Newsletter - February 8, 2002

ACCOR RAISES OFFER FOR FRENCH CASINOS

French hotel giant Accor SA said Feb. 6 it had raised its friendly offer for Compagnie Européenne de Casinos SA from €52 ($45) a share to €65 a share. The €320 million bid tops an offer of €59 a share from rival Groupe Partouche.

The battle is for 24 CEC casinos and with them the undisputed leadership in the flourishing French casino sector. Accor, which bought 23.4% of CEC on Dec. 14 and obtained pledges from holders of another 16.6%, valued its first offer for total control at €258 million. Accor said Wednesday that its new offer would not affect its 2002 earnings. Accor is making its bid in association with Los Angeles investment fund Colony Capital llc.

“Accor is now favorite, but Partouche could go 3% higher,”said Pierre Blanc, an analyst at Oddo Pinatton Risk Arbitrage in Paris. A successful bid at €320 million would hoist Accor to the No. 1 position in France with 21% of the market against Partouche's 19% share.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is advising Accor along with Lazard and CIBC World Markets. Lawyers for Accor are Latham & Watkins with Clifford Chance acting for Colony Capital.

Partouche is being advised by  Credit Suisse First Boston and Lyonnaise de Banque.

CENDANT POSTS LOSS AS TRAVEL BUSINESS FALLS

Bloomberg News/New York Times  -   The Cendant Corporation (news/quote), the owner of the Avis car rental business and the franchiser of Ramada Inn hotels, had a fourth-quarter loss as it took charges of $520 million mainly to cut jobs and write down the value of assets.

Cendant, based in New York, had a loss of $307 million, or 31 cents a share, in contrast to net income of $145 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier, the company said. Revenue more than doubled, to $2.58 billion on acquisitions, including the travel reservation company Galileo International (news/quote) and Avis Group Holdings (news/quote).

The charge, announced in November, is partly to cover the cost of laying off 6,000 workers in response to a drop in global travel.

The company's earnings per share on an adjusted basis rose to 23 cents, better than the 21 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.
Of the after-tax charges, $285 million is to write down Cendant's stake in Homestore.com, the online home- listing company. Cendant is the biggest shareholder in Homestore, whose shares are down 97 percent in the last 12 months.

An additional $73 million is for reorganizing in light of the slowdown in travel, while $65 million is for the integration of Galileo and $55 million is to adjust the carrying value of mortgage servicing rights, Cendant said. The balance, or $42 million, is for shareholder litigation costs.

Revenue at Cendant's real estate services unit rose 41 percent, to $532 million, led by an increase in the company's mortgage operations as more people refinanced loans.

“KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER” WAS CONSENSUS ADVICE FROM HSMAI’S “MOVING THE INDUSTRY FORWARD” STRATEGIC CONFERENCE

Discounting Is Not the Answer

HSMAI Report -  “Know your customer” was the consensus advice from the various experts speaking at the “Moving the Industry Forward” strategic conference sponsored by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) at the Marriott Marquis in New York. 

The conference, a second in a series of new Executive THINKs since the events of Sept. 11 put the travel industry into a tail spin, was created to help hospitality, travel and tourism industry executives focus on solutions to the dilemma that faces many companies as a result of the economic downturn and resulting drop in both business
and leisure travel. 

Dr. Lalia Rach, Associate Dean, Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Administration, New York University, moderated the conference and urged delegates to “move beyond a season of enormous challenges to see the good in the future.” 

She noted that “the consumer is shifting emphasis to regional vacations and that many theme parks, casinos and hotels are benefiting.”  However, she also said, “brand loyalty now has competition from channel loyalty with consumers looking for deals” as they surf the web. 
        
GETTING BACK TO BASICS: 
  
Bonnie Reitz, senior vice president sales and marketing for Continental Airlines, keynoted the conference by urging delegates to “get back to basics.” 

Echoing the consensus focus on “knowing your customer,” she said we “must ask where do people want to go and what will they pay?” 

