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INDUSTRY NEWS & PEOPLE  August 2008
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6 Airlines Join Venture To Sell Ad Space On Boarding Passes
Six US airlines have taken equity stakes in Sojern, an advertising placement company whose first vehicle will be the boarding passes their passengers print out at home before heading to the airport. The boarding passes will not actually carry airline ads. Nor will they promote alcohol, firearms, ammunition, fireworks, gambling, pornography, tobacco, politics or religion. But they will carry other advertiser messages as well as weather forecasts and event and restaurant information of individual travelers’ destinations.
Demographically, Sojern’s target audience is enviable. The company points out that nearly 40 percent of American adults fly at least once a year, and nearly 60 percent of all passengers are frequent flyers who average nine round trips a year. These travelers are “far more likely than the average consumer” to have a college degree, professional job and high income.
Delta was the first of the six airlines to sport the new format on its boarding passes. The other six (American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways) plan to launch Sojern’s service to their domestic customers as it matches their marketing plans through the remainder of the year.
Despite its aviation industry connection, Omaha-based Sojern is primarily funded by two venture capital firms, Norwest Venture Partners and Trident Capital. Their first round investment in Sojern was $16 million.
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AA Accelerates Retirement Of MD-80s
American Airlines will take delivery of another six Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2010, a move that will enable the airline to accelerate the replacement of less fuel-efficient MD-80 jets. American is now scheduled to receive 36 Boeing 737-800s in 2009 and 40 in 2010.
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Accor Grants Third Board Seat To Largest Shareholders
Buyout companies Colony Capital and Eurazeo, Accor’s biggest shareholders, have been awarded a third seat on Accor’s board of directors after promising not to seek control of the Paris-based hotel company. Colony and Eurazeo own a 21.6 percent stake in Accor.
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ACTE Says New Laptop Guidelines Are A Good Start
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has called the recent publication of guidelines regarding laptop inspections and seizures by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a partial victory for the business traveler. According to the ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley, the guidelines – now on the CBP website – are the first public description of the inspection process and appear to limit the amount of time electronic devices and data can be held, while also mandating that data declared free of criminal activity be destroyed.
However, additional clauses in the guidelines indicate that any seized material could be shared with foreign government authorities who would likely not be bound by these guidelines nor any U.S. law, said ACTE. While the guidelines specify any seized data must be destroyed, there is no specified procedure for doing so, nor required process for confirmation, ACTE added.
“Then there is still the issue of how data is stored while CBP authorities and assisting agencies determine whether or not the information has a criminal application,” said Gurley. “The tone of the guidelines suggests they are written for the protection and consideration of the traveler, with an emphasis on expediting the inspection process. Yet the ‘expediency’ described in the guidelines can take months.
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ACTE Seeks Board Nominations
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is seeking professionals who want to serve on ACTE’s board of directors. All terms will run from Jan. 1, 2009 through December 2011. ACTE seeks to fill spots for Asia-Pacific, Canada and at-large directors as well as treasurer-elect. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 1, except for the Canada position, which is Sept. 15. Nominations can be made at www.acte.org.
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ACTE: FAA Computer Glitch A Warning Sign
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) says a computer glitch at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) center near Atlanta on Tuesday was “yet another symptom of the ailing infrastructure supporting the nation’s airways.” A software malfunction at center, where the FAA processes flight plans, delayed hundreds of flights across the country. “Business travelers have grown accustomed to delays,” said ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley. “But they expect them from weather, the occasional mechanical problem or congestion. The fact that a system like this can fail, and be supported by limited back-up, suggests there is considerable room for improvement.
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Aeromexico Increases Detroit-Monterrey Service
Aeromexico will double its service between Detroit and Monterrey, Mexico, on October 15. The airline will operate the route six days per week, up from the three-weekly flights it launched in April. All six flights will continue to provide single-plane service through to Mexico City.
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AirTran Wins GSA Contract For 119 City Pairs In 2009
The US General Services Administration has awarded AirTran Airways 119 city pair contracts for federal employee travel for the 2009 fiscal year. These contracts have an estimated value of more than $47 million, a nearly 30 percent increase over last year. Last year, GSA awarded AirTran Airways 118 city pairs for government travel during the 2008 fiscal year, worth approximately $36 million.
