Kempinski Hotel Muscat appoints first Omani female hotel manager

Kempinski Hotel Muscat has become the first hotel in the Sultanate to employ an Omani female hotel manager. Nadine El Assaad Al Bulushi will now be at the forefront of hotel operations, moving up from her previous role as EAM.

El Assaad brings more than 20 years of experience to her new position, having previously supported the openings of Hyatt Regency Taba, Egypt, and Park Hyatt Dubai, UAE, as part of the opening task force.

In 2006, she became director of revenue and later DOSM with Radisson Hotel Group, supporting the opening of Radisson Blu properties across South Africa. She later moved onto a cluster role as EAM and director of revenue at Radisson Blu Muscat and Sohar.

Speaking about its new hotel manager, Kempinski Hotel Muscat said in a statement: “Her excellence and hard work, during these unprecedented times of the Covid-19 outbreak, even beyond her duties, have been a great inspiration to us all, and her compassion for each employee has proven her truly worthy of this promotion.”

Source

Hyatt Regency West Hanoi Opens in Vietnam

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of Hyatt Regency West Hanoi, the first Hyatt hotel in Hanoi and the third Hyatt hotel in Vietnam. Located in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi's new business district near major sporting and convention venues, Hyatt Regency West Hanoi offers 519 modern guestrooms where business travelers and leisure guests can enjoy seamless and relaxing experiences. Hyatt Regency West Hanoi, which has been rebranded from an existing hotel, has undergone an extensive renovation throughout all guestrooms, public areas, event and meeting spaces, and culinary venues, as well as a redesign of its tranquil landscaped garden.

Convenient Location

Hyatt Regency West Hanoi is situated a few minutes by car from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Convention Center, and various business districts home to global companies, making the property a convenient base for corporate guests. Also located directly next to My Dinh National Stadium and near the Formula One Grand Prix race track, the hotel is an ideal choice for visitors attending major sporting events in Hanoi. In addition, a soon-to-be-completed road will lead directly from the hotel to Ring Road 3, which will provide guests with easy access to the highway and make it easier to visit popular locations in northern Vietnam such as Sapa, Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay.

Refreshed Guestrooms

Spanning two towers, the hotel offers guests a bright, stylish urban retreat with 519 guestrooms, including 114 spacious suites and 129 long-stay rooms with kitchenettes and washing machines. The refreshed interiors feature a contemporary palette with natural wood and marble accents, coupled with modern facilities and floor-to-ceiling windows that allow in natural light and impressive views.

Source

John Burns Appointed Senior Advisor At PROVision Partners in New Smyrna - FL, USA

PROVision Partners ("PROVision"), a leading global travel and hospitality advisory firm, announces the appointment of John Burns as a Senior Advisor. Burns, identified by Lodging Magazine as one of the top ten hospitality experts changing the travel industry, brings over 28 years of consulting expertise to the firm. In his role with Provision Burns will not only support the firm's growth strategy but will also be available as a resource on key engagements.

Burns has performed consulting services on an international basis specializing in assisting chains and independent hotels. He is recognized as a leading expert in planning, assessing, and optimizing core technologies including central reservations, property management, electronic distribution, revenue management, and call centres.

In 2006 Burns was inducted into the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. That same year he also received the International Society of Hospitality Consultants' Pinnacle Award recognizing his expertise as a consultant in his field of specialization. He is active in HEDNA, HFTP, HTNG, and HSMAI.

Source

Vishal Daga Appointed Vice President of Business Development At Capella Hotel Group in Singapore, Singapore

Capella Hotel Group has appointed Vishal Daga as Vice President of Business Development. A proven track record for developing luxury hotel brands including Taj Hotels, Six Senses Hotels & Resorts and Rosewood Hotel Group, Vishal will play an instrumental role in growing Capella Hotel Group's global portfolio of award-winning hotels and resorts.