Reitz detailed Continental’s four-part Go Forward plan explaining, “we focused on our market strength and stopped doing things that didn’t make money. 

“We cut non-value expenses and ensured we were putting money back into the things that mattered to customers, like new airplanes. 

“We empowered our people, set goals and measurements, and rewarded ourselves when we did what we said we were going to do for our customers. 
       
“And probably the most important of all was creating a culture based on dignity and respect strengthened with open and frequent communications.  Consistent, even persistent communications is our mantra.” 

One of the key factors in Continental’s turnaround success is its revitalized corporate culture in which the employees recognize that “customers are people, too, and want the same recognition,” Reitz said.  “The good news is the combination of focusing on employee and customer expectations has made Continental the number one
airline in the New York area,” she added. 
         
Reitz said that despite the fact that Continental is exploring alternative distribution channels, the airline strongly supports travel agents.  “We believe in the travel agency distribution channel, especially in the corporate arena, and they are truly our partners and we’ll reward them.  We believe that 66% of our business will go through
the travel agent channel and the agents will combine electronic capabilities with their bricks and mortar operations.” 

DISCOUNTING IS NOT THE ANSWER: 

Ray George, engagement manager with Prophet, Inc., warned delegates, “discounts are no longer a point of difference” and “if all you do is compete on price you cannot win.” 

“Discounts decrease the perception of quality and alienates loyal customers,” George said.  The new distribution channels have fostered discounting and “consumers are shopping for the deal,” he added. 

George provided several recent examples of success stories without discounting including:   “Nokia, which is gaining marketshare in a declining market through customer relevance and innovation...Dell has demonstrated value with customization and service…E-Bay is leveraging its intense 37 million customer focus…Fidelity is building brand capabilities, technology capabilities and service.” 

He reiterated repeatedly that “discounting does not hold customers, and it is 7% to 10% more costly to get customers through discounts as compared to holding on to loyal customers.” 

George said, “Creating strong brands is not just a marketing pursuit but a corporate culture…it’s also based on finding the relevant need of the consumer.” 
         
However, he was not completely against discounting.  “When you can discount to a specific market segment for a specific product and time it makes sense; it’s focused need-based discounting.” 

He also said we need to “talk to customers and find out what they want.” 
        
TODAY’S NEW CONSUMER: 

Rick Sandler, president of the Insight Group, has been doing just that with his research into today’s new consumer.  Research results have indicated that “there has been a lifestyle change in recent months and 38.7% of the people interviewed want to live in a small town to get back to the community,” Sandler said. 
        
“We have a new value structure saying that family is more important than work and people want to live a more authentic life,” Sandler reported. 
         
He added that “attitudes toward family will prevail, and people will accept less privacy as part of a new way of living.” 

At the same time, “coping strategies have evolved in which people are saying I’ll travel but here’s where I draw the line,” Sandler said.  “People are also incorporating adapting techniques,” he added, such as wearing loafers while traveling because they are easier to remove for security checks and wearing large coats with big pockets to carry more on the airplane since they are limited to one carry-on bag. 

Sandler reported some optimistic trends in that “Americans will invest in things that provide lasting value and travel experiences, especially with family, fitting into that mode.” 

As for business travel, he said, “meetings by teleconference can’t replace the human connection.  I need to sit in a room and see people, there has to be a humanity.”  He predicted that meeting planners will be fine, but companies will be downsized. 
        
IN UNITY THERE IS STRENGTH: 

Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president, marketing for the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), urged delegates to participate in as many TIA programs as possible because “in unity there is strength.” 

“We recognized an opportunity to provide the industry with one voice, one message and the tools to deliver that message,” she said, adding: “We gathered more than 50 of the top communications professionals in the travel industry via conference call and presented a common message and strategy, with all the tools to implement a
unified industry PR campaign.” 