AirTran’s new contract includes 43 city pairs from Atlanta; 14 from Orlando; 12 out of Baltimore/ Washington; 10 from Fort Lauderdale; and 9 from Tampa.
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Alaska Air Employee Allegedly Caught Stealing
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, have notified about 1,500 customers of payment card misuse by a former call center employee. Alaska Air said the employee processed payments for ticket changes to a personal account between August 2006 and June 2008. Customers are not being held responsible for any repayment. The airline is encouraging affected customers to review payment card statements to ensure there have not been any unauthorized transactions.
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Alaska Airlines Told To Compensate Laid-off Baggage Handlers
A federal arbitrator has ruled that Alaska Airlines violated a collective-bargaining agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers when the carrier laid off 500 Seattle baggage handlers and other ramp workers in May 2005. The ruling comes more than three years after Alaska Airlines subcontracted its entire ground-handling operation at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Menzies Aviation. The federal arbitrator ruled that outsourcing to Menzies cost Alaska more than what it would have cost to use its own employees. The arbitrator instructed Alaska and the union to negotiate compensation for laid-off workers.
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Alaska Cancels Flights To Avoid Ash From Volcano Eruption In Aleutians
Alaska Airlines canceled about 40 flights to and from the Alaska destinations of Adak, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka late Sunday and early Monday morning because of volcanic ash. After the Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutian Islands erupted last week, ash drifted over southeast Alaska and parts of western Canada. Among the canceled flights were trips to Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
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Aloft Opens Minneapolis Hotel
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has opened the Aloft Minneapolis in the downtown Mill District. The new-build, 155-room hotel is located on Washington Avenue South, along the city’s river bluffs.
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American Backs Flight Attendants’ Evacuation Decision
American Airlines says its flight attendants took appropriate action by evacuating an August 5 flight via inflatable chutes after an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Some news reports and blogs had suggested that the overreacted. The flight, bound for Honolulu from Los Angeles, returned to LAX shortly after takeoff because of smoke in the cabin.
“The flight attendants acted appropriately to evacuate Flight 31, and in fact, the evacuation was accomplished quickly, exactly according to procedure and with only very minor injuries, which are common in slide evacuations,” says an AA announcement. The airline indicated that oil residue heated by the engine caused the smoke, according to the airline, and the odor of the oil and a smoky haze entered the cabin through the air conditioning system.
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American Express: Domestic Fares Up 10%, International 11%
The average one-way, domestic airfare paid by American Express Business Travel clients in the second quarter rose 10 percent year-over-year to $260, according to the company’s Business Travel Monitor. The figure was a seven-year high for the second quarter, according to the company.
International fares also rose substantially in the second quarter: 11 percent to $1,980 -- that's a record for the Business Travel Monitor since its inception in 1999. Forty-nine percent of international tickets in the second quarter were business-class tickets, the lowest percentage since the third quarter of 2004, said American Express.
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American Launches In-flight Wi-Fi Service On 767-200s
American Airlines has launched in-flight mobile broadband service, Gogo™ by Aircell®, on its Boeing 767-200 aircraft flying nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami. Gogo will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all cabins for $12.95, payable by credit card. The Aircell technology will be trialed on AA's 15 Boeing 767-200s for three to six months.
Once the aircraft has reached 10,000 feet, users can simply turn on their Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, open their browsers and be directed to the Gogo portal page where they sign up and begin surfing. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet access, enabling passengers to surf the web, check e-mail, instant message and access a corporate VPN. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are not available.
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AmEx: Biz Travel Costs Skyrocket in Asia-Pacific Region
There is little relief for corporations struggling to keep control of rising travel costs in the Asia Pacific region, according to American Express’ Asia Pacific Business Travel Monitor for the second quarter of 2008. Asia Pacific published fares were up 3% overall quarter over quarter and 9% year over year. Fueling this increase were flights originating in Asia Pacific going to Asia Pacific destinations, which rose 5% quarter over quarter. Both full business class and full economy class saw increases of 3% quarter over quarter.
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AMR To Sell $300 Million In Stock
AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, has announced plans sell up to $300 million in the company’s common stock. According to an August 22 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Merrill Lynch, AMR’s sales agent, will sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange “from time to time.
