Thistle Hotels' interim profits boosted by disposals

Ananova.com  -  Thistle Hotels says trade is starting to improve as it posts increased half-year profits.

Interim pre-tax profits are £57.9 million, up from £29.4 million last time.

Thistle sold 37 hotel businesses to venture capital operation Gamma Four in March for £598.6 million, making a £41.3 million profit on disposal.

Turnover from its owned or leased hotels fell 13.6% to £79.1 million.

Cash balances at the half-year were £364.1 million.

Leeds-based Thistle says operating profit was £27.6 million, down from £49.8 million, reflecting the "challenging trading environment" and the loss of profits following the sale of the 37 hotels.

Chairman David Newbigging says the first six weeks of the second half have seen some improvement in trading.

He adds: "The overall economic environment remains uncertain and stock markets worldwide have experienced exceptional volatility in recent weeks.

"Against this background, our strong balance sheet and sound liquidity position are a source of considerable strength."

The interim dividend is being maintained at 1.7p per share

Carlson on the move

TravelWeeklyEast.com  -   Carlson Hospitality Worldwide is consolidating its brands and moving its business.

The brands - Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Regent International Hotels and Country Inns and Suites - will now be run as a single business unit called Carlson Hotels. They will retain their brand names for consumer purposes.

As part of the restructure of its operations, Carlson will consolidate its Asia/Pacific headquarters in Singapore, which means a move out of the Sydney regional office for the management of Radisson.

Carlson is not abandoning Australia however.

As part of a major push to expand in the region, Carlson hopes to have all three of its brands represented throughout Australia.

Paul Kirwin, recently-appointed as managing director of Carlson Hotels Asia/Pacific, said the restructure was driven by the need to create greater synergy between the three brands.

He said it was a good time to be in the marketplace for new properties with the hotel business at the bottom of the cycle.

News @ PATA

PATA SPEAKS OUT AGAINST CHILD ABUSE IN TOURISM

PATA Vice President-Development Mr. Peter Semone represented PATA at a forum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to tackle the issue of sexual abuse of children in tourism destinations. He told delegates at the August 30-31 meeting: "The law enforcement agencies in these countries need to strictly enforce their country's current legislation on child prostitution. Only then can we protect our children and finally put an end to this destructive business." The event was hosted by Child Wise Tourism (ECPAT in Australia) and the Royal Government of Cambodia Ministry of Tourism.

DE JONG HIGHLIGHTS INTRA-REGIONAL GROWTH

PATA President and CEO Mr. Peter de Jong addressed the World Travel & Tourism Council Retreat in Agra, India, August 23-25. In a presentation entitled "The Sinews of Revival," Mr de Jong told delegates: "During 2001, only 21 percent of total international arrivals [to the Pacific Asia region] originated in non-PATA markets. Almost 80 percent of arrivals in that year came from within the region. That becomes very apparent in the case of Southeast and Northeast Asia and illustrates why they were less affected by the economic, political and social ills that beset the world during 2001."

PATA AT MADI

Despite the difficulties caused by the recent flooding in the Czech Republic, MADI organisers are continuing preparations for the ninth edition of the trade show, to take place November 5-7, 2002 in Prague. A major trade-only event in the region, MADI addresses operators interested in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2001, the event attracted over 550 exhibitors from 40 countries and about 4,600 buyers worldwide. A PATA stand has been organised by the Czechia/Slovakia Chapter. Deadline for registration is September 13, 2002. For details and registration, please contact Mr. Ales Krejci, Chairman of the PATA Czechia/Slovakia Chapter. E-mail: pata.czech@madi.cz.