The message that TIA used was that travel is a fundamental American freedom and that Americans should See America.  “We are urging the industry to continue airing the See America ads,” O’Rourke said, adding: “We are continuing to promote the See America brand in all three of our target markets, the U.K., Japan and Brazil, where we have offices, and at key trade shows including ITB in Berlin where the U.S.A. Pavilion has been renamed and rebranded the See America Pavilion.” 

O’Rourke encouraged delegates to go to the tia.org website to learn more about various opportunities for participation. 

TIA will be hosting the International Pow Wow in New Orleans May 24-29 and she said, “We believe the importance of the International Pow Wow has never been greater, and we expect record attendance.  We will be bringing Broadway to Pow Wow, and NYC & Co. is creating a special Playbill for all attendees.” 

TIA announced that the U.S. Postal Service is releasing a set of stamps for each of the 50 states themed “Greetings from America,” and TIA will offer a See America sweepstakes with 50 prize vacations, one to every state. 

TIA will also launch National Travelers Appreciation Day on May 4 during National Tourism Week and is urging all companies to utilize a specially created bookmark to get across their message or special deals to the consumer.  Furthermore, TIA is working on a special fall promotion with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service tying into their existing pass program. 

O’Rourke expressed optimism in that its recent poll had the following results: 

• 86% of Americans said it’s important to be able to travel whenever and wherever they want 
• 75% said it’s important that Americans travel as they did before the Sept. 11 attacks 
• 83% said that travel and tourism are important to the health of the U.S. economy 
• 66% said that travel in the U.S. is safe 
• 28% said that travel outside the U.S. is safe 

A SHIFT TO REGIONAL TRAVEL: 

Doug McCorkle, executive director, marketing for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Gil Langley, vice president, marketing for Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Cathy Ritter, executive director, Illinois Tourism, served on a panel of experts to discuss how they are handling the crisis. 

“We’ve observed a significant shift to lower value spending and a fall-off of business travelers in Illinois,” said Ritter, adding that the state is focusing inward on generating local travelers.  Special values at downtown hotels and other discounts have helped spur the market. 

Fairmont’s McCorkle said, “discounting opens up to a different type of traveler,” and noted that they, too, “have seen a shift to more local travelers.” 

Langley said he has created a very aggressive sales focus for his staff: “If it moves kill it.”  He noted that while many CVBs have had layoffs, he has kept everyone, and works hard at motivating them to sell Long Beach. 

Ritter, Langley and McCorkle all agreed that partnerships in this time of crisis were crucial to success.

Langley has emphasized putting co-ops together with a buyer’s cooperative.  Ritter said, “a lot of new players have come to the table in Illinois and we expect they will stay with us.”  McCorkle said, “we’ve seen unusual acts of solidarity.” 
        
NYC & CO. BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS: 
        
The best example of solidarity came from the next speaker as Cristyne Lategano-Nicholas, president and CEO of NYC & Co., diagrammed New York City’s success story after Sept. 11. 
        
It began with a meeting called within hours of the attacks.  “We responded in emergency mode.  We had a close working relationship with the city government and we began pulling everyone together to work together. 

“The sales and convention staff got on the telephone looking to hold business and get replacement business. Keeping Broadway open was a priority and making sure that our Visitor Center was open to take care of visitors’ needs was another priority that was maintained with both staff and volunteers.  We were operating 24 hours a day.” 

Nicholas and her staff got the restaurant industry, the hotel industry and the theater industry together.  “We became the crisis communications directory for everyone,” she added. 
        
NYC & Co. got sponsors for the ads to get people back in stride.  “We wanted to remind people how important it was to get back to normal as fast as we could,” she said.  Humor was used in the ads “to get people laughing again.”  The result was a slow, but steady climb back up with more and more people dining out, and more and more visitors coming to New York. 

The success had an unusual by-product.  “We were conscious that some meetings were coming to New York City from other cities, and we were sensitive that many other cities were suffering, too,” Nicholas said.  “We wanted to help the rest of the county, especially after the strong support we received from everywhere,” she added. 