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Amtrak Considers Adding Service In Oklahoma & Texas
With its Heartland Flyer service between Oklahoma city and Fort Worth showing marked increases in ridership, Amtrak officials say the departments of transportation in both states are considering adding service to Tulsa and between Austin and San Antonio as well.
Attributing the current increases to avoidance of the high cost of driving, Amtrak says ridership on its daily Heartland trains on the 206-mile route between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth was up 17 percent for the 10 months. Amtrak operates the Heartland Flyer (Trains 821 & 822) under contracts with the Oklahoma and Texas state transportation departments. These are two of the 14 states for which Amtrak operates service that supplements the national network of Amtrak trains.
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ANA Seeks Price Increases For NA Operations In 4th Quarter
ANA Group has applied to the Japanese government for permission to raise normal fares for travel to and from Japan, effective October 1, and to raise its fuel surcharge on international flights in the fourth quarter.
If approved, the changes will increase all types of ANA fares from Japan to North America (including Hawaii) by 10 percent; and those between Japan and destinations in Southeast Asia, India, China, Korea, Guam, the Middle East and Africa, by 5 percent. For example, weekday flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo (now $7, 643, according to the airline) would become $8,407.
If allowed, the fuel charge increase would be approved for only three months and would be $312 for flights to North America (to $208 for flights to Hawaii) and would be rescinded if the three-month average price for Singapore kerosene falls below $60 per barrel
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ARC Adds Two African Airlines To Service Roster
Air Burkina, based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (formerly known as Upper Volta in West Africa), and Precision Air, headquartered in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, have joined the Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) as participating carriers.
Air Burkina operates scheduled flights between Paris Orly Airport (ORY), Ouagadougou (OUA), Niamey, Cotonou (COO), Dakar (DKR), Lome (LFW), Bobo Dioulasso (BOY), Bamako (BKO), Accra (ACC) and Abidjan (ABJ). It is displayed on all four major GDSs: Amadeus, Galileo Sabre and Worldspan.
Precision Air operates domestic scheduled flights between Dar-es-Salaam (home of Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti Game Park and the Ngorogoro Crater) and Mwanza; Arusha; Musoma; Shinyanga, and Kigoma. It plans to offer add international destinations in the near future, including Johannesburg in South Africa, Luanda in Angola, and Lubumbashi in Congo (DRC).
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ATA Sues Government Over Slot Auctions
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), a trade organization representing US airlines, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), responding to the FAA’s decision to auction takeoff and landing slots at Newark and other airports.
“FAA's claim that it can use its property-management authority to auction slots is intellectually dishonest and a disturbing end-run around Congress," says ATA President and CEO James May. "Every transportation administration except this one has acknowledged that it does not have the authority to implement auctions and other so-called market mechanisms. Yet this administration believes it can ignore the statutory limits of its authority to remake the industry as it sees fit.
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As Stockholder Vote Nears, Delta & Northwest Prepare To Merge
On September 25, Northwest and Delta airlines will hold shareholder meetings in New York and Atlanta, respectively, to vote on the airlines’ proposed merger. If the deal is approved, Northwest shareholders would receive one-and-a-quarter Delta shares for every Northwest share they own, and Northwest would become an operating subsidiary of Delta.
Delta has already announced the executive team that will lead the airline if the merger is approved. Current Delta CEO Richard Anderson would retain the CEO post and current Northwest CEO Doug Steenland would occupy a seat on the new Delta’s board of directors. During the transition period, Ed Bastian, Delta’s current president and CFO, would also become CEO and president of Northwest. Mike Becker, currently senior vice president of human resources and labor relations at Northwest, would become executive vice president and chief operating officer of Northwest.
Northwest has already announced that it will reduce its frontline and management employees by 2,500 as a result of a capacity reduction in the fourth quarter. First cuts will be voluntary, then furloughs will fill any remaining workforce reduction needs.
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Auberge Opens New Mexico Resort
Encantado, Auberge Resorts’ newest property, opened last week in Tesuque, NM, just outside of Santa Fe. The resort borders the 1.6 million-acre Santa Fe National Forest on the site formerly occupied by Rancho Encantado. Each of Encantado’s 65 casitas has private terraces, kiva-style fireplaces and bathrooms with deep, soaking tubs and heated floors. The resort features a spa and Terra, a fine-dining restaurant serving rustic cuisine.