Vishal joins Capella Hotel Group from Rosewood, where he was most recently the Senior Director of Development for APAC, in charged of sourcing and acquisition of new projects within the region. Prior to this, he spent almost ten years with Six Senses; joining as a Development & Corporate Finance Manager before being promoted to Corporate Director of Development with the primary responsibility of negotiating agreements with owners, investors and developrs to expand the company's portfolio. Nicholas Clayton, CEO of Capella Hotel Group, said, "We are delighted to welcome Vishal to the team. 2020 has been an important year for the development and growth of our brands. Vishal's substantial experience, coupled with his passion for pursuing excellence, will only further our efforts to be the undisputed service leader in each of our destinations."

Capella Hotels and Resorts was recently voted No. 2 Hotel Brand in the World.[1] Their global expansion plans are on track; the highly-anticipated Capella Bangkok opened in October this year, featuring expansive suites and villas overlooking the Chao Phraya River, as well as three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco's first foray into Asia. Also set to unveil in December 2020 is Capella Hanoi, a Bill Bensley-designed boutique hotel with 47 individually-styled suites that celebrate Opera In the Roaring Twenties. Next year, Capella Hotel Group will be launching a new sophisticated lifestyle brand - Patina Hotels & Resorts. Patina Maldives, Fari Islands will be the first opening, with properties in Ubud, Bali, Sanya, China, and Osaka, Japan also in development.

Source

RedDoorz Announces the Launch of SANS – a Trendy, Design-Inspired New Hotel Brand

RedDoorz, today announced the launch of SANS Hotels, a trendy, economy lifestyle hotel brand as part of its strategy to build the largest new-age hospitality company in Southeast Asia. The launch signals RedDoorz's new vision to become an ecosystem of various accommodation products, each backed by distinct brands and catering to the different needs of consumers, from no-frills budget stays to more premium, design-inspired experiences and even extended stays offering.

Hotel and accommodation partners will now be able to expand their business by leveraging the new products, RedDoorz's user base and its technology which enables them to easily access modules for distribution channels, revenue management, payments and operations.

SANS, a name derived from the Indonesian word "santai" whichroughly translates to "chill", aims to provide a vibrant and cosy stay experience at a low cost. Properties under the new brand will feature trendy furnishings and amenities, and are intended for consumers who value stylish comfort and modern design without having to pay a hefty price.

Source

Raffles Hotels & Resorts releases white paper, Answering the Desire for Wellness in Luxury Travel

Paris - Well-being and all that it encompasses has become, now more than ever, an essential part of the overall travel experience, moving from megatrend to leading expectation as consumers worldwide seek to advance their health, mindfulness and peace of mind. With societal habits shifting and wellness taking on new and farther-reaching meaning in response to the global pandemic, the desire and need for wellness and its positive effects cannot be understated.

Serenity, harmony, relaxation, recovery and pleasure are the pursuits of well-being that fuel and rejuvenate luxury travellers globally. They are also the touchstones for wellness at Raffles Hotels & Resorts and the inspiration for the brand's white paper, Answering the Desire for Wellness in Luxury Travel.

The area of wellness has grown from grassroots movement to core framework and is now considered an essential practice that promises longevity, physical and mental health, and social well-being. According to a recent report by the Wellness Tourism Association (WTA), 44% of travellers are looking to the wellness segment for their next trip, once they return to travelling. The most important reason for taking a wellness vacation, according to 38% of travellers is "to return to everyday life feeling rejuvenated". In 2020, the importance of nature and spending time in the outdoors has been reinforced as a key pillar of wellness vacations.

Source

Angie Hospitality Demonstrates Contactless, Smart Hotel Technologies at Cyber HITEC

Angie Hospitality® by Nomadix, the leading provider of voice-activated and contactless technology solutions for hotels, today announced it will demonstrate its new touchless technologies, including its in-room assistants, casting, PBX and mobile guest apps, at Cyber HITEC October 27-29, 2020, in the Clean to Cleaner Pavilion booth #829.

The Angie Hospitality team will be on hand to introduce a host of new products and answer questions about how to make guests feel safe while providing additional conveniences, and how to cut costs while optimizing hotel services.

Product Demos:

Voice-Enabled Assistants: Angie's 24-hour multilingual guest room assistants help fulfill guest requests, answer common questions about the hotel and nearby attractions and provide a seamless, next-generation hotel experience. These devices upgrade outdated equipment, including alarm clocks and phones, and improve the guest experience. The devices can also offer smart hotel functionality to control lighting, change TV channels and adjust the thermostat.

