Best Holiday Lettings

Author: Alicia

  • Promising future for Africa despite challenges

    Latest analysis by STR Global, leading provider of information at the hotel industry, reveals that despite high levels of inflation and political uncertainty, Africa is proving that it’s a growing tourist and business destination as hotels in multiple key markets are reporting performance increases for year-to-date (YTD) June 2013.

    However, a gigantic barrier for Africa tourism is the inability of transportation infrastructure. However some low-cost commercial airlines have emerged during the last decade, just a small percentage of airfields are paved and airlift remains limited by reason of high operating costs. Africa’s railway infrastructure isn’t without its own set of challenges as a result of limited interconnected rail systems as some of the national rail systems operate independently. Non-standardised gauges, break systems and traction and obsolete equipment further compound the placement.

    “In spite of many unsolved problems, Africa shows a promising future. There may be an increasing interest in some of countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where tourism is more developed. Tanzania has recorded YTD June 2013 growth in Revenue per available room (RevPAR) of 10.6 percent, largely owing to successful April and June, which saw a 25.7 percent and 27,4 percent increase in RevPAR in USD terms at the prior year, respectively.” said Elizabeth Randall Winkle, Managing Director of STR Global.

    Egypt as an exception has continued to be afflicted by the ill effects of its revolution when occupancy rates dropped as little as 15 percent in February 2011 in Cairo. The capital have been experiencing ongoing unrest and the hot overthrow of President Morsi will determine a special story. Hotels within the Red Sea resorts are still attempting to recover and although occupancy is up 24.7 percent YTD June 2013 to realize occupancy levels of 45.2 percent that’s on par with Cairo, it’s still below the 61.7 percent achieved by hotels within the Red Sea Resort YTD June 2010.

     

    Moroccan hotels then again, having avoided any major upset, have shown an outstanding performance YTD June 2013 with growth in occupancy (17.0 percent) and RevPAR (7.9 percent).

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    Within sub-Saharan Africa, YTD June 2013 hotel performance data for South Africa shows a notable increase in occupancy (4.8 percent) however the decrease in both average daily rate (-7.7 percent) and RevPAR (-3.3 percent) are indicative of an ongoing recovery from inflated rates and the surge of recent supply in the course of the World Football Cup in 2010.

    Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius and Tanzania rely heavily on international tourism, offering splendid beach destinations and/or safaris. In accordance with the WTTC[1], total tourism contribution to GDP for Mauritius is 28 percent, that’s above the arena average (9 percent). A lot of these markets remain depending on leisure tourism. Whilst most African economies are more agrarian and according to mining of natural resources, one of many biggest challenges for opening a hotel in this continent is finding well educated staff and coaching them to deliver a world standard of service.

    Nigeria shows the best RevPAR growth YTD June 2013 (15.2 percent) and the very best average daily rate (ADR) a number of the African countries at US$273.80. The second one highest ADR are located in Mauritius (US$227.08), where besides the strong leisure demand for its resorts, this small economy hosted the FIFA[2] Congress 2013, welcoming around 1,300 guests.

    The World Bank is currently financing 1,091 activities in 6,277 mapped locations in Africa worth US$49.3 billion. Despite high levels of inflation and political uncertainty, Africa has not deterred hotel developers from being excited about the continent and its popularity is probably going to grow inside the next 10 years with a wealth of resources and abundant untouched areas.

    “Africa is a key growth market with a lot of exciting prospects ahead. The present undersupply of hotels, end result of the continent’s natural resources boom and a growing middle class, means there are many opportunities for internationally branded hotels,” said Mark Willis, Area Vice chairman Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa The Rezidor Hotel Group. “Our development strategy is heading in the right direction and over the subsequent 24 months we shall open more Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson properties in cities including Freetown, Nairobi, Kigali, Libreville, Marrakech and Hammamet.”

    Further details on trends within the hotel markets across Africa can be presented on the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) in Nairobi at the 23-25 September where two speakers from STR Global would be at the formal agenda.

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  • Cambria Suites continues strategic expansion

    Cambria Suites, the classy all-suite, all new construction hotel brand that is franchised by Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), among the many world’s largest lodging companies, continues to draw demand from developers. Today, the upscale hotel brand announces two hotel franchise agreements inside the rapidly expanding business communities of McAllen, Texas and West Fargo, North Dakota.