So, NYC & Co. hosted 75 convention and visitor bureaus to discuss issues and is also working closely with Washington, DC.  NYC & Co is putting together a Heritage Package between Washington DC and Boston and is launching a “Get Back to Traveling” campaign which it will be taking the road in conjunction with the Conference of Mayors and New York City Firefighters to say “Thank you in person,” and remind people to See America. 

NYC & Co. is also promoting the expansion of its successful Restaurant Week in New York City in which dining out goes on sale across the city.  “We want to market the U.S. as a dining destination with a single dining card,” she added. 

Nicholas also said, “the one lesson that I have learned is to communicate what you are doing with as many people as possible.  The key is to communicate what is happening.  We used e-mail on a regular basis.” 
        
THE FUTURE REMAINS A CLOUDY VISION: 
        
Peter Yesawich, president and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown, released the latest results of his Leisure Travel Trends Survey noting: 

Almost one in five (18%) travelers still say their future plans for leisure travel continue to be affected by the tragic events of Sept. 11, according to the results of a new national survey of travel intentions. 

The overall percentage of leisure travelers who agreed that the terrorist attacks were likely to influence their future travel plans showed only a slight decline from the level recorded in November (18% versus 22%).  “Travel intentions are clearly improving, but many Americans remain anxious about hitting the road again,” said Yesawich.

Among leisure travelers who indicated their travel plans have been influenced by the terrorist events and said they would cancel or take fewer trips, nearly twice as many stated they would not travel because they believed it was “not safe to fly.”  The percentage of respondents citing air safety concerns nearly doubled, from 23% to 45%, from a similar survey conducted by Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown in November 2001.

Travelers’ concerns about the safety of air travel exceeded concerns about personal safety (19%) as well as concerns about the current condition of the United States economy (13%). 

Paralleling their concern about the safety of air travel, leisure travelers who said the terrorist incidents were likely to influence their future travel plans also indicated a preference for vacationing closer to home (59%), visiting friends and relatives (45%), vacationing at home (39%) and vacationing with children (35%). 
        
Leisure travelers, who, prior to Sept. 11, had planned to take a trip also stated that special offers and discounts from airlines, hotels and other travel suppliers would encourage them to take a future leisure trip. 
        
Nearly six in ten (57%) of these travelers stated that airline discounts would influence their decision to fly on a pleasure trip during the next year.  Forty-five percent agreed they would be influenced by discounts offered by hotels, while about one-third of respondents said they would be influenced by special promotional values offered by a cruise line (33%) or tour package company (31%). 

The survey also revealed that many leisure travelers expect big discounts in exchange for their patronage. 

Almost four in ten (39%) said it would take a discount of 50% or more to motivate them to take a trip they otherwise would not have taken, while three in ten indicated the discount would have to exceed 50%. 

The nationally representative poll was taken with 800 qualified U.S. adult travelers during the week of Jan. 14, 2002. All estimates are accurate to within +/-3.5% at 95% confidence. 

HSMAI is an organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry.  With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry champion in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales and marketing management disciplines.  Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprised of over 5,000 members from 35 countries and 60 chapters worldwide. 

TECHNOLOGY AND THE HUMAN TOUCH

By Dan Phillips COO of ITS

Ten years ago, my mother’s mother began suffering from Alzheimer’s and had to be put in a nursing home.  My mother and her sister both would travel up to New London, Conn., to visit and to keep her personal effects in order.  On their first trip, after my grandmother’s house had been sold, I helped them get a hotel room.  They visited for a long weekend about every two months or so and got to know the woman that worked the front desk at the hotel.  It got to the point that all that my mother would have to do was to call this woman and tell her she and my aunt was coming.  This woman would then put a block on their room (room number 225) and hold it for them.  She got to know that they woke up early each morning, without a wake up call, that they liked the local newspaper to be delivered, that they went to the nursing home all day and all that needed to be refreshed in the room was their towels, that they had a glass of wine at 5 p.m., went out for dinner each night, and, needed it quiet by 9 p.m. when they watched ESPN on television before going to sleep.