Angie Casting: Enables guests to easily cast their preferred shows and other content from Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and thousands of other popular streaming apps from their mobile devices onto the in-room TVs. It eliminates the need to touch the remote, the common headache of remembering passwords and the security concerns of logging into public devices.

Angie PBX: Offers a reliable, cost-effective cloud telephone service for hotels and meets the latest emergency calling requirements. Delivered through Angie digital guest room assistants or standard SIP phones, hotels can offer a modern and touchless, voice-enabled experience.

Angie "On-The-Go" App: Personalizes the guest experience, facilitates touchless guest interactions and eliminates contact points, while increasing guest engagement, customer retention and incremental revenue. Offer check-in/check-out, mobile keys and concierge chat capabilities to provide a seamless branded experience from pre-arrival to checkout.

"While we wish we could meet with all of our customers, prospects and partners in person, the health and well-being of our hospitality family comes first," said David Millili, CEO of Angie Hospitality. "My team is looking forward to meeting virtually to help our customers move into recovery."

Source

Claire Van Eeghen Appointed COO At Eden Hotels in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Eden Hotels expands its management. Claire van Eeghen will start this week, on 19 October, as Chief Operation Officer (COO) and in that capacity will be operationally responsible for the hotel group. This new development is in line with Eden Hotels' intended growth strategy, which focuses not only on Dutch cities but also abroad. Van Eeghen studied commercial economics and business economics and previously worked as Director Customer Service Europe at Air France and KLM Cargo. She will be the third board member of the hotel group next to General Manager Léon Dijkstra and Financial Director Joost Peeperkorn.

Commercial and customer service experience Van Eeghen sets to work with the objective of further improving Eden Hotels' customer and quality experience. She has broad commercial and customer service experience, of which the last fourteen years have been with KLM. In her new role at Eden Hotels she manages the General Managers of the hotels and the heads of the expertise teams. In addition to operational management, Van Eeghen will also be responsible for human resources, brand experience, commerce, quality and operations / purchasing. Joost Peeperkorn will be in charge of finance and ICT and will also focus on financing options for further growth of the hotel group.

Source

Herman Kemp Appointed General Manager At Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Hyatt has appointed renowned hospitality professional Herman Kemp as general manager of Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh, the largest internationally branded hotel in the heart of Cambodia's capital.

A Dutch national with extensive experience in Southeast Asia, Kemp will oversee the pre-opening of the 247-room property, which will become the first Hyatt Regency hotel in Cambodia when it opens its doors in the first quarter of 2021.

Kemp brings more than 20 years of hospitality experience to Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh, in a career that has taken him to acclaimed hotels and resorts in The Netherlands, Indonesia and Cambodia. Most recently, he was general manager of Park Hyatt Siem Reap from 2016 to 2019, before relocating last year to lead the new Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh and its team of local talent and hotel Ambassadors.

Source

Salah Hamdan Mohammed Al Mamari Appointed General Manager At Radisson Blu Hotel, Sohar, Oman

Radisson Hotel Group has appointed Salah Hamdan Mohammed Al Mamari as general manager of Radisson Blu Hotel, Sohar, strengthening local employment in the hospitality sector.

Born in Oman, Al Mamari has worked in hospitality since 2004 where he joined the InterContinental Muscat. He was soon offered a position at Crowne Plaza, Muscat as duty manager, before rejoining the InterContinental heading up the front office and rooms division department.

In his new capacity, Al Mamari will lead the entire hotel's management and operations, deploying plans to strengthen the hotel's performance.

Source

Hyatt Announces Plans for First Hyatt Hotel in Cape Town

- Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with South African real estate company, Millat Properties, for the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Cape Town. Hyatt Regency Cape Town, a 137-room hotel, is expected to open in December 2020, bringing the total number of Hyatt-branded hotels across Africa to eight, with two in South Africa. Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with South African real estate company, Millat Properties, to open the first Hyatt hotel in Cape Town. Hyatt Regency Cape Town, a 137-room hotel, is expected to open in December 2020, bringing the total number of Hyatt hotels across Africa to eight, with two in South Africa. The new Hyatt Regency Cape Town will be rebranded from the former Hilton Cape Town City Centre.

