Business Travel News October 27, 2008 - (Page 14)

LODGING Sonesta To Add U.S. Franchises BY MICHAEL B. BAKER The upscale Sonesta International Hotels Corp. is on track to become a bigger player in the corporate travel market as it embarks on an aggressive growth plan, begins courting domestic franchising opportunities and readies for the launch of a new rewards program. To aid in its growth, the Bostonbased Sonesta in September brought in a new vice president of development, Philip Silberstein, who has spent the past 15 years in that role for Carlson Hotels. Silberstein said Sonesta now is poised to grow from its present 27 locations. “Our development efforts in the past few years have not yielded the results the company hoped for,” Silberstein said. “I’m being brought in to jumpstart that effort.” Silberstein said Sonesta properties could double during the next 10 years, although he has no specific goal. The growing popularity of boutique-style hotels (BTNonline, Sept. 8) would aid development, he said. New properties will continue to fit SONESTA’S PHILIP SILBERSTEIN within upscale and upper upscale Jumpstarting hotel brand growth tiers, but the Sonesta brand does not carry rigid design standards. “Market conditions dictate our In BTN’s 2008 Business Travel standards,” he said. “We’re less of a Survey, Sonesta reported 75 percent cookie-cutter brand and more of a of its business as corporate travel. unique, softer brand. I’d like to think While regional offices handle group that when you’ve seen one Sonesta, sales activity, Sonesta for about you’ve seen one Sonesta.” three years has had a sales managSonesta currently has only four er dedicated specifically to transient U.S. properties open—one in Mia- corporate travel, Silberstein said. mi, two in New Orleans and one in The manager solicits accounts, hanBoston—and has others opening dles consortiums, works with hotels soon in Miami and Orlando, Fla. Sil- and makes sure requests for proposberstein is keeping a close eye on als receive responses. “Commercial other markets of opportunity. travel obviously is a major market “Typically, I would for all of our hotels.” say city center and ur- Access BTN’s 2008 Other plans include ban locations,” Silber- U.S. Hotel Chain Survey introducing a loyalty see btnonline.com/hotelsurvey stein said. “Clearly, our program next year, Silstrength is the Eastern Seaboard berstein said. Called the Sonesta and the Caribbean, but that doesn’t Travel Pass, the program will cenrule out any opportunities that might ter more around rewarding travelbe available in other markets.” ers with perks—early checkin, late Sonesta soon will begin to court departure, welcome amenities and franchise agreements for U.S. prop- upgrades—rather than a traditional erties. The company currently fran- points-accrual system, he said. chises properties in Brazil, Peru and ■ mbaker@btnonline.com ■ the Caribbean but has not yet done so in the United States, Silberstein said. The company plans to be out to market by the end of the first quarter of 2009, though Silberstein said the focus would be on quality. “The franchise program is not meant to open the floodgates and immediately add 30 new hotels. We will be very selective,” Silberstein said. “Be they owned, managed, leased or franchised, the hotels must adhere to our quality experience.” SLOWDOWN AHEAD FOR ASIA/PAC HOTEL DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE CHECKING IN The Asia/Pacific region should see 828 new hotels with 134,673 rooms open this year, with an additional 1,304 hotels with 311,203 rooms to open in the following two years, according to a pipeline report for the region that research firm Lodging Econometrics released this month. After the first half of this year, Asia/Pacific had a record 2,226 projects in the works and 60 percent of those already are under construction, according to the report. That activity made the region the second largest in hotel development, following the United States. Looking further ahead, Lodging Econometrics forecast that the Asia/Pacific pipeline will contract in coming years. The pace at which projects are moving from planning to construction is slowing, construction starts are down 45 percent compared with the end of 2007 and new project announcements are down 68 percent from that period, the report indicated. BUT U.A.E. TO SEE ‘ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME’ HOTEL BOOM Hotel supply in the United Arab Emirates is expected to double through 2010 thanks to what Lodging Econometrics calls “a once-in-alifetime development surge”in its recently released pipeline report for the Middle East. In all, 53 percent of the region’s 556 projects and 61 percent of the 164,259 rooms in the pipeline are in the U.A.E, and 80 percent of that is happening in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dubai’s pipeline alone, at 162 projects and 59,950 rooms, is bigger than any other global city, according to the report. Overall, the Middle East pipeline has not been as affected by credit and economic woes as most of the rest of the world, but an impact could begin by year-end, the report indicated. CARLSON SEEKS TO INCREASE REZIDOR STAKE Carlson Cos. president and CEO Hubert Joly this month announced that, depending on market conditions, the company plans to acquire additional shares of the Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel Group, which has a portfolio of almost 350 hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa operating under Carlson’s Radisson SAS, Regent, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites brands. Carlson has filed notification of its intended move with the European Commission, which must approve the transaction. Carlson currently owns more than 40 percent of Rezidor’s shares. HILTON TO BULK UP PRESENCE IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE Hilton Hotels Corp. this moth increased its signings for new hotels in continental Europe to 13 with three new long-term agreements to bring its properties to Poland, Italy and Russia. The deals will bring a Doubletree by Hilton to Perm, Russia—where Hilton recently also opened a Hilton Garden Inn, the first of the brand in the country— and Hilton Garden Inn properties to Treviso, Italy, and Warsaw, Poland. INTERCONTINENTAL TO BRING INDIGO TO ASIA/PACIFIC InterContinental Hotels Group on Oct. 16 announced that it is bringing its Hotel Indigo brand to the Asia/Pacific region, with projects planned for Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. The brand, IHG’s newest, is the company’s fifth in the region, following the flagship, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brands. Hotel Indigo is positioned in the upscale tier and touts an open design schematic that allows developers to make each one unique. Since opening the first Hotel Indigo in Atlanta in 2004, IHG now has 19 properties in operation and more than 60 in the pipeline. —Michael B. Baker 14 Monday, October 27, 2008 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://www.btnonline.com/hotelsurvey http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News October 27, 2008

Business Travel News- October 27, 2008
Contents
Inside Track
Profiles In Travel Management
BTN Research
Forum
Lodging
Travel Management Tech
Destinations
Washington Wire

Business Travel News October 27, 2008