Record Year for Rezidor

In 2009, the group opened 36 hotels and created 4000 jobs, according to a press release. The Rezidor Hotel Group announces yet another record year of openings. In 2009, one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide brought 36 hotels, with 7100 rooms into operation across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and created a total of 4000 new jobs in these properties.

With these numbers Rezidor was even able to surpass 2008, with 33 openings with 6500 rooms, the group’s record year so far. And looking at 2007–2009, Rezidor notes an impressive 41 percent cumulative growth in rooms in operation.

“We are proud to have achieved these results together with our owners and developers”, comments Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor. “2009 has been a challenging year, but even in tough times Rezidor believes in growth”, continues Ritter. Hereby the Brussels-based group especially focuses on fee-based contracts (87 percent of all opened hotels in 2009), and on a business development in emerging markets like Africa and Russia/CIS, where Rezidor is the leading international player on the hospitality market.

A diversification of the portfolio is a further part of Rezidor’s success, already Europe’s leading Airport Hotel Operator, the group grew the number of airport hotel rooms in operation by eight percent in 2009 and opened flagships like the Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg Airport (Germany), which is located directly opposite the terminals. The growth of resort rooms in operation even reached 30 percent in 2009. Rezidor welcomed the first guests in new and leading spa resorts like the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Dubrovnik (Croatia), the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Cesme (Turkey) and the Radisson Blu Resort & Thalasso Monastir (Tunisia).

“2009 also saw the launch of our dynamic mid-market brand Park Inn in the Middle East, where we opened the Park Inn Al Khobar (Saudi Arabia) and the Park Inn Muscat (Oman)”, says Kurt Ritter. Rezidor’s very first Park Inn hotel opened in early 2003 in Berlin (Germany) only. Within six years the portfolio has reached more than 130 properties in operation and under development with a total of more than 24,500 rooms.

Rezidor also brought a completely new brand to the hospitality market: In June 2009, the company celebrated the opening of the first Hotel Missoni — a new luxury lifestyle brand developed in cooperation with the iconic Italian fashion house of the same name. Hotel Missoni successfully debuted in Edinburgh (Scotland); the brand’s future locations feature Kuwait, South Africa, Oman and Brazil.

Air France to Abu Dhabi

Starting on 3 May 2010, Air France will begin operating a new service between Paris and Abu Dhabi. Flights will be operated by an A330 seating 219, with 40 seats in Business and 179 in Voyageur (Economy). According to an Air France press release today, Air France will also eventually introduce the new Premium Voyageur cabin on flights to this destination.

Flight times are particularly well adapted to ensure fast connections out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle from and to other cities worldwide:

• Flight AF 3848:
  Departing from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, terminal 2E at 13:45 ;
  Arriving at Abu Dhabi at 22:25, local time.
• Flight AF 3849 :
  Departing from Abu Dhabi at 00:30 ;
  Arriving at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, terminal 2E at 05:45, local time.

As from 3 May 2010, Air France will thus be serving seven destinations in the Middle Eas:t Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh.

By summer 2010, Air France and KLM will be operating close to 230 weekly flights to 13 destinations. Their networks are complimentary, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi jointly served by both airlines.

Thanks to combinable fares, customers can travel with either airline between the Middle East and the rest of the world, via the Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol hubs.

BA strike avoided

“We are delighted for our customers that the threat of a Christmas strike has been lifted by the court,” British Airways officials say in a Thursday afternoon press release, continuing:

“It is a decision that will be welcomed by hundreds of thousands of families in the UK and around the world”.

According to the airline, there was never any need for a strike, which is why they hope that Unite will take this opportunity to reflect before deciding its next steps.

“We believe the public would want that too,” says BA in its statement, and “In recent days, we believe Unite has formed a better understanding of our position and of the ways in which we could move forward”.

“It has also become very clear that our customers do not believe that old-style trade union militancy is relevant to our efforts to move British Airways back toward profitability. Financial success is essential to build the kind of business our customers want and provide long-term opportunities for our staff”.

KLM Economy Comfort Zone

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines festively launched its new Economy Comfort zone this week, with a spectacular “gliding act” performed by the magician Ramana at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Ramana’s act ties in with KLM’s new advertising campaign “Choose Your Personal Kind of Comfort”, which features passengers sitting on invisible seats, seemingly floating on air. The new Economy Comfort zone offers passengers a greater range of seating comfort in Economy Class, according to a press release issued by the airline.

A seat in the new Economy Comfort zone offers passengers up to 10 cm more legroom and allows them to recline twice as far as a standard seat. Economy Comfort passengers will also be able to disembark first, because the zone is in the front section of the Economy Class cabin. The service and meals in Economy Comfort are the same as those in Economy Class. Every day, KLM will have more than 1,500 Economy Comfort seats available.