Africa, and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, remains a key focus for growth for Hyatt as the continent is experiencing an increasingly favorable business climate, along with consistently heightened tourism. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, international tourist arrivals in Sub-Saharan Africa grew around 6% per year, higher than the global average.[1] Cape Town, in particular, is an attractive destination for both business and leisure travelers alike, with more than five million visitors to Cape Town’s airport[2] each year. The coastal city, which is the second most populated city in South Africa, is an economic hub for business and innovation as well as an attractive destination for leisure travelers with its pristine beaches and lively culture.

“We’re delighted to work with Millat Properties to bring the Hyatt Regency brand to Cape Town,” said Ludwig Bouldoukian, regional vice president of development for the Middle East and Africa, Hyatt. “As a premier destination, Cape Town has been a top goal for us to have a Hyatt hotel, and we believe there is meaningful potential for further growth in South Africa. Hyatt Regency Cape Town is a key element of our strategy to grow thoughtfully in markets where we know our guests are traveling.”

Hyatt Regency Cape Town will bring the Hyatt Regency brand’s signature seamless, personalized service and energizing experiences to business and leisure guests alike. The hotel is situated at the foot of the iconic Table Mountain, one of Cape Town’s most prominent and famous tourist landmarks, bordering the historic Bo-Kaap district with its steep and narrow streets. The vibrant and colorful neighborhood is a popular area for tourists looking to experience South Africa’s rich, multicultural history.

“It is a delight to team up with the Hyatt Regency brand, who is synonymous with a first-class travel experience,” said Hamza Farooqui, chief executive officer of Millat Properties. "Millat will extensively refurbish the hotel – prior to reopening – using renowned international interior designers, LW Design. Knowing Hyatt and Millat share equally high standards around the guest experience, we are delighted to bring the Hyatt Regency brand to life in this iconic location.”

The hotel will feature 137 rooms, including 15 suites, three food and beverage outlets, as well as leisure facilities including a fitness area and an outdoor pool. For corporate guests, the property offers 1,312 square feet (400 square meters) of meeting space as well as an executive lounge.

“The news of a Hyatt-branded property opening within the City of Cape Town is a welcome addition to the tourism sector and is a positive indicator reflecting the travel industry’s road to recovery,” said Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, South African Minister for Tourism. Like many others in our country, Cape Town is truly unique, offering visitors unforgettable experiences with an abundance of natural beauty and attractions to visit. Hyatt Regency Cape Town will be the perfect addition to the hospitality sector in this historic city.” 

The announcement of Hyatt Regency Cape Town follows a significant expansion in Hyatt’s footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa, fueled by the Hyatt Regency brand. Three Hyatt Regency hotels are already open in the sub-Saharan region: Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam and Hyatt Regency Addis Ababa with two more scheduled openings for the Hyatt Regency brand over the next three years: Hyatt Regency Nairobi, Kenya and Hyatt Regency Lagos Ikeja, Nigeria.

Source

Hotel Effie Sandestin Announces Feb. 2021 Opening

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort plans to start 2021 in style with the opening of the new luxury hotel, Hotel Effie Sandestin. Facing setbacks due to COVID-19 that delayed the 2020 opening, Hotel Effie is now confirmed to open February 1, 2021.

Located between the emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee Bay, Hotel Effie was designed to welcome all guests of Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort to an experience that exemplifies genuine southern hospitality and exceptional service wrapped in comfortable luxury. The 250-room hotel features multiple room configurations with thoughtful design and exquisite detail. Taking inspiration from the locale, the fully appointed rooms and suites will welcome guests with a complement of amenities, including an upscale spa, state-of-the-art fitness center, and the only rooftop pool on Florida's Emerald Coast. Add 20,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, to include a 13,000 sq. ft. ballroom, plus all of the unique offerings of the hotel and resort, and Hotel Effie is the perfect setting for a dream wedding, corporate meetings, memorable events and unforgettable vacations.

