Best Holiday Lettings

Category: News

  • News: Simonson to take in chief financial officer role with Sabre

    Travel technology provider Sabre has appointed Rick Simonson as executive vice chairman and chief financial officer.

    Having served in similar roles at several technology companies, including Nokia, he’ll lead the company’s global
    finance organisation, accountable for all finance and controls, reporting, investor relations, and mergers and acquisitions.

    Simonson most recently served as chief financial officer and president, business operations at Reardon Commerce. 

    Prior to that he spent nearly ten years in different global roles at Nokia in Helsinki, Zurich and Manhattan, including executive vp and general manager of Nokia’s Cellphones division.

    He was also with Barclays Capital and Bank of America Securities serving the telecom, media, and technology industries. 

    He currently serves at the boards of Electronic Arts and Silver Spring Networks.

    “Rick has an extraordinary combination of intensive global finance, operational, and capital markets experience fascinated about technology sectors, and a proven track record as an executive and board member for varied private and public companies. 

    “This makes him an excellent fit for Sabre,” said Sam Gilliland, chairman and chief executive, Sabre Holdings.

    “He is a sturdy and experienced leader who will build on our greatest-in-class finance and operational capabilities.”

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  • News: Bench confirms CATHIC will return to Turkey in May

    Organisers of the Turkey & Neighbours Hotel Investment Conference (CATHIC), Bench Events, have confirmed it’s going to return to Turkey for the third year running in May.

    The now-annual conference is scheduled in Istanbul from May 29th-30th 2013.

    The event, the leading hospitality investment conference in central Asia, is anticipated to draw greater than 350 industry movers and shakers to talk about opportunities and challenges facing investors and operators within the region’s burgeoning tourism and hospitality sector.

    According to Mehmet Önkal, managing partner of BDO Hospitality Consulting and the co-organiser of CATHIC, tourism and hospitality is determined to play a key role within the country’s economic growth.

    He noted that towns, cities and resorts nationwide are already experiencing a gradual increase in domestic tourism, in addition to an increasing stream of inbound visitors.

    Önkal cited a contemporary Ministry of Culture & Tourism report from Turkey that implies that the rustic expects greater than 50 million international visitors per annum and this trend will continue for the following decade.

    He went directly to share that these numbers will generate tourism-related revenue in way over US$50 billion once a year.

    “Now is the time for investors, developers and operators to take a major take a look at Turkey and the greater region.

    “The opportunity is within the development of destinations and new tourism hubs.

    “This year’s CATHIC provides the proper venue for serious players to debate the investment roadmap, together,” Önkal added.

    The organisers confirmed that CATHIC’s agenda will present insights into the important thing success factors for development, including the role of presidency, regional air travel trends and understanding the sentiment of international investors.

    The programme also will address issues like hotel development, hotel branding, financing and operations.

    CATHIC is co-organised by Bench Events and Questex Media, who also organise the Russia and CIS Hotel Investment Conference, Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, International Hotel Investment Forum Asia Pacific, and the International Hotel Investment Forum Berlin.

    In addition to the conference programme, CATHIC offers many networking opportunities including an exhibition where delegates give you the option to satisfy the foremost players inside the industry.

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  • JW Marriott Pune opens in India after conversion

    A brand that epitomises the hospitality favourite of lifestyle and business travelers, Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre forayed right into a new chapter because it converted to JW Marriott Hotel Pune.

    This historic business hotel in Pune isn’t just the primary JW Marriott inside the city and the 3rd within the country, but additionally the primary Marriott property within the Asia Pacific region to undergo a conversion. Nestled within the heart of the town, JW Marriott Hotel Pune opened doors to its patrons welcoming them to realize and join the emblem change.

    The spectacular conversion launch saw the presence of Mr.Rajeev Menon, Area Vp, South Asia. “We are happy to announce the conversion of Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre to a JW Marriott property,” said Menon. “The property always reflected luxury with world-class amenities and style which can be significant to a JW Marriott brand. The hotel, which was the 500th Marriott property, was a HALO hotel under the Marriott portfolio. Throughout the 2.5 years of its functioning the hotel has managed to effortlessly seam its well beyond the MHRS brand guidelines, thus proving to be a befitting choice for a JW conversion. This transformation will see Marriott International come together to make sure that we surpass the hotels hospitality touchpoints making it more luxury driven, promising and luxurious.”

    General Manager of JW Marriott Pune Jatin Khanna said, “JW Marriott Pune celebrates constant innovation and could continue to supply to town of Pune a lifetime of elegance. The hotel that may be a wedding, lifestyle and F&B destination will see the introduction of assorted luxury touchpoints over a higher year. The spa and restaurants will see gradual changes to their overall hospitality and dining experience.”