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Austria Selling Stake In National Airline
The government of Austria is inviting airlines to submit bids for its 43 percent stake in Austrian Airlines. The government is requiring that Austrian interests own 25 percent of the carrier after a sale. According to published reports, Lufthansa is a favorite to acquire the Austrian Airlines stake. Air France-KLM, Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines are reportedly contenders.
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Avis Survey Quantifies Time Lost On The Road
Avis Rent A Car System's annual study of business travel delays shows that business travelers are using the company's GPS navigation device to cut the time they lose by getting lost when they're walking as well as when they're driving. Drivers were lost 10 percent less this year than last. But the study also found that one in five renters are getting lost while walking around, and that 28 percent more women drivers get lost than men.
The survey also revealed that an average of:
* 24.3 minutes are lost at high, bridge and tunnel tolls.
* 43.3 minutes, getting lost while driving.
* 33.6 minutes, getting lost while walking.
* 71.9 minutes, sitting in traffic.
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Avis, Budget Offering Backseat DVD Players
Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car are teaming up with Coby Electronics to begin offering portable DVD players for rent at locations throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The service, called Flicks-To-Go(tm), features Coby Electronics' TF-DVD 7050 portable DVD player, which can be easily attached to the back of a car's headrest.
The Flicks-To-Go service is available for $13.95 per day or $69.75 per week and can be requested at the counter or via the Avis reservation center.
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BA Reveals Plan To Integrate L’Avion With OpenSkies
British Airways was so confident last month of receiving regulatory approval for the acquisition of French business-class carrier L’Avion, that it included no “pending” wordage to its announcement of June statistics. The purchase agreement was announced on July 2; June statistics, on July 3, full integration will be in 2009.
The purchase price was pegged at approximately $107 million. Assuming that approval is delivered quickly before August, according to the BA estimate — integration of L’Avion with OpenSkies should be quick and easy. OpenSkies and L’Avion were already codesharing. In June, OpenSkies launched daily flights between Paris Orly and New York. L’Avion operates between Paris Orly and Newark. British Airways says the combined airline will operate up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and the New York area using Boeing 757 aircraft.
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Best Western Denies Report Of Catastrophic Data Breach
Best Western says a story by the Sunday Herald of Scotland, which reported that hackers accessed the hotel’s reservations system and stole the identities (including credit card numbers) of 8 million customers, was “largely erroneous.” The company confirmed that on August 21, three separate attempts were made via a single log-on ID to access data from a single hotel -- the 107-room Best Western Hotel am Schloss Kopenick in Berlin, Germany -- but that the data of only 10 customers was in jeopardy. A Trojan horse virus was detected by the hotel’s anti-virus software, the log-in ID was immediately terminated and the computer in question was removed from use, says Best Western, adding that there was no evidence of unauthorized access to data for any other Best Western hotel.
The Sunday Herald reported that, according to its own investigation, an “Indian hacker successfully breached the IT defenses of the Best Western Hotel group's online booking system and sold details of how to access it through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia.” The newspaper, which did not attribute its findings to any source, said the data heist could ultimately net the thieves $5 billion.
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Best Western Turns Virtual Fam Trip Into A Game
Best Western International has launched "Taking Care of Business," a new online game that will allow business travelers across North America to take virtual tours of Best Western guest rooms and win instant prizes. Now through September 18, individuals can go online and explore a virtual Best Western guest room's features and amenities, as well as its locations around the world and its loyalty program. Prizes in the game include free room nights, gas for a year, airline miles, a wardrobe makeover and a seven-day vacation for four.
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BMO Teams With Ariba On Payment Solution
BMO Spend & Payment Solutions, a division of BMO Financial Group and a commercial card issuer has partnered with spend-management solutions provider Ariba to offer a payment-settlement solution. The companies said the integrated product automates purchase order, invoice receipt, invoice reconciliation and settlement processes; effects payments through purchasing cards and electronic funds transfers; and monitors and controls contract creation and performance.