Source

An Initiative to Train & Certify the Rural Pockets to Boost Rural Tourism amidst Pandemic by NOM

An initiative to educate communities all across rural villages and empower them with various facets of health, hygiene, sustainability, and responsible tourism practices 

India, October 20, 2020: NotOnMap and Help Tourism in association with ICRT India (The International Centre for Responsible Tourism) backed by Booking.com, has come up with an ingenious project, “TraVival”. NotOnMap is a sustainable and Socially-driven initiative that works with an aim to empower local and rural communities. The initiative TraVival has come up at a time when the entire world is struggling to keep up with the pandemic; this project aims to aid rural India to manage the impact of COVID crisis on Travel and Tourism.

The initiative will be coming up with a series of 150+ training videos in over 18 regional languages divided in 12 modules for Homestay owners, Village Panchayats, Teachers/Youth and Women of villages and travelers across India thus covering all stakeholders of ‘Rural Tourism’ in India. The entire training will be kept as open source, free of any expenses and it aims to touch around 1 lac villages in India in next 1 year. The project is an outcome of 3 months of continuous efforts after conducting more than 30 webinars involving over 2000 community members and around 50 organizations from across 17 states in India.

NotOnMap is a sustainable and Socially-driven initiative with an aim to empower local, rural communities by helping them capitalize on their untapped culture and heritage value, realized the need for this in these times for rural pockets and created pool of expert think tanks from industry who came together to conceptualize, design and execute “Project TraVival- Training for Travel Revival” exclusively for Rural communities. Today in these times, when rural pockets of India are dried up economically and socially due to no business, TraVival plans to help in such rural parts categorically with the training for travel revival, and follow the extensive SOP for the COVID-19 prevention while enabling the business to sustain and grow.

Source

Time to explore Areas which are not on the map

To Spend or Not to Spend: What Hoteliers Should Prioritize for a Faster Recovery

While it may, at first, seem tempting for hoteliers to proceed with extreme fiscal caution right now, hoteliers must also consider the long-term, post-pandemic vision. As the industry braces for recovery, those properties which have invested in platforms and technologies that empower them to pivot and innovate traditional touch-points are positioned to thrive. In many respects, the selective investments that hoteliers make now will help to define their path to recovery.

So, the question becomes, how can hotels reduce operating costs in an intelligent manner, while prioritizing technology that ensures a faster recovery?

Out With the Old

It might surprise you to learn that, oftentimes, outdated technology costs hoteliers more money than it saves. Not only are legacy platforms limited in their infrastructure and functionality, but they also boast a variety of hidden costs. Unlike new-age platforms which are cloud-based. maintenance-free and always updated.

The lack of flexibility associated with legacy systems becomes especially problematic when we consider the current circumstances. In the era of COVID-19, flexibility is paramount. Employees should be able to access critical property data anytime, anywhere, without any tech-specific roadblocks. Fortunately, cloud-based technology provides hoteliers with uninhibited access to the digital infrastructure of their hotel, helping to streamline workflows while ensuring that important processes and procedures are always accessible. Even better, cloud-based solutions are notoriously user-friendly and often extremely affordable when compared to the full picture of legacy systems and their associated costs and dysfunction. These platforms can also integrate seamlessly with the tools you already use, creating an optimized 'stack' of critical hotel systems and applications that work together as a cohesive, revenue-generating unit.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE5 Reasons Why Now is the Right Time for Hotels to Switch to a More Modern and Affordable S&C SystemMobility, Automation, and Open APIs are Essential for the PMS of the FutureContactless Technology Partners Share Exclusive Insights In New eBook About Budgeting During A Crisisview all

Full-Featured Platforms

When considering the transition from legacy platform to new-age technology, hoteliers should look for those platforms which offer an impressive portfolio of features. Fortunately, many of the best-in-class sales and catering, PMS and CRM systems on the market today boast 'all-in-on' capabilities.

For hotels looking to maximize occupancy and increase group business through events and meetings, a full-featured sales and catering solution is paramount. With CRM functionality, booking management, streamlined workflows, advanced reporting, and enhanced lead optimization and customer management all within one, user-friendly interface, closing business has never been easier.

Full-featured systems should also offer hoteliers revenue generating insights and capabilities, as hoteliers look to get creative in their bid for guest bookings. Platforms that provide data-backed insights can help hotels pave the way to improved processes and an optimized sales approach.