It was several years before my grandmother passed away.  During that entire time, though many newer hotels were built in the area, my mother and aunt would only stay at this one hotel.  Talk about the effect of CRM!  It was even more beneficial that the woman’s name behind the front desk was the same as my mothers, and, that she continued to work there all of those years.

There are many new and great sounding technologies being developed for the hospitality industry.  Hospitality Upgrade does a great job in covering these technologies both in articles and in advertisements.  You will read about CRM and GDS, POS and PMS, PBX and IP telephony, and more.  

Some day soon, the benefits of these technologies will enhance guest recognition and guest loyalty programs.  From a computer terminal, the hotel will know the preferred room type and location for their incoming guests.  They will know what newspaper to put at the door, what snack to put on the desk, and what type of beverage to include in the mini-bar.  They will put the guest’s home phone number on a speed dial button on the guestroom phone and provide VPN access back to the guest’s corporate office.

Loyalty programs will track the member’s usage, not only in room nights booked but also in food ordered, movies watched, and phone calls made.  All of this will add up to free nights or upgrades in room accommodations or discounted services.

When personal computers first came out, one of the selling points was that they would replace the number of staff required to make a business run.  Where it used to take a secretary half a day to type a three-page memo on a typewriter, using White Out of course, a word processor would now enable that administrative assistant to do the same task in a fraction of the time.  I don’t know how much staff was actually reduced.  What I found happened is that we made the staff more productive.  More productive meant that instead of typing three or four memos in a day, now 15 or 20 are coming out.  Instead of reviewing the night auditor’s chicken scrawl on yesterday’s financial performance, we are now reviewing yesterday’s finances, occupancy, market mix, competition, profit margin by department against the same day last year, same day last month and projecting what it will be tomorrow.

Technology is a tool that has made humans more productive.  Technology really doesn’t replace people, it changes their responsibilities, their coverage, and, it probably adds people, just in different places.  A decade ago a new PMS could have cut down staff at the front desk but added an information and systems manager.  Today, a good CRM system will cut down on the number of reservationists the chain may employ but may add staff at the property level to fulfill the now known requests of guests.

This decade’s challenge to a hotelier to be successful will be to provide a satisfying and unique visit each time that guest stays in that brand’s hotels.  The newest technology may tell us the fiber count a particular guest wants on his or her pillow cover, but it will be the people, using the technology, that will make the difference.  Soon, your staff may be walking around the hotel with a wireless earpiece telling them the name of each guest as they approach.  Will your employee greet him with, “YO, Mr. Phillips, howsit hangin’, man?”  Or, will it be, “Good evening Mr. Phillips.  Did you see that article in the Wall Street Journal this morning?”

Hospitality has a human factor.  It is a service industry.  In the law of supply and demand, the consumer demands to stay at a hotel where the service outshines that of its competitors.

All of this new technology coming out is great.  But don’t think that it will decrease your staffing while increasing occupancy.  Instead it will generate a need for staffing in areas you never previously considered.  In order to make CRM work most effectively, for example, you will need to have staff query your guests.  These employees will need to be “people oriented,” able to speak and listen well, able to work with consumers that may be too busy to respond or unable to determine what the options are and which ones are the best for them.  Then, employees will be needed to load the data, manage the systems, and train the individual hotels and so on.  More employees may be required to fulfill the demands of the guests at the hotel level, such as evening and night shift housekeepers and technology butlers.

Service must be greatly enhanced by technology.  The technology driving the improvement to service must be transparent to the consumer.  To do this, people must be involved.  Good people.  All of this new technology is a good thing.  It gives us another reason to communicate with our guests, to provide them with a product that they find value in.  To be successful, it forces us to touch our customers, one human to another.

