Newsletter - March 15, 2002

 

M&C RE-HIRES 100 SACKED HOTEL WORKERS AS NEW YORK RECOVERS


AFX News -  New York and London trade has recovered so significantly for
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels PLC in the wake of Sept 11 that the group has
re-hired some 100 of the 500 workers it sacked as part of cost-cutting last
year.

Chief executive John Wilson told a conference call that "a huge wave of
sympathy" towards New York has sent vistors swarming to the Big Apple and
lifted room occupancy a full 11 percentage points year-on-year to 78 pct in the
first two months of 2002.

In London, where the group has nine hotels, occupancy in the year to date
was 80 pct.

Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said that even with the group's shares trading at a
44 pct discount to net asset value, the group will not be selling any of its
portfolio to narrow that huge gap.

Yesterday Thistle Hotel Group PLC released around 600 mln stg by auctioning off 37 of its properties.

But the chairman seemed to signal that when industry profits and property
prices improved, Millennium would seriously consider off-loading hotels.

"We are looking at the situation and we will do it at the right time. At
the moment in our view, I think we are on the way to recovery and it would help if we do not sell, unless we get a fantastic price," he added.

Earlier, M&C complained that a weak hotel market exacerbated by the Sept 11 terror attacks was behind a near 60 pct drop in 2001 pretax profit.

But the group added that while the trading environment was currently
challenging, there were some tentative signs of an upturn in world tourism.

Pretax profit for the 12 months ended Dec was 54.2 mln stg from 129.1 mln.
However, the decline was expected and the results were in the middle of the
forecast range of 50-60 mln stg.

Millennium is holding the total dividend at 12.5 pence a share.

SPAIN’S RICHEST MAN MOVING INTO HOTELS

Amancio Ortega, who became Spain’s wealthiest man after selling 26% of fashion retailer Zara’s parent company Inditex for €2.5bn (£1.54bn) last year, is using some of his fortune to buy up hotels, reports the Financial Times.

After losing out on the five-star Hotel Arts in Barcelona to Deutsche Bank’s private equity group, Ortega and his investment company Alazán have been busy snapping up properties elsewhere.

Alazán paid €63.6m (£39.4m) for a 4.5% stake in Spanish group NH Hoteles, which has been on a shopping spree recently, buying Dutch chain Krasnapolsky and Germany’s Astron. The latter purchase was partly financed with €91m raised from the sale-and-leaseback of four Spanish hotels bought by Ortega. News of his decision to invest in NH Hoteles helped to lift the company’s shares by almost 15% last week.

According to the FT, Ortega is also in talks to form an alliance with private Barcelona chain Hoteles Hesperia, with an announcement due this week.  

PRICELINE ANNOUNCES APRIL LAUNCH FOR ASIA

Priceline.com, the name-your-own price online booking service, has announced an April launch for the Hong Kong market.

The Hutchinson Whampoa-Priceline joint venture will introduce multi-language websites where Hong Kong travellers can buy airline tickets or make hotel reservations, it said in a statement.

It is understood that  Zuji.com will be launching in the second quarter, likely just behind Priceline.com. 

HOTEL SAFETY A CRITICAL FACTOR FOR TRAVELERS

According to the results of a study conducted by Harris Interactive for SafePlace Corporation, nearly 94% of travelers surveyed say that they consider hotel safety to be an important factor when making their lodging selections during trip planning, (3/7/2002)

While surveyed travelers cited the importance of and need for adequate hotel safety, the study also showed that only about 1 out of 5 (22%) actually investigate a facility's level of safety, primarily because travelers have no idea where to obtain this information. However, 93% said they would be likely to stay in a hotel that was certified as safe versus a non-certified hotel, and more than 78% would be willing to pay more for a hotel that offered this extra measure.

In selecting a hotel, 96% of women felt safety to be important. When asked about various safety features such as security (staff background checks, electronic keys); fire safety features (detectors, sprinklers); and safe food handling, water purity and air quality, almost half of women considered security items to be a more important consideration while men viewed fire safety items as the most important issue (41%). Food handling, water purity and air quality were deemed to be less of a concern, by survey respondents.

SafePlace Corporation provides information for travelers concerning the security, health and life safety provisions of lodging establishments through independent accreditation of those facilities.
www.harrisinteractive.com
www.safeplace.com

Author:
Newsdesk, eyefortravel.com

CAN YOUR CUSTOMERS FIND YOU?

67% of the British online population now uses maps on the Internet, according to a new ICM survey in conjunction with ViaMichelin UK. (3/7/2002)

However, in the business sphere, it seems that many companies are not providing sufficient address information, or maps and directions to their nearest outlet online and as a result, could lose a third of potential customers on the internet.

84% of all internet users believe it is 'useful, essential or important' for businesses to provide online maps to find the nearest or most convenient outlet. According to the survey, if a potential customer cannot find a map or directions they require when searching for a retail outlet or business, 20% will go to a competitor's site and 11% will give up altogether.

The importance placed by consumers on being able to access clear directions and maps is shown by the length of time individuals are prepared to search for the location of a business. Nearly half, 44%, of all respondents would give up looking for a business, service or retail outlet if they had not found it within 10 minutes and only 12% of all respondents would spend longer than 30 minutes searching.