Focus on Automation and Efficiency

Labor is expensive, but a lack of productivity is even more expensive. Moving forward, hoteliers should focus on platforms which enable increased automation and efficiency across all touch-points. Not only does this help to streamline once tedious and time-consuming operational tasks, but it also empowers hotel staff to focus their attention where it matters most: the guest experience and their safety. This also reveals an opportunity for cross-training staff, which helps to ensure hotel properties have the support they need from staff across all departments.

Of course, in a post-pandemic era, automated technology has become especially valuable to those hotels which are currently operating with reduced staff and resources, while working to maintain brand standards of service. Moreover, as we continue to shift towards a largely 'touchless' future, technology which allows for automated processes and self-service will become the new industry standard. Hotels should look to utilize mobile-first technology, including mobile check-in/out, keyless room entry, mobile chatbots and concierge, mobile payments, and so much more. Not only that, but hoteliers should prioritize those solutions which help to streamline personalization efforts, leveraging guest data to enhance the guest experience both online and offline.

Going Digital

In the wake of COVID-19, hotel properties around the globe have aptly reconsidered and reformatted traditional touch-points and, within guest rooms and lobbies, common high-touch items. Fortunately, from a cost perspective, this is good news. Transitioning printed materials to their digital counterparts can, in the long-term, save hotels money, whilst also reducing their environmental impact.

It's also important to recognize that, in today's day and age (and especially right now), consumers crave a digital experience. Unsurprisingly, hotel guests are no exception. With this in mind, hoteliers should take this time to invest in the virtual experience and resources they offer guests, including website properties, images, virtual tours, mobile booking engines, and more.

Source

Ginger Opens In Kalinganagar, Odisha Now open – 93 Rooms Property

Ginger announces the opening of a new hotel in Kalinganagar, Odisha. The hotel is designed around the brand's lean luxe philosophy. It presents a co-existence of contrasts through dynamic spaces, seamlessly blending the lines of work and play.

Ginger Kalinganagar hosts 93 lean luxe rooms, Café Etcetera - Ginger's signature all-day diner offering a mix of global and local cuisine, which also doubles up as a workstation, a meeting room and fitness centre. The new look will bring together attractive public areas as well as spots designed for solitude, allowing the smooth transition from one to the other. They come alive with vivacious high energy glocal music and unique artwork installations.

Kalinganagar, a planned and modern town, is a major global hub in steel, power and ancillary products. A large number of steel plants are located here.

Source

The Best Hotel Reopening Email Campaigns

In our recent Email Benchmark Report, it was overwhelmingly clear that email is the preferred channel of communication for marketing and businesses. With the shift towards contactless technology and social distancing measures still in place, email continues to be one of the most effective ways to stay connected and communicate with hotel guests.

While personalized marketing emails are important, pre-stay communications are also top of mind for hotel guests. Hotel News Now conducted a hotel guest satisfaction survey which showed that 'pre-stay communications are very important to guests and overall satisfaction scores fall approximately 66 points when pre-stay communications don't happen'. Guests want to feel prepared for their hotel stay, so it is key to update with them with information around new mandates and safety protocols on-site.

As summer comes to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, we'd like to share with you the best reopening emails we've seen over the last few weeks. Each email was carefully selected based on email design, content and offer. We are proud to share these with you, as it is a testament to the hard work our customers put into delivering the very best for their guests during these unprecedented times. These emails are just a snapshot of how our customers are communicating with their guests and offering a safe, stress-free guest experience.

source

A Budget Opportunity To Invest In Your Brand

Travel is currently a strange beast. Each destination has its own restrictions and regulations. Italy, for example, is proposing people wear masks even whilst outdoors where Sweden seems to be back to a level of normality.

Requirements can even vary from town to town and street to street. In the UK, where local lockdowns alter what is permitted from one week to the next it can be hard to know how to respond. In some areas, total closure has been the only option and this has been traumatic for many well-known brands. Premier Inn owner Whitbread only recently announced it was to cut 6,000 jobs as a result of a dip in demand.

Despite the emergence of a second wave of COVID, travel is still possible and the industry is continuing to open up overall- but it must do so in a way that recognises the altered landscape and work to accommodate not only regulatory concerns, but new customer needs.

