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  • News: IHIF: Waldorf Astoria Berlin celebrates opening

    Some 800 high-profile guests from the realm of showbiz, society, business and media have attended the exclusive grand opening of Waldorf Astoria Berlin.

    Famous German performers including Elisa Schmidt, Claudia Lahmann & Orchestra, Malvin Louis & Band and DJ Chan entertained guests on the glamourous event which also featured breathtaking performances by aerial dancers who illuminated the brand new landmark hotel.

    Setting a brand new standard in luxury for Berlin and the broader German market, Waldorf Astoria Berlin marries the timeless elegance of the legendary flagship, Waldorf Astoria Ny, with a different design inspired by Berlin’s vibrant and contemporary personality.

    Featuring 232 luxury guestrooms and suites, the hotel sits inside the spectacular new Zoofenster skyscraper, designed by renowned German architect, Professor Christoph Mäckler.

    With a complete of 32 floors and a height of 118 meters all crafted with stone and glass and the city’s highest suite, the sumptuous presidential suite at the top floor, the Zoofenster and Waldorf Astoria Berlin are a really magnificent addition to the skyline of Berlin’s City West.

    The hotel’s interior design have been conceived by the renowned Parisian agency, Inter Art Etudes, in a timeless yet contemporary interpretation of art deco style.

    From the lobby to the guest rooms and suites, the hotel’s interior design, is worthy of the celebrated legacy of the famed Waldorf Astoria, which opened its doors in 1931 on New York’s Park Avenue.

    The hotel’s enviable location puts guests at the doorstep of a few of the city’s most famed tourist attractions.

    This includes the historic church, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, built as a memorial to Kaiser Wilhelm I, the 1st man to become emperor of a united Germany. The glamour of the premium shopping boulevard, Kurfürstendamm, known to locals as Germany’s Champs Elysées is simply minutes away and includes a plethora of designer fashion houses.

    Waldorf Astoria Berlin boasts an excellent range of dining and drinking experiences in a lot of settings and styles.

    The outstanding attraction is the restaurant run by world-renowned French chef, Pierre Gagnaire.

    Boasting 12 Michelin stars at restaurants around the globe, Gagnaire requires little introduction and tables on the opulent “Les Solistes by Pierre Gagnaire” are set to be amongst the main highly widespread of the Berlin restaurant scene.

  • Sports tourism in Tshwane to take center stage

    The city of Tshwane, South Africa, is pursuing sports and events tourism if you want to reposition town’s brand and introduce the city to the worldwide sports tourism industry.

    The city’s wonderful climate, well-kept sports venues, passionate spectators, and a wealth of sport champions makes town an ideal host for any sporting code.

    Nomasonto Ndlovu, Strategic Executive Director for the Communication, Marketing and Events Department of the Tshwane Metro, says the town is moving directly to a brand new fairway, so that you could speak, in its destination marketing. “Independent research has shown that the sports event arena is growing faster than the national gross domestic product rates around the globe, and as a municipality we feel that for the town – its residents and businesses – the prospects for the longer term during this sports tourism market are promising.”

    Setting the town in this path was the inaugural Tshwane Open on the end of February on the Els Club Copperleaf Golf Estate in Centurion. The inaugural Tshwane Open 2013 was co-sanctioned by the eu Tour in association with the light Tour. In the course of the golf tournament, held from February 28 to March 3 on the Els Club at Copperleaf, a field of 156 players all chased the 1.5 million euro prize money.

    It is the largest single investment town has ever made because the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and is a sign that town recognizes sports tourism as a strategic platform to construct the destination brand of the Cithat Tshwane, an event the town will host for 3 years.

    Tshwane has over 15 golf courses which are on par with the smartest on the planet, and it has hosted numerous professional and amateur events. The town is renowned for its blue skies and delightful natural surroundings and a favourite meeting place for a lot of golfers who want “to break out from all of it.”

    The Union Buildings will later this year come to life with the roar of bike engines when the world’s most prestigious and challenging freestyle motocross competition, the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour, expands to South Africa. The long-lasting Union Buildings will play host to the tour within the year this famous Sir Herbert Baker architectural landmark celebrates its centenary.

    The city of Tshwane may be the last stop at the six-stop tour and may bring something to the Union Buildings that not many South Africans tend to have seen of their lifetime – the world’s best freestyle motocross riders performing gravity-defying, breathtaking tricks inside the air above what many consider Sir Herbert Baker’s greatest achievement.