POLISH TRAVEL MART

The PATA Poland Chapter, in cooperation with TTG Poland and Poznan International Fair, is organising the 6th Polish Travel Mart, to be held in Poznan, Poland, October 25-26, 2002, during the International Exhibition of Tourism "Tour Salon." The event targets international suppliers who wish to showcase their products and services to Polish buyers through pre-scheduled appointments. For more information and to register please contact Mr. Marek Traczyk, PATA Poland Chapter Chairman. E-mail: ttg@ttg.com.pl.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN SPAIN

In order to tap the Spanish market, the PATA Europe Division will hold a sales mission in Madrid on November 5 and Barcelona on November 7, 2002, ahead of WTM 2002 in London, November 10-13. Space is limited, so early registration is advised. For more information and to register, please contact the PATA Europe Division. Fax: (377) 92 05 61 33. E-mail: europe@pata.mc.

HOUSTON CHAPTER ON THE WEB

The award-winning PATA Houston Chapter has launched its own Web site at www.houstonpata.org. The site includes information on the chapter, upcoming meetings, activities and chapter member contact information. For a listing of all PATA Chapters, visit www.pata.org.

PALAU SEEKS PR REPRESENTATIVES

The Palau Visitors Authority is soliciting proposals from qualified firms or individuals to serve as public relations representatives for Palau in the following regions: Chinese Taipei, North America, Japan, Hong Kong SAR and Europe. Responsibilities include providing news bureau services, maintaining media relations, measuring results, Web site enhancement, organising special events and activities, and handling crisis management. Bidding will begin on September 11 and proposals must be submitted no later than 1600 on September 26, 2002. For further information, please contact Mr. Mark Orrukem, Marketing and Research Manager. Tel: (680) 488-1930/2793. Fax: (680) 488-1453. E-mail: pva@palaunet.com.

Thailand Travel Mart 2002 Plus to position Thailand as Greater Mekong Suregion Tourism Hub

AsiaTravelTips.com  -  Senior executives of about 500 top companies from Thailand, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries and around the world will be meeting in Bangkok between September 17-20, 2002 for the Thailand Travel Mart 2002 Plus, the annual trade show.

Organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the show will bolster Thailand's position as a premiere destination in its own right as well as a major distribution hub for tourism to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan province. 

Co-organisers of the show include Thai Airways International (TG), Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), Thai Hotels Association (THA) and TAT. The event will be organised at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC). 

Confirmations have been received from 274 exhibiting companies and agencies, mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises, from Thailand and the GMS area. They will meet with 235 buyers from 41 countries in Asia, Oceania, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. 

The biggest contingents of buyers are 26 from Australia, 23 from Germany and 14 from Italy. 

The sellers include national tourism organisations, airlines, hotels and resorts, tour operators, entertainment complexes as well as health and spa centres. 

They will promote an extensive range of tourism products and services including exhilarating adventure/eco- and agro-tourism, excellent golf packages, high-standard hotel and resort, unique tours of the Mekong region and world-class health and spa facilities. 

TAT Governor Mrs. Juthamas Siriwan commented, “The TTM 2002 Plus will provide a good opportunity for SMEs of Thailand and to GMS to showcase their products and services to a broad range of international buyers.” 

Specific trade appointments will be organised to ensure that all sellers, especially SMEs, get maximum opportunities to meet the buyers. 

On September 19 between 14:00-15:00 hours, a press briefing will be organised to provide Thai and foreign media representatives with updated information on the development of Thai tourism. The briefing will be attended by senior officials of TAT, THAI, ATTA and THA.

The event’s venue, BITEC, is the country’s biggest column-free exhibition hall with a gross area of 20,000 square metres. It is situated on a 60-acre plot of land on Bangna-Trat Highway, only 12 kilometres from the central business district. 

The Mart will open for trade only on September 19, 20 and the morning of September 21 and for the general public in the afternoon of September 21between 12:30-19:00 hours.

Six Continents hotels launches advanced reservations system – Holidex Plus

HOLIDEX Plus will Deliver Sophisticated Inventory Management to Hotels while Enhancing Guest Satisfaction and Driving Revenue

Six Continents Hotels today announced the successful migration of all Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts’ properties worldwide to a new state-of-the-art reservations system, HOLIDEX Plus. The adoption of HOLIDEX Plus is part of the group’s next generation systems initiative to move the core business systems of Six Continents Hotels to the cutting edge of technology, which will result in maximization of revenue and greater operational efficiencies. In 2001, Six Continents Hotels’ reservation network produced 27.7 million room nights, amounting to US$2.8 billion in total revenue generated through the system.