    In the booming Texas border town of McAllen, located just north of the thriving McAllen-Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), Cambria Suites is operating with very fashionable McAllen Strategic Group LLC and affiliates Hankin Enterprises and Fulcrum Management Corp because the official hotel of the city’s $90 million, 85,000 square foot, world-class convention center and the market’s most upscale lodging option. The Cambria Suites McAllen Convention Center shall be a 121 suite, 4-story property in an effort to also offer two banquet rooms and an executive conference room. The hotel may also feature a resort style pool, alfresco front room inspired decor, cabana lounge pods and a fireplace pit.

    The West Fargo agreement is with highly respected KAJ Hospitality, which has corporate offices in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mitchell, South Dakota and Wichita, Kansas, and can bring a trendy all-suites Cambria Suites brand hotel to North Dakota to service guests of the longer term conference center within the rapidly developing business community of West Fargo in addition to other visitors to the realm. The daddy and son development, ownership and management team of Kevin and Aaron Johnson will develop a four-story, 103 suite Cambria Suites hotel in West Fargo connected to the longer term 15,000 square foot conference center which KAJ Hospitality can even own and operate.

    “Choice Hotels International is experiencing plenty of growth instantaneously, especially within the upscale lodging segment. Cambria Suites is key to our success in that space and it keeps on delivering for us,” said Stephen P. Joyce , president and chief executive officer of Choice Hotels International. “We were very strategically rolling out this brand, projecting growth and targeting prospering markets like McAllen and West Fargo. Teaming up with great developers as these only makes it easier.”

    “Cambria Suites is the ideal brand for these expanding markets,” said Michael Murphy , senior vice chairman of upscale brands for Choice Hotels International. “We are seeing incredible growth within the Fargo, North Dakota and South Texas regions. Multi-national companies are expanding very fast in these cities, attracting business travelers and driving demand for a spacious, upscale lodging option where they could relax and remain productive at the road. We’re working with developers who understand these markets in addition to we do and Cambria Suites hits a sweet spot with these guests.”

    In 2012, U.S. Census Bureau rated McAllen among the many ten fastest growing cities within the U . s . a ., largely a result of McAllen FTZ. Bordering Mexico, the McAllen FTZ is among the country’s most active thanks to provisions under the North American Free Trade Agreement which provide tariff and tax relief and other cost-savings to businesses. This has attracted major global companies in recent times, transforming the McAllen metropolitan area into a world hub where multi-national companies have dedicated significant investment and resources. These organizations include: LG, Panasonic, Corning, Motorola and Black & Decker, to call a couple of.  U.S. Customs and Border Patrol McAllen Station also has a significant presence attracting government employees and civilian contractors to support its mission overseeing operation of the FTZ and for patrolling 53 miles of the Rio Grande.

    Conveniently located near McAllen International Airport, Cambria Suites McAllen Convention Center is situated in close proximity to major interstate highways and diverse international cross border bridges. Town leads the state of Texas in retail sales making it a big shopping and restaurant destination. Right round the corner, guests of Cambria Suites can benefit from the Simon Property Group’s popular 350,000 square foot lifestyle retail center, Palms Crossing. 

    “Our team couldn’t be more all for our affiliation with the remarkable Cambria Suites brand,” said Christopher Haridopolos , principal of McAllen Strategic Group LLC. “We look ahead to growing in the ever expanding Cambria Suites family.”

    With a population of greater than 25,000, West Fargo is without doubt one of the fastest growing communities in North Dakota reporting a growth rate of 72.9% in 2012, in response to the West Fargo Economic Development Committee. West Fargo is a part of the bigger Fargo/Moorhead MSA which has a population of two20,000 with an annual growth rate of 2.5%. The longer term KAJ Hospitality-developed conference center and connected Cambria Suites hotel are prime examples of this growth. Further, the brand new Sanford Health Medical Center, a $500 million, 371 bed state-of-the-art facility scheduled to open in 2016 can also be adjacent to the brand new hotel and conference center. Companies with a enormous or increasing presence nearby include Sanford Health, Titan Machinery, Bobcat, Cat Reman, Catholic Health Initiatives and Case New Holland.

    “This is an excessively exciting and bold project for us and we all know Cambria Suites is the suitable fit. We considered many brands but we felt best about working with Choice Hotels,” said Aaron Johnson vp and chief financial officer of KAJ Hospitality. “The support we’ve got received from Choice Hotels and the Cambria Suites team was nothing in need of fantastic and we think that relationship to simply grow. The vision and strategy for the Cambria Suites brand falls right consistent with our vision for KAJ Hospitality.”