Dan Phillips is COO of ITS, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in technology and the hospitality industry for over 10 years.  For comment or question, he may be reached
at dphillips@its-services.com

LOCAL INVESTORS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE AUSTRALIAN TOURIST ACCOMMODATION OWNERSHIP

Sydney, February 6, 2002 — According to the results of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ annual Top Owner survey, Australian hotel investors and owner/operators continue to dominate the ownership of tourist accommodation in Australia.  The results of the survey, which spans 137 major owners, 395 establishments and over 69,200 rooms across Australia, show that 55% of Australia’s tourist accommodation is owned by local investors.  The results will form part of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ Digest Australia, 2001/02 Edition, set to be released this week. 

Tourism Asset Holdings (TAHL) has increased its dominance of the local market by purchasing 12 properties from Accor Asia Pacific Corporation (AAPC) as part of a lease transaction.  This means that AAPC has exited the Top Ten list after just one year, allowing Daikyo to regain its position as the 10th largest owner of hotel property in Australia.

Apart from AAPC’s departure and Daikyo’s re-entry, the composition of the Top Ten list remains the same as last year.  “The survey results highlight the relatively inactive hotel investment market of the past year.  Compared to 2000, when a spate of acquisition and development activity resulted in a 17% increase in the number of rooms owned by the Top 20 companies, the local market has been relatively untouched by more recent global merger and acquisition activity and many Australian markets have completed the development phase of their cycle,” said Mr Geordie Clark, Executive Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Once again, Australian owned Grand Hotel Group and Thakral Holdings Limited have taken 2nd and 3rd place respectively with 3,255 and 2,935 rooms.  In fact, the only order change came from UK- based Six Continents Hotels and Resorts, who, through their acquisition of Canberra Parkroyal, has overtaken Singaporean Stamford Land Corporation (formerly Hai Sun Hup) to become Australia’s 4th largest owner of tourist accommodation.  

Looking at the major hotel sales of 2001, Australian hotel investors have actually increased their share of the local hotel market.  All but three of the 13 hotels sold during 2001 were purchased by domestic investors, while only 28.8% of the sales represented Australian vendors.

Commonwealth Property Hotel Fund was a major player during 2001.  As a result of the acquisition of Rockman’s Regency in Melbourne and the Renaissance Hotel, Sydney the fund has jumped from 73rd position to 13th position.

“Whilst domestic investors and owner/operators have dominated transaction activity in recent years, we anticipate a turnaround next year” said Mr Clark.   “The perception is that many Australian hotel markets are at the bottom of the hotel cycle and it is therefore considered a good time to buy.  This, combined with the value of the Australian dollar has resulted in renewed enthusiasm from overseas investors.  We are receiving strong enquiry for hotel stock in major commercial areas from a number of Asian countries and from worldwide hotel chains”.  

“However, post September 11, the price gap between owners and buyers has proven to be a deal obstacle and we expect this challenge to continue in 2002” concluded Mr Clark.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Digest Australia 2001/02 Edition, provides the latest analysis and forecasts for the country’s five major hotel markets.  The Digest features an economic report card, tourism market examination, future supply tables and an analysis of investment and management trends.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the world’s leading hotel investment services group, provides clients with value-added investment opportunities and advice.  

HSMAI EUROPEAN CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD FEB 22-24 IN FRANKFURT, GERMANY

Program’s Theme Will Be ‘The Impact of Change in a New Era’

Professionals of the hospitality, travel and tourism industry will gather in Frankfurt, Germany from Feb. 22-24, 2002 when the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) holds its European Conference, held in conjunction with the annual HSMAI German National Conference.

At the HSMAI European Conference, delegates will experience a full program packed with dynamic speakers, inspiring and interactive sessions, and social activities. The educational sessions will present valuable and timely information relative to both senior executive and manager level industry professionals.

“For this year’s conference, we have put together a program identifying the skills and knowledge necessary to shape the future of the hospitality and travel business,” stated Ingunn Hofseth, president, HSMAI Division Europe.