To date, Six Continents Hotels has invested US$70 million in the next generation systems project, which includes two other core business systems, the property management system and the revenue management system.

“In today’s challenging environment, technology can play a critical role in creating more sophisticated inventory management tools for hotels to market and sell their services intelligently to a wider audience,” said Patrick Imbardelli, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President Staff Services, Six Continents Hotels, Asia Pacific 

“HOLIDEX Plus will prove to be beneficial for hotels, travel agents and guests. It will help our properties tailor and drive promotions through electronic distribution channels, which results in increased revenue for hotels and personalized packages for guests. We will continue to drive value for the hotels under our global umbrella, which will have access to the infrastructure and knowledge that enables them to attract lifelong customers,” he said.

With HOLIDEX Plus, hotels can now provide more detailed descriptions of their properties, rates and promotions to the various Global Distribution System (GDS) and travel websites, providing guests precise information about the product offerings. In addition, the enhanced functionality of HOLIDEX Plus allows hotels to evaluate the lifetime value corporate clients and determine the level of their entitled benefits.

The versatility of the new system also affords hotels greater responsiveness in pricing, flexibility in designing promotional packages and distributing them through targeted channels to meet specific customer needs.

“Now, hotels can set up the order of rates in HOLIDEX Plus and GDS to match anticipated guest demand. They can also offer customized choice by mixing and matching rates and room types to provide guests personalized service while yielding greater revenues,” said Jinou Park, Regional Director of Revenue Management and Systems Planning, Six Continents Hotels, Asia Pacific.

Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and other brands under the Six Continents Hotels’ portfolio will commence migration to HOLIDEX Plus in October and the transition will be completed by 2002. Six Continents Hotels is the first hotel management company in the world to implement a systems deployment of such scale.

Fat And Happy In Oak Brook And Beijing
 
Forbes.com   -  Fast-food notes from all over: Kentucky Fried Chicken is opening the first drive-through restaurant in the People's Republic of China. Meanwhile, McDonald's has launched plans to reduce the fat--well, at least one kind of fat--in its French fries.

The two stories seem unrelated but are actually tightly linked, and together raise the age-old question: If people are too lazy (or busy) to walk from the car to the burger counter, does it really matter if the fries have a little less fat?

Americans are fat, that much is known. Currently, more than half of all U.S. adults are considered overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And they are getting fatter quickly: Between 1991 and 2000, the prevalence of being overweight among U.S. adults increased by 61%, the CDC says. As of 2000, 20% of Americans are considered "obese," up from 12% nine years earlier. Even the kids are fat: 13% of children ages six to 11 and 14% of adolescents ages 12 to 19 are overweight. The CDC calls the phenomenon an "epidemic."

Efforts to fight the epidemic are constant and ongoing. Amazon.com  offers hundreds of books about dieting and hundreds more about exercise--all of which can be yours without so much as a walk to the bookstore.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's (nyse: MCD - news - people ), which operates 13,000 restaurants in the U.S. alone, is sensitive to consumer concerns, offering alternative items like salad and Diet Coke. Now the company plans to cut the trans-fatty acids in its fries by 48% and saturated fat by 16%. Meanwhile, it will increase polyunsaturated fat by 167%. The total calorie count will stay the same, but the company hopes that by reducing saturated fats created in processing vegetable oil for cooking, it will be doing its part to fight heart disease.

The move comes in a season when there have been numerous suggested lawsuits--and one lawsuit actually filed--against McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants for allegedly causing obesity.

The super-sized plaintiffs in such cases might just as well sue their cars or their couches or their televisions or their videogames--or any other product of an affluent society. For all the chatter about diet and exercise, there is a simple explanation for why Americans and other westerners are gaining weight: Food and calories are extremely cheap--not just at McDonald's but in the grocery store, as well. Over time, westerners are spending a smaller and smaller share of their paychecks on food, even though they go out to eat more. At the same time, being sedentary is easier than being active.