    Typical to the Cambria Suites brand, the all-suite rooms are larger than standard offering travelers a spacious room to opened up overnight or over several nights. Designed to satisfy the wishes of today’s business travelers, these hotels provide separate areas for travelers to work and rest. Cambria Suites West Fargo is scheduled to start construction in June 2013 and open within the second quarter of 2014. Cambria Suites McAllen Convention Center is anticipated to wreck ground within the third quarter of 2013.

    These hotels will continue to deliver the consistently high level of fashion at an equally attractive price guests have come to expect with this brand. All Cambria Suites hotels are new-construction and the logo leads the remainder of the upscale lodging segment in guest satisfaction scores as measured by guests’ likelihood to recommend (LTR). As of today, many Cambria Suites hotels are ranked #1 and #2 of their respective markets on TripAdvisor.

    “Word of mouth is king and Cambria Suites is leading the conversation,” said Murphy. “We offer visitors a consistent, prime quality guest experience and they’re talking about it. This brand has truly tapped into what travelers today want and wish while at the road – service without stuffiness, style that doesn’t feel sterile and convenience that doesn’t forego comfort.”

    Designed as an approach to life hotel brand, Cambria Suites offers greater than only a place to sleep at night. It incorporates a larger lobby to present guests a more social atmosphere, spacious all-suite rooms that come with separate areas to work and rest, providing business and leisure travelers room to sit back, socialize and network.

    All Cambria Suites hotels feature Reflect, an informal dining and gathering area serving a dinner menu, liquor, wine, beer, freshly prepared grab-and-go gourmet salads and sandwiches, a barista bar featuring Wolfgang Puck® coffee and a hot breakfast buffet; Refresh, a state-of-the-art health club with a chic pool and hot tub/spa area; and Refill, a 24-7 convenience store that gives energy drinks, snacks and sundries.

    In addition, each suite offers the newest technology, including two flat-screen LCD televisions and MediaHub™ plug-and-play technology, allowing guests to attach their laptop, MP3 player, game console, digicam or CD/DVD player hassle-free. Free high-speed wired and wireless Internet access is on the market during the hotel in order that guests can stay connected.

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  • News: New UNWTO/Tourism Australia report highlights tourism potential of SE Asia

    Asia’s affluent middle class is ready to extend almost fivefold over a better two decades, presenting significant opportunities for Australian tourism, in keeping with a brand new report released by Tourism Australia and the sector Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at this year’s Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE).

    ‘Key Outbound Tourism Markets in South-East Asia’ provides up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the foremost tourism trends and developments in five key South-East Asian outbound markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

    Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the study would help the Australian tourism industry to raised understand, communicate with, and serve these five, key emerging outbound markets.

    “The crucial factor behind the expansion of travel out of the Asian markets – from South-East Asia up to from China – is the increasing middle class population of these source countries due to the their growing economic prosperity.

    “Each market is different, but all of them possess significant potential, which we have to understand to truly profit from this Asian Century,” Mr McEvoy said.

    UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai said around 30 per cent of the world’s middle class population is now in Asia and this figure is predicted to extend almost fivefold over a better two decades, to three.4 billion or 60% of the world’s total.

    “UNWTO is extremely pleased to have partnered with Tourism Australia in producing this report that sheds new light at the travel trends of those countries,” said Mr Rifai.

    The new report provides detailed profiles of every market in response to extensive research, including analysis in their future potential.

    In 2012, these five countries accounted for US$ 47 billion in international tourism expenditure, up from US$ 25 billion in 2006.

    Mr McEvoy said that every of the five countries had its own unique characteristics but that all of them had the possible to be significant future source markets for Australian tourism within the coming years.

    “Indonesia stands proud end result of the size of the rustic and its population. Whilst it has far to visit realise its potential, Indonesia is making rapid progress and is amazingly much on our radar,” he said.

    “Singapore is notable for its wealth and is by far the most important of the five markets in relation to spending. It’s also a more mature market, the single country on this study where outbound travel – long-haul and short-haul – is already a reality for almost all of residents.

    “Malaysia is analogous to Singapore when it comes to the present levels of outbound travel, but these days those trips are predominantly short-haul, often an analogous day. The spending power of Malaysians shouldn’t be as high as Singaporeans, but higher than in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, so there’s good potential here too.

    “Thailand has arguably been hampered nowadays by political upheavals and environmental catastrophes, equivalent to recent flooding, but nevertheless still presents sizeable opportunities for economic and outbound tourism growth.