“Change is and will continue to be the most consistent aspect of the hospitality and travel industry. This undeniable fact is impacting every segment of the industry, and that is why all of the speakers selected have the vision of the continuous change that signals the approach of an exciting new era,” she added.

The conference will feature speakers addressing relevant topics, keeping professionals up-to-date in the hospitality marketing world. Kjell A. Nordstrom, Professor at Stockholm School of Economics and a leading figure in management training, has been brought back by popular demand and will be speaking on how to increase capital by being creative and “funky.” A dynamic and appreciated speaker, Dr. Nordstrom has served as an advisor to several large multi-national corporations, including Volvo, Ericsson, Procordia, Pharmacia and others.

Horst H. Schulze, vice chairman, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., will examine the current situations in the travel industry and make some predictions about future scenarios. Over the past two decades, under his charismatic leadership, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has been awarded the 1992 and 1999 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and has been continuously voted “best hotel company in the world” by leading convention and trade publications. In 1991, Schulze was recognized by his peers and named “corporate hotelier of the world” by Hotels Magazine.

Other presenters include: Timothy K. Durant, executive vice president and general manager, North America, Passkey.com; Stephane Beauduin, general manager, Expedia Lodging & Destinations, Europe; Petra Hedorfer, marketing manager, Deutschen Zentrale fur Tourismus e.V.; Cindy R. Novotny, speaker, trainer, consultant, “Radical Mentor” Master Connection Associates; John Fareed, principal, Hospitality Marketing Consultants, Inc.; Sal Dickinson, hospitality and tourism industry advisor, Dickinson & Associates; Robert A. Gilbert, president and CEO of HSMAI Worldwide; and many others.

Cost of registration, which includes attendance at all seminars, conference materials, “Get Together” lunches, dinner and refreshment breaks is 550 EUR for members and 690 EUR for non members – Spouses 180 EUR.

For more information or to register, HSMAI members and potential members should contact HSMAI European Division, Ann Magrit Monhof, Acting Marketing Manager, at e-mail; am@hsmai.no tel; +47 22 41 50 70 or visit our website www.hsmai.org and click on to European Division.

HANKYO TO MERGE 2 HOTEL SUBSIDIARIES

Kyodo News Service  -  Hankyu Corp. said Wednesday it will merge Hankyu Hotels Co. and Dai-Ichi Hotel Ltd., both wholly-owned subsidiaries, on April 1 in a bid to boost business efficiency.

The new firm, tentatively named Dai-Ichi Hankyu Hotels, will be capitalized at 2.05 billion yen and manage a total of 35 hotels, including 10 directly owned hotels, with a combined workforce of about 1,200, Hankyu officials said.

The 10 directly owned hotels include Hankyu Hotels' three major hotels in Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, and the Umeda district of Osaka.

The new firm, to be headquartered in Osaka or Tokyo, expects to post sales of 33 billion yen for fiscal 2002, according to Hankyu, a major railway company in the Kansai area.

Dai-Ichi Hotel runs five directly owned hotels in the Tokyo metropolitan area, while Hankyu Hotels operates five hotels in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures.

SPACE “HOTELS” TO SLINGSHOT BETWEEN EARTH AND MARS

 (Reuters) -- Futuristic space "hotels" that would employ planetary gravity to rocket between Earth and Mars are on the drawing board at Purdue University, researchers at the school said.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon and a leading booster of space tourism, is heading a team of Purdue engineers designing spacious "cycler" spacecraft to make the six- to eight-month interplanetary trips continuously.

The team envisions space "taxis" that would ferry passengers and supplies from the planetary surfaces to cycler craft speeding along at 13,000 mph (21,000 kph) as they traveled between the two planets.

The cycler craft would get "gravity assists" from the sun, the planets and their moons to "slingshot" to their destination.

"Once you put your vehicle into a cycler orbit, it continues on its own momentum, going back and forth between Earth and Mars. You may need to carry some propellant for an occasional boost, but it's pretty much a free trip after that," aeronautics professor James Longuski said in a statement.