With a high percentage of internet users below 35 years old (internet penetration 43% higher than average) and the internet being a very popular medium to find products, services or business locations, the importance of providing clear online maps and directions for long term business success has never been so clear. Dan Gower, UK Business Services sales manager for ViaMichelin said: "With a staggering 97% of internet users consulting the net to find addresses of organisations, never has the provision of clear on-line maps and directions been so essential for commercial and marketing success". He continued "Through the integration of maps into a business' web site, one of the easiest ways of losing customers is also one of the easiest to rectify".

This research was conducted by ICM on behalf of ViaMichelin UK, a subsidiary company of the Michelin Group, renowned mapping and travel experts.

ICM Research interviewed a random selection of 1006 adults aged 18+ years old by telephone between 8-10 February 2002. Interviews were conducted across the U.K. and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.
www.ViaMichelin.co.uk

HALF OF ALL FIVE-STAR HOTELS IN THAILAND HAVE A SPA, REACHING A SATURATION POINT

Bangkok Post -   The fast expanding spa businesses in Thailand will reach a saturation point as early as 2005, a senior executive of an international spa operator warned yesterday. 

"Three to five years from now every [hotel] property in Thailand will have a spa and some will have to fall out from the competition," said Anna Keen, Southeast Asia spa manager for Six Senses Spas. 

According to Ms Keen, around half of all five-star hotels located in Thailand were already fitted with high-end spas and many other hotels were in the process of equipping their properties with spa facilities. 

A newcomer to Thailand, but not to Southeast Asia, the decade-old hotel and resort management group made its local debut in December with the Evason Resort Phuket, a 1.35-billion-baht project. The Evason Resort Hua Hin opened this January. 

Six Senses, formerly Soneva Fushi, operates hotels and resorts in Southeast Asia under three brands -- Soneva, Evason and Pavilion. Evason is the company's Thailand brand name. 

"There's huge potential for the spa business in Thailand. It fits into the image of what people think of Thailand," said Six Senses Spa division managing director Bernhard Bohnenberger. 

However, he stressed that Thailand needed health regulatory bodies to protect spa-goers from self-proclaimed spas that "train their staff for just a couple of weeks and then set them loose on their guests". 

Mr Bohnenberger said that Six Senses Spas, established in 1995, also planned Evason properties on Ko Samui and Ko Phangan in Surat Thani. The Evason Hideaway on Ko Samui is set for completion in October 2003, while the Ko Phangan property is still under negotiation. 

Meanwhile, the hotel management division of Six Senses Spa is in talks with other hotel owners in Phuket, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong who want to add luxury spas. 

Mr Bohnenberger said that the company received 65-70 percent of overall revenues that each contracted hotel earned from its spa, which covered overhead costs from staff salaries to work permits. 

The investment in each spa, including construction and equipment, was 20-25 million baht, he said. 

Because Six Senses aimed to open a maximum of only four resorts a year, split between its own Evasons and other hotels, Mr Bohnenberger said the company was being extremely selective about prospective partners. 

"Six Senses is investing in Thailand now, because we want to benefit from the long-term business we are sure to have once there's more awareness of the Six Senses brand," said Ms Keen, who moved to the company from managing the world-renowned Chiva-Som health resort in Hua Hin. 

Currently the company aims to draw in 15 percent of the total guests at hotels with a Six Senses Spa, but Ms Keen says that is conservative, claiming that the spa will be able to double, or even triple that ratio within another five years. 

"Today it's the resort that sells spa services. But I want to shift that. My idea is to make Six Senses Spa a name that can sell resorts. I want people to choose to stay in a resort branded with a Six Senses Spa," she said. 

Six Senses' five star spa resorts have carved out a niche in the market with a select clientele and are located in the Maldives, Vietnam, Bali and Thailand. 

VIP INTERNATIONAL EXPANDS WITH EUROPEAN ACQUISITION

VIP International Corporation, one of the world's largest reservation service providers, purchased the assets of UK-based HotelWorld Global from Associated Newspapers Group. With the purchase, VIP International increases its global portfolio of 2000 hotels by 16 per cent. HotelWorld Global is the trading name of Associated Electronic Hotel Services Limited.

"This acquisition is part of VIP International's strategy to add value to our clients and shareholders," said Kelly Blake, president of VIP International Corporation. "The purchase of HotelWorld's assets, and the addition of the 326 hotels throughout Europe to VIP International's portfolio, provides VIP International with an increased presence in the lucrative European travel and tourism market."

"We believe there is a strong niche for a reservation services company that provides the level of service we have consistently provided for our clients, and we are confident that this will help our future marketing plans in Europe," added Rita Emmer, vice president of sales for VIP International.

The majority of VIP International's new hotel clients are located in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Poland and Cyprus.

VIP International Corporation (www.vipintcorp.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of HARS Systems, Inc., provides electronic distribution and marketing services for thousands of hotels and car rental locations around the world. VIP International is the central point of distribution to every viable Internet travel Web site, including VIP's proprietary Web site (www.CarsAndHotels.com), and all of the major travel agent computer reservation systems (Global Distribution Systems.) With 22 years of GDS expertise, and a history of unparalleled client-focused service and marketing support, VIP International is positioned to provide the premier reservations solution available today.

With its World Headquarters in Calgary, Canada, VIP International has business development offices in Denver and Kansas City, USA; Toronto, Canada; London, England; Hong Kong, China; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. HARS Systems, Inc. is traded on the CDNX under the symbol HSS.

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. While these statements reflect HARS Systems, Inc.'s (the Corporation) current beliefs, they are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include, but are not limited to, the demand for the Corporation's products and services, economic and competitive conditions. The Canadian Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not take responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.