With Economy Comfort, KLM extends its range of seating comfort options for passengers travelling Economy Class. Passengers could already opt for seats with extra legroom and for a seat in a row of two. This new alternative reflects KLM’s pledge to fulfil the changing needs of its customers, one of which was the call for more comfort options in Economy Class.

The nominal fee for an Economy Comfort seat will range from EUR 80 to EUR 150 for a one-way trip, depending on the distance covered. Flying Blue Platinum members and passengers flying on a fully flexible Economy Class ticket can reserve Economy Comfort seats free of charge. Flying Blue Gold members will get a 50 percent discount and Flying Blue Silver members will get a 25 percent discount.

Once passengers have booked a ticket, they can reserve an Economy Comfort seat via the “Manage My Booking” tab on the KLM website from 90 days before departure. Bookings can also be made via telephone reservation or at the ticket offices (except Amsterdam Airport Schiphol) or when passengers check-in on the KLM website. Economy Comfort seats can also be booked at the airport, via the self-service kiosks or at local customer service desks (that too except Amsterdam Airport Schiphol).

Photo: KLM Economy Comfort Zone in a Boeing 777.

Dutch sustainable air transport

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operated its first ever passenger flight powered by sustainable biokerosene this Monday. To give an extra impulse to sustainable air transport, the airline company also joined hands with North Sea Petroleum and Spring Associates to establish the SkyEnergy consortium.

“KLM leads the sustainability drive in global aviation. The Netherlands should make good use of this leading position to ensure clean, silent and sustainable air transport worldwide,” said KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman, according to a company-issued press release. “This is technically feasible. We have demonstrated that it is possible. Government, industry and society at large must now join forces to ensure that we quickly gain access to a continuous supply of biofuel.

KLM founded SkyEnergy together with North Sea Petroleum and Spring Associates. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will advise the consortium in relation to ecological aspects.

The development of biokerosene is a quest that KLM is pursuing in accordance with strict financial, technological and ecological criteria.

“The food chain may not be jeopardised, and production of biokerosene should not go hand in hand with deforestation or excessive water consumption,” said Mr Hartman, adding: “The conservation of biodiversity is, of course, also a precondition. Our cooperation with WWF is both important and inspirational.”

Johan van de Gronden, director of WWF The Netherlands: “The establishment of SkyEnergy is a groundbreaking initiative. KLM’s demonstration flight serves as a concrete step towards achieving a more sustainable future. We still have a long way to go in relation to biofuels for aviation, but by investing in this manner KLM is once again taking the lead.”

“KLM has been involved in biokerosene research since 2007. With the establishment of SkyEnergy, we are accelerating development and hope to achieve a market breakthrough. Within the consortium, we have clustered expertise and experience in legislation, ecology and technology, as well as the ability to develop biokerosene in an economically viable manner. We are moving forward with great resolve, but cannot do it alone. We need the efforts and support of government, industry and broader society.”

KLM and Air France are jointly pursuing an ambitious Climate Action Plan. The fruits of this endeavour are exemplified by the fact that Air France KLM has been the sector leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for five consecutive years.

London comes in last

For the first time, the hotel price comparison www.trivago.co.uk has compared European cities on the basis of the popularity of their hotels. Hotels in Dresden received the highest ratings from travellers. Hotels in the classic city break destinations, such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London had the worst ratings. The results were brought together in a Reputation Ranking.

The trivago Reputation Ranking is an analysis of the European hotel industry and its touristic popularity. It is based on 2.7 million hotel reviews for 13,000 hotels in 50 European cities. With an average of 81.39 out of 100 Dresden is the number one city in the Reputation Ranking. Closely followed by Bruges with 80.08 points and Bologna with 78.71 points; the city at the river Elbe has some of the most popular hotels in Europe. Hotels in the Austrian city of Salzburg are also highly favoured by travellers. With an average of 78.59 points, Salzburg is in fourth place in the overall European top list. With 78.10 points, Venice just makes it into the top five.

London’s hotels have the worst reputation in Europe

British cities barely make it into the European Reputation Ranking. Hotels in the English capital, London (69.89) is ranked last Birmingham’s hotels second last with 70.90 points. The city of Edinburgh has the best online reputation in the United Kingdom, in 29th place with 75.23 points. The Greek capital – Athens – is in 46th position with 72.69 points, the Danish capital Copenhagen (71.26 place) in 48th place. Not much better are the overall ratings for hotels in Amsterdam (71.56, place 47) and Paris (72.93, place 44).

Read full story at Hospitality.net

French-Dutch traffic decline

According to a press release from Air France/KLM the October passenger load factor went up, with 1.3 points, to 82.5 percent, with capacity reduction (-5.6 percent) exceeding decline in traffic (-4.1 percent). The companies also saw a slight improvement in cardo, with a 67.7 percent load factor.

In other words, traffic once again declined less than capacity, leading to a 1.3 point improvement in load factor, to 82.5 percent. All networks, apart form Africa and the Middle East, saw higher load factors. The group carried 6.3 million passengers.