The cycler spacecraft would be assembled in space with parts ferried aboard space shuttles. An initial model will accommodate up to 50 passengers and provide all the "creature comforts," Longuski said.

Among the potential hurdles are the varying orbits of the two planets that could make it tricky calculating the correct slingshot trajectory.

Aldrin, a 72-year-old retired astronaut and former combat fighter with a doctorate in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, targeted 2018 for an inaugural flight.

"We have to look at the configuration of those taxis and how much energy will be needed to intercept the cyclers," he said.

Reliable and reusable cycler transportation would "create an entirely new economic and philosophic approach to space exploration," Purdue researchers wrote in a December report prepared for National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

THOUSANDS OF HOTEL BEDS UNSOLD AS OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Ananova.com -  Winter Olympics organisers say thousands of hotel beds and hundreds of tickets remain unsold.

More than 120,000 hotel beds are still available in Salt Lake City where the games are taking place while tickets are still available for many of the events.

But winter sports fans have been warned that the £220 million security effort will mean they can expect to shiver for hours in sub-zero temperatures as they queue to be searched and will only be able to take in two events in any one day.

Organisers estimate it will take three to four hours to get between events in the city, and longer to go to sports such as the downhill skiing which are taking place out of town.

Hotel owners had expected a bonanza as fans flocked to the games, and many had held back beds for last-minute bookings, expecting them to be full by now.

Strict drinking rules in Utah may also be contributing to the games' failure to be a sell-out. Residents of the state are overwhelmingly Mormon and drink an average of just eight pints of beer a year.

Bars are banned from selling anything but watered-down beer which has a maximum of 3.2% alcohol, and drinkers wanting anything stronger have to join "private clubs" at a cost of five dollars (£3.50).

Restaurants serve drink, but only to people buying food - and until last year, could not even put alcoholic drinks on the menu, meaning wine lists were banned. And people are not allowed to bring alcohol across Utah's state borders, as its sale is controlled and taxed at 78.l%.

George Van Komen, chairman of Utah's Alcohol Policy Coalition, told broadcaster MSNBC: "Many people associate revelry and partying with alcohol, but that's simply not necessary. Drinks may not be as available as freely as some people might like. But it's a compromise we feel is important to keep drinks away from our young people and to keep the public safe."

To get round the restrictions, diplomats from Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Switzerland have set up temporary consulates which can sell alcohol tax-free.

COUNTRIES TAP ON CHINA MARKET FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR

Several countries are tapping on the large Chinese market to boost tourism numbers during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays.

In Thailand, grand scale celebrations are being planned in Bangkok's Chinatown.

The joint campaign organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and the Yaowarat Chinese community, is estimated to have cost the TAT 1.2 million baht (US$28,000). Yaowarat Road will be decked out and street activities like Chinese Opera, a flower festival, food stalls, and Chinese movies will be featured.

Juthamas Siriwan, acting TAT governor said the agency was expecting around 1.2 million people to visit the event held over Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

She added that 400 chartered flights had already been booked to carry the large numbers of tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong.

The Chinese market is one of the fastest growing for Thailand. Chinese arrivals to Thailand totalled 801,362 in 2001, an increase of 6.31 percent over 2000. This made China the third biggest market for Thailand in terms of arrivals with a 7.96 percent market share.

In the Philippines, The Department of Tourism has reported "100 per cent" flight bookings of Chinese tour groups from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The DoT and the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa) collaborated to prepare special package promos for February 8 - 13.

M&C APPOINTS NEW FINANCE DIRECTOR AS SIMMONDS QUITS

Gavin Simonds has resigned as finance director for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, less than seven months after taking the job.
He is replaced by David Thomas with immediate effect. Thomas has three years with M&C and moves up from VP of finance.

Thomas held top ranking finance positions with House of Fraser and Forte before joining M&C.