Distribution Management System to distribute inventory to the GDS channel.
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TACA Places $1 Billion Aircraft Order
TACA, the national airline of El Salvador, has ordered 12 A320s and three A319s from Airbus in a deal worth $1 billion. TACA will begin receiving plane deliveries by 2011.
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Travelocity Contracts To Sell Las Vegas Monorail Tickets
The Las Vegas Monorail Company has inked a distribution agreement with Travelocity. Travelers can now purchase monorail tickets through the Travelocity call center and on Travelocity.com, TravelocityOnLocation.com and ShowTickets.com. Fares will be available as stand-alone purchases or as add-ons for customers booking vacation packages to Las Vegas.
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Travelocity Introduces Application For iPhone Users
Travelocity has launched a web application that enables iPhone and iPod Touch users to manage their Travelocity itineraries by getting up-to-the-minute information on flight status, wait times at TSA security points, local weather, maps, traffic and airport driving directions via a Safari browser.
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Travelport Consolidates GDS Operations
Travelport GDS, which operates Galileo and Worldspan, will consolidate operations in Atlanta, which is currently Worldspan's headquarters city. Galileo operations in Rosemont, IL; Parsippany, NJ; and Denver will move to Atlanta. “The consolidation of our business and primary data center into a North American GDS headquarters is a significant step in building upon synergies across our pre-existing Galileo business and the recently acquired Worldspan business,” says Gordon Wilson, CEO and president of Travelport GDS.
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Trump Property Set To Open In Chicago
The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago is scheduled to open on January 30. The Tower features 286 one-, two- and three-bedroom suites; a spa and 53 spa guest rooms will be unveiled later this year. The property also will have 486 residences, meeting facilities and a Sixteen restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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Trust International Upgrades Trust|Voyager GRS
Trust International, a global provider of technology and distribution solutions for the hospitality industry, has launched a new version of its CRS Trust|Voyager. The main feature of the new release is additional flexibility in linking rates, as well as a new treatment of auto-calculated lowest available rates (LAR). Other enhancements include new features for the hotels display in the GDSs, e.g. in the total pricing module, and greater distribution opportunities with Trust's direct connect channels through extended rate displays.
The upgrades enhance Trust|Voyager's ease of use by offering various options for managing inventory and monitoring a property's status and room/rate categories. The interface to customer relationship management(CRM) systems allows the import of customer profile data into the reservation process of the CRS, saving time and effort.
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TSA Bans Spare Lithium Batteries From Checked Baggage
Airline passengers can no longer carry spare lithium batteries - extra batteries not installed on devices - in checked baggage. Spare lithium batteries may be packed in carry-on baggage and lithium batteries installed in a device may be packed in either checked or carry-on, as long as the battery is installed in the device. The new Travel Security Administration ruling became effective January
While there is no explosion hazard associated with either kind of battery, FAA studies have revealed that they are extremely flammable. Fires in one type of lithium battery, most often used in cameras, cannot be extinguished with firefighting agents normally carried on aircraft.
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TSA Launches A Blog
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has started an interactive blog called Evolution of Security, open to travelers to share their ideas, thoughts and concerns about aviation security. The TSA will post videos, concepts and other tools while charting feedback. The blog’s first entry is from TSA administrator Kip Hawley, but a group of TSA employees from around the agency will moderate and contribute to the blog.
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United & Its Pilots Dispute Cause Of 1,100 Canceled Holiday Flights
United Airlines, which has canceled more than 1,100 flights since December 23, including nearly 60 on January 2, has blamed the cancellations on bad weather in Chicago and Denver. Its pilots have cited inadequate staffing. According to Mark Bathurst, chairman of the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, “United’s management made a feeble attempt to shift the blame to weather for what is becoming an annual debacle — flight cancellations due to crew shortages when recovering from bad weather.
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US Airways Recalls Flight Attendants
US Airways is recalling more than 200 flight attendants, effective February 15. The airline says it is “ramping up for the busy summer schedule and compensating for retirement and attrition.” Recalled flight attendants will be assigned across five crew member bases at Boston Logan, Charlotte, Washington-Reagan, New York-LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports.
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Varig To Cut Three Long-Haul Flights
Varig, the former flag carrier of Brazil now owned by Gol Airlines, will cease operations of direct flights to London as of March 1, and to Frankfurt and Rome on March 29.
Beginning in March, Varig will focus its long-haul services from Brazil to Europe on two destinations — Paris and Madrid — offering connections to other cities through partner Air France-KLM, Air Europa and Iberia. Within Brazil, Gol says, a new route network has been conceived for Varig in order to provide business customers with “adequate schedules and frequency.
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Virgin Atlantic To Test Biofueled Boeing 747
Virgin Atlantic plans to fly one of its Boeing 747s on biofuel during a demonstration flight in February. It will be the first time that a commercial aircraft has run biofuel in-flight and is part of a major initiative among some airlines and Boeing to discover sources of sustainable aircraft fuel for the future.
The Virgin Atlantic 747 will fly from London Heathrow to Amsterdam on a demonstration flight, with no passengers on board, using a truly sustainable type of biofuel that doesn't compete with food and fresh water resources. The flight, in conjunction with Boeing and engine maker GE Aviation, is part of Virgin Atlantic's drive to reduce its environmental impact wherever possible. The demonstration forms part of Virgin Atlantic's vision for what the aviation industry can achieve by using clean-fuel technology to reduce carbon emissions.
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Westin Sohna Resort Opens Near Delhi
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has opened its first Westin property in India, The Westin Sohna Resort, about 90 minutes from the New Delhi International Airport. It is the first of several Westin hotels set to open India, according to Stephen Ford, Starwood's regional vice president for India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Resort can serve "as a refreshing, innovative venue for meetings and conferences," notes the company. Although in a rural setting, the resort offers 97 deluxe rooms and stand-alone suites, the Heavenly Spa by Westin, four distinctive restaurants and more than 70,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.
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Westin’s First Property In India Makes Debut
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of its first Westin property in India, the Westin Sohna Resort. The 97-room resort is a 90-minute drive from New Delhi International Airport. The property has four restaurants and more than 70,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.
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Wyndham Announces First Wingate New-Build
Wyndham Hotel Group has opened its first newly constructed Wingate by Wyndham hotel, a 99-room property in Henderson, NV. The hotel is the first Wingate to be built since the Wingate brand affiliated with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts last May. The Wingate by Wyndham Henderson has 3,000 square feet of meeting space, 24-hour fitness and business centers and an outdoor heated pool.
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ZACK Corporate Housing Offering Homes In Kitsap County
ZACK Corporate Housing is offering short- and long-term home rentals in Kitsap County, WA, which is headquarters to many government and private businesses. All are located in Silverdale and Bremerton, with easy accessibility to downtown Bremerton, Harrison Hospital, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bangor Base.
Each home has a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, fireplace, high speed Internet, premium cable, TVs and DVD players. Weekly housekeeping is provided, as well as modern furnishings, personalized service and community gatherings. Many of the homes feature water and mountain views.
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