    “Vietnam has a wide population, but average incomes are still very low. On the subject of current spend and visitation, is by far the smallest of the five markets right this moment, but in addition the fastest growing,” Mr McEvoy said.

  • News: Eurostar partners with Waitrose to provide on-board refreshments

    Eurostar and Waitrose are today announcing a brand new partnership that will see Britain’s favourite supermarket* supply on-board refreshments to Eurostar’s bar buffets, for passengers travelling in standard class between London and mainland Europe.

    A delicious collection of fresh sandwiches, snacks, drinks and hot dishes will arrive on-board all Eurostar services from 30th April. With a number over 20 products there’ll be something to fulfill pan-European appetites including mushroom risotto, chicken tikka masala, and a tapas selection, in addition to traditional British sandwiches and the French classic Croque Monsieur.

    This new culinary collaboration marks Waitrose’s first major move into on-board food and its first significant continental venture. Waitrose Business to Business Director, David Morton, said: “This is an exceptionally exciting opportunity for us to work with any such prestigious brand, which shares our commitment to quality and repair.  To be the primary food brand that Eurostar’s customers experience after they are visiting Britain is tremendously powerful as we seek to expand our presence within Northern Europe.”

    Having recently upgraded both its Standard Premier and Business Premier catering, Eurostar’s partnership with Waitrose completes a trio of changes with a purpose to see Eurostar passengers offered the perfect range of refreshments within the rail operator’s near 20 year history. For lots of French and Belgian travellers, it will likely be their first taste of Britain’s new national dishes akin to chicken tikka masala.

    Julian Welham, Head of On-Board Services, at Eurostar said: “The on-board dining experience is an essential component of our passengers’ travel experience, and our new partnership with Waitrose will bring our customers the best quality refreshments during their journey. Whilst our British passengers should be well accustomed to Waitrose, we glance forward to introducing the emblem and plenty of of its British classics to our continental customers.”

    Eurostar recently launched a brand new summer menu for Business Premier passengers in partnership with Culinary Director, Michelin-starred chef, Raymond Blanc. The summer options do something about seasonal flavours, fruit and veggies and have several Blanc family recipes. Separately, Eurostar’s Standard Premier passengers can look out for an update to their menu options from April.

  • Global leisure daily hotel rates achieved a brand new growth record

    Global leisure daily hotel rates achieved a brand new growth record of +5.1% over prior year in June, in accordance with second quarter data released today by Pegasus Solutions within the Pegasus View. The only largest processor of electronic hotel transactions reported that inclusive of solid performance for holiday travel, business travel maintained prior year levels for both bookings and rates in the course of the off-season.

    As rates continued to grow for the leisure channel globally, booking growth paused in June, coming within -2.0% of June 2012. After spring closed with substantial booking growth of +6.2% and +3.7% over prior year in April and can, the stall remains positive given the final growth it represents. June 2012 increased by +8.5% over 2011, and June 2011 increased by +7.5% over 2010. Overall, vacation travel continues to be making real progress at encouraging prices for hoteliers.

    “The performance we’re seeing could be attributed to the appropriate formula for hotels: lower room supply with increased leisure and business travel demand,” said David Millili, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “The second quarter compared against prior years shows that while demand is present, hotels also are present with real distribution strategies. Taking time to appreciate and maneuver the area of distribution helps hotels attract bookings across both channels on the prices they need guests to pay.”

    For the company channel, which attracts on bookings made throughout the global distribution systems (GDS), second quarter bookings spiked early before stabilizing to prior year levels. April’s bookings rose +6.2% over 2012, leveling to simply in advance of June 2012 by +0.7% on the close of June. Rates held firm, remaining regardless of prior year in the course of the second quarter, and ending with June coming just shy of prior year by -0.7%.

    Looking forward, the company channel is anticipated to take care of solid volume and rates globally, but to not deliver substantial gains over 2012. Future stays suggest rates, however, will pick-up in September and October because the convention season begins. For the leisure channel, July and August rates may rise by over +4.0%, with rates toward prior year in September and October. Booking volume can be at or near prior year levels into early autumn.

    Data reported by Pegasus Solutions comes from billions of transactions processed monthly for just about 100,000 hotels, facilitating greater than $16 billion a year. The Pegasus View, produced quarterly, is the sole industry report back to reflect data drawn from both GDS and ADS transactions, representing the business and leisure markets respectively. Pegasus’ PegasusView Market Performance business intelligence is a monthly reporting product augmenting the worldwide data provided quarterly within the Pegasus View.

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