This is the conclusion of Richard Posner and Tomas Philipson in a 1999 paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research. As Americans spend more time in cars and behind desks--both of which are long-term trends--they expend fewer calories in their daily lives. If they then spend some of that drive time at the drive-though window, that's a double whammy.

Into this global economic story comes Kentucky Fried Chicken and its Beijing drive-through. The restaurant is in a northern Beijing suburb popular with young executives, representative of China's surging wealth and the size of its business class.

"We chose this place because there are a lot of cars driving by and the community is huge. There is much potential for growth," Jammy Liu, general manager of Beijing KFC, told Reuters. Just opposite the new drive-through is a new apartment complex and more are under construction around the restaurant. Many in the neighborhood own cars, still a luxury in China, a nation still known for its bicycle traffic.

Autos are on the rise. "In Beijing, more than 10%, actually 12% of the population own automobiles. This is an impressive number. And they are increasing as we speak in many other cities," Tony Chen, spokesman for Yum! Restaurants (nyse: Yum - news - people ) China, told Reuters. Yum!, which had 2001 sales of $6.95 billion, also operates Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and A&W.

Kentucky Fried Chicken is also still a luxury in Beijing. But that will change, too, and there will be more fast-food restaurants--American and otherwise, drive-through or not. When that happens, look for China to add to its obesity totals, giving rise to a market for diet books in the Inner Kingdom.

New Headquarters for Pernas Hotel Management

AsiaTravelTips.com  -  Pernas Hotel Management (PHM), the managers of Malaysia’s Mutiara Hotels and Resorts, has relocated its Corporate Office Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur from Ampang Business Avenue to the 29th Floor of the Mutiara Kuala Lumpur property.

The new and centralised office in the centre of Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle commercial district will ensure a more efficient operation for PHM and a better service to the travelling public.

The various operations of PHM now located on the 29th Floor of the Mutiara Kuala Lumpur include: Corporate Sales which is known as Yield & Revenue Management and Corporate Marketing Communications while its Central Reservations and Customer Loyalty Programme is located at Ground Floor of Kompleks Antarabangsa.

Puan Zarita Nordin, Group General Manager for PHM commented on the relocation: “This move makes good sense as related activities for our hotel management group are now under one roof in a downtown location. We have been working towards this move for some time as part of our strategy to improve the services to our clients who are not only our guests and the travelling public in general but also to our valued travel agents, airlines and other related services within the travel and hospitality industry.”

Puan Zarita continued: “The extensive RM85million renovation programme at the Mutiara Kuala Lumpur is progressing well and we expect to re-open soon. Being located on the 29th Floor of what will become one of the city’s most prestigious hotels is good for all the Mutiara Hotels and Resorts as we can use it to showcase all our properties throughout Malaysia.”

Mr. Halim Merican, General Manager, Yield and Revenue Management with PHM said on the move: “We now have all the sales and reservations for the group in one location and our guests or their agents can make a booking for any of our properties from anywhere in the world by one simple toll free phone call. There is natural synergy with a centralised operation in that we can cross sell all the properties in the group to offer travellers and corporate clients a property in Malaysia that best suits their needs and budget.”

The Mutiara brand brings to the travelling public truly Malaysian owned and operated hotels and resorts with touches that clearly identify the properties. Hotel guests know they are staying in a Mutiara hotel with international design and Malaysian hospitality. This means a combination of Malaysian culture, traditions and heritage plus the highest standards of international service and hospitality.

Mutiara Hotels and Resorts are managed by Pernas Hotel Management Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Pernas International Holdings Berhad. The group has six properties located in key cities and resort destinations throughout Malaysia that include Burau Bay (Langkawi); Johor Bahru (Johor); Kuala Lumpur; Pedu Lake (Kedah); Penang and Taman Negara/National Park