Although unit revenues remained under pressure, they recorded a lesser decline.

Photo: An Air France A320 landing at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Photographer: Philippe Delafosse

Swissôtel to Middle East

ZURICH, Switzerland — Construction is under way on Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts’ first hotel in the Middle East: Swissôtel Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The international hotel chain expects the hotel to open in January 2011.

The new Swissôtel Makkah is going to have 1571 guest rooms, including 88 suites, spread over 53 floors, with half of all the rooms and suites enjoying a view of the Holy Mosque. The centrally located hotel will have four restaurants serving authentic Arabic and European cuisine, an Executive Lounge, two meeting rooms measuring 75m² and a Business Centre available to guests, according to a press release issued by the chain today.

“Since we are at home in so many parts of the world, we are especially pleased that we will now be represented in the Middle East as well,” commented Meinhard Huck, President Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, conitnuing “We will definitely look into further opportunities for expanding our business in this market in the future”.

The new deluxe hotel in the Holy city is part of the Abraj Al Bait Complex developed by Saudi Binladin Group in the Development of King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project. The Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a multinational construction conglomerate and holding company for the assets owned by the Binladin family, founded in 1950 and headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The city of Makkah is located in the west of Saudi Arabia close to Jeddah. It is the birthplace of Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, making it the Holiest city in the Islamic world. Every year hundreds of thousands of Muslims make the journey to this place of pilgrimage and to the Holy Kaaba. The height of the travel season at Makkah takes place during the annual Hajj pilgrimage and the Holy month of Ramadan when the Holy city welcomes over three million pilgrims for the Hajj alone.

Radisson Blu a Nordic favourite

Radisson Blu continues to command the Nordic region with around two in five business travellers preferring to use the brand and 97 percent recognising the Radisson name in 2009. This is the result of the latest BDRC research – an independent annual survey by the London based agency BDRC, conducted since 2001, according to a press release from the chain.

Since this first year, Radisson (including Radisson and Radisson SAS, now Radisson Blu) has been named the Number one brand and steadily improved its performance each year.

The annual survey, which works with a score combining recognition, preference, usage, loyalty and intent to recommend, covers all aspects of business travelers’ behaviour, as well as several key brand performance indicators measured across over 60 brands, involved interviews with a total of a 1000 Norwegian, Swedish, Finish and Danish business travellers.

“It is very satisfying that business travellers prefer our hotels. But even more important, we see that our guests’ satisfaction has increased every year the last six years. This shows that we are able to anticipate our guests’ needs, and fulfill them”, says Christian Gartmann, Area Vice President, Nordics, for The Rezidor Hotel Group.

Radisson Blu is the First Class and Full Service brand of the Rezidor Hotel Group, which is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. Rezidor has 380 hotels in operation and under development in 59 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa – besides Radisson Blu the company also operates the brands Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites, The Regent and Hotel Missoni.

U.S. Corporate travel decline

The travel industry is reeling from the economic recession, but few segments are as challenged as corporate travel. Amid double-digit declines in traveller demand and revenue, the corporate travel landscape is undergoing a major realignment. Corporations are pulling back across the board and all players – from airlines to hotels to travel management companies – are under pressure.

Recessionary trends are driving a steep contraction in business travel in 2009, resulting in a 15% decline in the U.S. corporate travel market to USD 85 billion according to PhoCusWright’s U.S. Corporate Travel Distribution Fourth Edition. In contrast, the total U.S. travel market is projected to decline only 11% in 2009, dipping below 2006 levels. While corporate travel has historically comprised approximately 40% of the total travel market, this share will decrease as the fall-off in corporate travel demand far outpaces the decline in leisure/unmanaged business travel. Corporate travel share of the total travel market will drop markedly from 39% in 2007 to 35% in 2010.

“Current economic challenges and public scrutiny of travel and entertainment spending has placed corporate travel on the chopping block. Sharply curtailed corporate travel budgets will mean not only less travel in 2009, but stricter policies and tougher policing when spending does occur,” said Susan Steinbrink, PhoCusWright’s senior research and corporate market analyst. “However, the recession will positively affect innovation, as corporations and travel management companies intensify efforts to optimize travel programs. This means bringing more spend under management, accelerating integration efforts across the corporate travel value chain, and leveraging new technologies—from mobile to video conferencing—to bolster the bottom line.”

PhoCusWright’s Corporate Travel Distribution Fourth Edition report is available now at www.phocuswright.com for an introductory price of USD 995 (a USD 1295 value) through 15 August. Report purchases include the recording and presentation deck from the 29 July Webinar, The Changing Face of Corporate Travel. Order today to save USD 300 off the regular report price.

Global Edition subscribers have immediate access to the report via the My Subscription page of www.phocuswright.com.

Source: HSMAI econnect

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