Budget travel is in a particularly strong position to capitalise on a slowly emerging sector. They are expected to see growing traffic numbers as constantly fluctuating local lockdown measures look set to inspire more spontaneous but local trips. A quick weekend break has much less at stake than a two-week long-haul holiday that could mean a long quarantine after.

Source

Four Interior Design Trends for the Post-Pandemic Hotel

Once the greenlight was given, all businesses looked to reopen as quickly as possible after the lockdown. This has resulted in countless slapdash efforts for achieving the minimum of viral safety compliance, with most structural upgrades meant as only temporary installations and most of them particularly garish at that. As is becoming increasingly apparent, though, COVID-19 is here to stay and thus so too are the new measures that have been put in place.

The problem is that most, if not all, of the provisional objects and signage implemented in the wake of the pandemic look just plain hideous when bolted onto well-designed indoor hotel spaces. While all is well and good during patio season as most customers will remain outside, our current lobbies and public interiors in the age of COVID do not create environments that people actually want to spend time in. Come autumn and winter, this can mean decreased F&B revenues and lower overall guest satisfaction as all visitors won't feel warm and cosy amidst so much gaudy viral safety mania.

Trend #1: Experiential Hygiene

Trend #2: Natural Materiality

Trend #3: Branded Wayfinding

Trend #4: Protective Shield Design

Source

NSW announces further easing of restrictions

Hospitality venues in New South Wales can now accept bookings for groups of up to 30 people from Friday 23 October.

Physical distancing rules continue to apply: venues can have one patron per 4 square metres indoors while those that use electronic entry recording can have one patron per 2 square metres outdoors. Mingling is still prohibited, with guests required to be seated.

Venues are currently limited to a maximum capacity of 300 people. For venues with multiple areas this limit applies to each separate area.

All venues should businesses must implement electronic contact tracing methods, such as QR codes, before taking advantage of the eased restrictions.

With homes still considered high risk environments, Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged the public to consider making bookings at COVID-Safe venues for any festive season celebrations.

“Now this is good news to allow people to prepare for Christmas and the celebrations over summer,” said Ms Berejiklian. “Interestingly, the health experts agree, and have given us advice, that it could be actually be safer to go to a restaurant or hotel or somewhere that’s COVID-Safe for your Christmas lunch… and we want everyone to plan ahead for that.

“These changes will provide a big boost to our hospitality venues. As we ease restrictions and find new ways to get businesses moving it is vital that customers and venues continue to be COVID-Safe.”

Source

Leading Hotels of the World Adds 12 Members

NEW YORK—The Leading Hotels of the World Ltd. (LHW) has added 12 new members to its portfolio. LHW’s fall collection is defined by their independence and their deep cultural connections within their destinations. Property additions include hotels around the globe that are set in restored monasteries, luxurious tented camps, expansive farm estates and even new waterfront masterpieces.

“It is my pleasure to welcome these 12 distinguished new members to our LHW community of more than 425 hotels around the world. Our newest additions embody our community’s commitment to being the leader of independent, luxury hospitality. The hoteliers within these properties demonstrate the creativity and agility that makes the experience of independent hotels so special,” said Shannon Knapp, president/CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World. “For more than nine decades LHW has been at the forefront of creating the highest standards that have set the bar for worldwide luxury hospitality. The passionate hoteliers of LHW have welcomed guests for generations with remarkable care and we are certain these 12 new members will continue this proud tradition of excellence.”

New to The Americas

Nobu Hotel Chicago (Chicago, U.S.)
Nayara Tented Camp (La Fortuna, Costa Rica)

New to Europe
Grand Park Hotel Rovinj (Rovinj, Croatia)
Relais San Maurizio (Santo Stefano Belbo, Italy)
Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel (Sicily, Italy)
São Lourenço do Barrocal (Monsaraz, Portugal)
Abadia Retuerta LeDomaine (Sardon de Duero, Spain)
Anantara Villa Padierna Palace (Marbella, Spain)
La Reserve Eden au Lac Zurich (Zurich)

New to Asia
The Murray Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR, China)
The Kahala Hotel Resort Yokohama (Yokohama, Japan)
Capella Bangkok (Bangkok)

Source