    Tshwane has also played host to lots of other local, national, and international sports. The various more memorable ones were the Rugby World Cup, Cricket World Cup, All Africa Games, World Tug of War Championships, World Junior Chess Championships, and the International Karate Championships. Probably the most memorable of all of them was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when Tshwane was named by FIFA as the most effective host cities to 1 of essentially the most spectacular physical activities ever at the African continent.

    Tshwane boasts world-class sporting facilities such as:

    – SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium – during this venue with a 22,000 capacity in Centurion, the Proteas wrapped up their test series against Pakistan with a three-0 white wash last month.

    – Loftus Versfeld Stadium – this can be the house ground of the Blue Bulls and Mamelodi Sundowns. The Bulls, who’re topping the log of the Super Rugby (South African Conference), recently hosted Australian Western Force and the Stormers and won both matches. The Premier Soccer League, struggling to out fit the Sundowns, also play their home games at this ground.

    – High Performance Centre – The HPC on the University of Pretoria is Southern Africa’s first elite one-stop sports facility. It was launched in 2002, and the heart is the learning ground for tomorrow’s sporting champions and the venue of choice for sport professionals and enthusiasts alike, including the hot Olympic Champions like Cater Semenya and the South Africa four – James Thompson, Matthew Brittain, John Smith, and Sizwe Ndlovu – that stunned the sector by winning gold on the 2012 Summer Olympics.

    From the learning facilities to medical services, accommodation and food, the HPC offers everyone the chance to enjoy its awe-inspiring environment. The role of the HPC may be divided into two inter-related parts: the TuksSport Academies and to give a venue for top-profile international and native athletes and teams for pre-season and pre-event training.

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  • IHIF: Meliá Hotels strengthens capital position

    Meliá Hotels International will continue to reinforce its international expansion and business model in 2013 and make progress in its adaptation to changing market conditions.

    “Thanks to a consistent international growth plan, supported by strong brands and a model according to management contracts and variable leases, we added a hotel every three weeks in 2012, with 80 per cent of the rooms outside Spain,” said Gabriel Escarrer, chief executive of MHI.

    “The company expects to maintain this rate of growth in 2013, and has managed to bolster its position in international markets which already produce greater than 80% of our operating profit.”

    The Asia-Pacific area is still one the main priorities.

    Meliá has intensified its growth inside the region, managing to double its portfolio in barely two years, due to new hotels in China, Indonesia and Vietnam scheduled to open within the near future.

    The recent agreement with Greenland, one in all China’s major real estate groups, help to leverage MHI’s growth in China, the biggest emerging market.

    The company also plans to consolidate its presence in South American capital cities, promote its Paradisus brand inside the English-speaking Caribbean, open in new cities within the USA, widen its network within the Middle East or even start operations in sub-Saharan Africa.

    In Europe, one of many company’s traditional markets, Meliá continues to reinforce its presence in Germany, UK, France and Italy; while expansion in Spain can be more selective, curious about innovative products in an effort to add greater value to the company’s hotel portfolio, along with the Calvià Beach Resort project in Mallorca or the 2 recently incorporated Innside by Meliá hotels in Madrid, among the many brands with the best growth potential for the corporate.

    The Innside by Meliá growth Meliá Hotels International currently manages 27 hotels in Germany, 11 under the Innside by Meliá brand, among the top rated hotel brands in Germany, that is portion of the corporate portfolio since 2007.

    Innside by Meliá has great potential for international growth, to be widely accepted around the world.

    Having already opened two new hotels in Spain (Madrid), the emblem is currently preparing openings in countries corresponding to Denmark (Innside Copenhagen) and the united kingdom (Innside Manchester).

    Innside by Meliá offers guests a way of life business experience, efficient and smart service, the newest technology and a different design, both in classical buildings – as within the case in Madrid, Berlin or Essen- and contemporary, resembling the hotels in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munich.

    Innside by Meliá has become a great choice for both business and leisure travellers, which has already captivated customers all along Germany.

  • News: IHIF: International Hotel Investment Forum returns to Berlin

    Delegates have begun arriving on the International Hotel Investment Forum, this year hosted by the InterContinental Hotel Berlin.