    The unveiling of the extreme Griffin marked the highlight of the launch evening, a musical Broadway themed event. An extravagant party that saw the glitterati of the town in attendance followed the revealing. The development marked a milestone within the hotel’s success story, with the likes of Chairman and MD Panchsil, and Owner of JW Marriott Pune, Mr. Atul Chordia and his wife Varsha Chordia in attendance.

    World-renowned dancer, singer and choreographer Shiamak Davar and his troupe presented the guests with a Broadway musical that left the audience captivated.

    As the crown to the city’s skyline, this JW Marriott 5 star hotel in Pune will aim at providing its patrons with relaxed elegance and effortless luxury. It’s here that luxury could be experienced during the richness of authenticity, discovered within the great thing about craftsmanship and delivered with an intuitive response to non-public expectation.

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  • News: flydubai boosts services to Russia

    flydubai has underscored the growing importance of the CIS region to its operations by announcing it is going to double its network in Russia to 8 points and add additional services in Ukraine.

    In Russia, the carrier will launch flights to Mineralnye Vody on April 16th 2013 followed by Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd on September 13th 2013.

    Operations to Krasnodar, meanwhile, will commence per week afterward September 20th 2013.

    flydubai offers the sole year-round direct scheduled services to those cities, that are all located in South West Russia.

    The route map in Ukraine, meanwhile, also will expand to incorporate the one direct services from Dubai to the Black Sea resort of Odessa in addition Dnepropetrovsk within the east of the rustic.

    Flights to Odessa will begin on September 15th 2013, the similar day the carrier adds capacity to the capital, Kiev, to which it’ll fly double daily.

    Services to Dnepropetrovsk will begin on September 18th 2013.

    These additional operations bring flydubai’s network to 18 points within the CIS region – greater than some other Middle East carrier.

    Speaking at a press conference held in the course of the annual Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition, flydubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “Russia and Ukraine are two of flydubai’s key markets.

    “We have seen steady passenger growth during the last couple of years in both countries.

    “Not only is Dubai a well-liked destination, but we’re seeing a growing number of passengers connecting directly to flydubai’s services to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

    “Our process of targeting regional airports was a major factor in our growth within the region and with the announcements of those six new routes today, a better variety of people would be capable of visit the UAE and beyond with our affordable direct flights.”

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  • IHG expands presence in Frankfurt

    IHG has announced the signing of the vacation Inn Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, among the first Holiday Inns in Germany to add the brand’s new ‘Open Lobby’ concept.

    The 249-room property is because of open in early 2015 and should operate under a managed contract in partnership with UBM.  Union Investment acquired the project development for its open-ended real estate fund ‘UniImmo: Deutschland’.

    The hotel is ideally located for business and leisure travellers, who will find themselves walking distance from the city’s business district and historic town centre, 1.5km from the trade fair market and only 500m from the Frankfurt central railway station,

    IHG’s Vice chairman Development Germany, Martin Bowen said: “Frankfurt is Germany’s major trade fair city and this hotel might help meet the demands of the city’s many business and trade fair guests. The hot ‘Open Lobby’ concept is designed specifically with busy travellers like them in mind – research shows that our guests like to be comfortable, relaxed and cared for at the road, and all in a well-known environment that looks after their everyday needs. The Open Lobby is greater than a hotel bar, restaurant or lounge – it combines all of the existing public spaces into one open, cohesive space. It gives guests options whether they’re seeking to eat, relax, work, or rejoice.

    “We have 57* Holiday Inn brand family hotels (Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express) in Germany, and the emblem is a crucial growth driver for us here. With over 3,400 hotels* worldwide, the emblem is probably the most widely recognised lodging brand on the earth. Each year 100 million people stay at a vacation Inn brand family hotel all over – they know they’re able to expect a consistent, refreshed experience wherever they’re.”

    The ‘Open Lobby’ concept combines front desk, lobby, business centre, restaurant and bar right into a cohesive, open design with a residential feel. The dining area will include a brand new food and beverage offer, a bar with peninsulas where guests can enjoy breakfast or eat during the day and a chef station. Food may be available 24/7 and guests can have the good thing about free Wi-Fi.

    IHG has 69 hotels in Germany, of which 57 belong to the vacation Inn brand family. The corporate has 19 hotels within the pipeline in Germany.  UBM have partnered with IHG on numerous occasions, and currently have management contracts for the InterContinental Warsaw, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam and Crowne Plaza St Petersburg Airport.

    Holiday Inn hotels take part in IHG’s guest loyalty programme, Priority Club Rewards, the industry’s first and biggest guest loyalty program with 71 million members.

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