    Returning for its 16th year, leading delegates from the hospitality sector were welcomed to the development by Kerry Gumas, chief executive, Questex Media Group, and Jonathan Worsley, chairman, Bench Events.

    The conference programme this year includes interviews with leading hoteliers, forecasts from top economists, and panel discussions at the latest developments, trends and best practice inside the hotel and investment industry.


    Kerry Gumas, chief executive, Questex Media Group, left, joins Bench chairman Worlsey on stage

    Also at the agenda are a number inspirational keynote speakers, with greater than 180 scheduled to seem over the 3-day event, all leaders of their field, making for a fascinating and numerous programme.

    They will address the 1,924 delegates expected to wait event, whom have travelled from 71 countries. 

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    Jumeirah chief executive Gerald Lawless, left, debates with Leading Hotels of the area president Ted Teng during IHIF 2013

    More details about the development at the official website.

  • News: IHIF: yoo Hotels launches design-led hotel brands

    yoo Hotels has unveiled two intricately crafted design-led hotel brands for travellers who seek handcrafted luxury: yoo 2 and yoo Collection. 

    yoo, the worldwide design company founded by international property entrepreneur John Hitchcox and renowned designer Philippe Starck, brings an entire hotel offering to the market.

    The brand was offering luxury hotels and high-end residences for over 14 years and has dropped at fruition the visions of creative directors Anouska Hempel, Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Jade Jagger and Kelly Hoppen.

    Headed by industry expert Marco Nijhof, yoo Hotels will create an enhanced hotel experience through delivery of original design and primary rate hotel management services.

    Tapping into yoo’s unique talent bank of worldwide renowned designers in addition its own yoo Studio, yoo Hotels offers an unparalleled breadth of design talent and heritage.

    The culture of every location is crucial for both the yoo Collection and yoo 2 hotels, and that is interpreted throughout the world class designed interiors.

    Electric and luxurious dining and entertainment experiences are joined with flawless service, delivered by yoo Hotel Management, making a feeling of Human Luxury – the yoo Hotels philosophy of unfailingly satisfying every whim a guest could conceive at any moment.

    yoo Collection

    The yoo Collection offers guests a premium, five star luxury stay within truly inspirational spaces. 

    Each yoo Collection luxury hotel could have a different sense of place and personality, created by yoo’s renowned designer base, all of whom are skilled at creating instant destinations with an understanding of local cultures.

    The local soul of a yoo Collection hotel is combined with seamless service and refined luxury, so that it will satisfy the foremost sophisticated high net-worth business and leisure traveller, making each moment a party.

    yoo 2

    The yoo 2 brand is aimed toward the design and tech-savvy traveller who’s searching for a superb stay and a feeling of affordable luxury, whether travelling for business or leisure.

    yoo 2 hotels may have a buzzing social feel and a full of life atmosphere inside the public spaces, with warm and inviting service delivered by like-minded people.

    Restaurants and bars will attract the local crowds too, fusing fun with great hospitality and creating hot-spot destinations in each city.

    The yoo 2 brand will offer spaces that afford everyone the experience of dwelling in exceptional and mindful design, even just for the night.

    yoo Hotel Management

    The yoo Hotel Management team benefits from a combined 107 years of expertise in hotel management, leasing, franchising, and operations.

    Together, they’ve got transacted a combined £15 billion in single asset, portfolio and hotel opportunities.

    With design, branding, marketing and hotel management in one offering, it’s the synergy of the entire yoo Hotels offering which makes it truly unique.

    It suggests that resources are maximised and there are significant cost savings compared to standard segmented hotel teams.

    yoo Hotel Management acts as a guardian of luxury, ensuring the hotelier’s investment return is maximised while maintaining the unique DNA of the emblem vision and philosophy.

    The service delivered is unwavering, creating unforgettable experiences that keep guests smiling.

    yoo Hotel Management provides an uncompromising commitment to the posh and vision of the hotel ensuring repeat guest satisfaction. Any investment entrusted to yoo Hotel Management becomes a ‘trophy asset’. 

    Key metrics would be provided via performance reporting indicating penetration, rates, RevPar, shares and property valuation.

    While guest satisfaction will establish yoo Hotels because the leader amongst the competitive set, it’s the satisfaction of our hoteliers as a way to determine the fibre of the yoo Hotels fabric.