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Boyd Gaming Delays Construction Of Vegas Resort Development
Boyd Gaming has decided to delay construction of its Echelon resort project on the Las Vegas Strip due to “the difficult environment surrounding today’s capital markets and the challenging economic conditions that currently exist.” Boyd said it expects to resume construction when credit market conditions and the overall outlook for the economy improve. Echelon, originally scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2010, is a four-hotel, 5,000-room, $4.8 billion project. Boyd is slated to manage the Echelon Resort, and Delano, Mondrian and Shangri-La hotels are also part of the plan.
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Candlewood Debuts New Hotel Design
IHG has announced that its new Candlewood Suites prototype design has debuted with the opening of the Candlewood Suites Sheridan in Sheridan, Wyo. The extended-stay hotel features a “comfortable residential look and feel incorporating a new exterior design and paint scheme, an expanded lobby and environmentally-friendly amenities,” IHG said.
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Carlson Hotels Enriches Web Sites
Carlson Hotels Worldwide is placing rich media content and destination information on the web sites its five hotel brands: Regent, Radisson, Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, Park Plaza and Park Inn. The enhancements are being implemented through services offered by 10Best and VFM Interactive. A first phase of the project includes 10Best’s content development for all Carlson hotel web sites by professional travel writers and editors, highlighting the most popular things to do in areas near the hotel. VFM will produce and distribute photos, photo-montage videos and full-motion videos for Carlson hotels worldwide.
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Choice Inks Development Deal For Three Hotel Brands
Lodging franchisor Choice Hotels International and Och-Ziff Real Estate Acquisitions have formed of a joint venture to provide majority equity to developers interested in building Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay hotels in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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Christopherson Joins Virtuoso To Appeal To MICE Market
Christopherson Travel in Salt Lake City, Utah has joined the Virtuoso luxury travel network, giving it access to special upgrades, amenities, values and “rare travel experiences” that are expected to be of special interest to companies that offer employee incentive plans and plan group meetings and conferences. Less than one percent of travel agencies in America are admitted for membership in Virtuoso, according to Christopherson’s Merri Lou Martin.
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Cincinnati Airport Concourse To Go Dark After Delta Leaves
Delta will transfer operations now at Concourse C at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport to Concourses A and B in January. Delta currently is the lone occupant of Concourse C. Delta says it and the airport will add at least 11 passenger-loading bridges in Concourses A and B over the next two to three years, ultimately eliminating ground-level boarding of Delta flights.
The move will not directly result in additional schedule changes, says Delta, because the move was made possible by changes previously completed or announced in response to record-high fuel costs. Comair, Delta’s regional subsidiary, is the largest operator at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky.
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Clear Gets OK To Resume Enrollment
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has permitted Verified Identity Pass to resume selling memberships for its Clear registered-traveler service, after ascertaining that Clear has met program-encryption standards for enrollment computers. TSA suspended Clear enrollment last week after the company reported a missing laptop containing unencrypted personal information of about 33,000 customers. The laptop was later recovered by Clear officials and voluntarily surrendered to TSA officials for forensic examination. After a company investigation, Clear said no one had tried to access the data, but TSA said the results of its forensic examination “remain under review.”
TSA said it will conduct random audits of Clear operations at airports across the country “to further ensure compliance.” TSA has also asked Clear “to provide a comprehensive report detailing the status of all security features associated with the Clear program and to conduct a new and complete annual audit consistent with program standards.
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Clear Loses Laptop With Customers’ Personal Info
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of a laptop on July 26 that contained unencrypted data of approximately 33,000 customers of Clear, which provides fast-lane access through airport security in exchange for a membership fee and the submission of biometric data. Clear said the laptop was found on Tuesday in the same office at San Francisco International Airport where it was reported missing, and that a preliminary investigation revealed that no data was accessed. The laptop was turned over to TSA for forensic examination. Meanwhile, TSA suspended enrollment in the Clear program while it investigates Clear’s information systems and data-security processes. TSA noted that Clear customers still will be able to access fast lanes through airport security.
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Continental Relaxes Rules On Same-Day Flight Changes
Continental Airlines now allows customers with restricted tickets to make changes to flights within 24 hours of their original scheduled departure. Previously, the airline permitted customers to choose only from flights that were departing within three hours of their original scheduled departure.
The same-day change option is available 24 hours before the original scheduled flight and remains available until that flight is closed for check-in. Inside of this time frame, customers may select another flight that departs earlier, later or even on a different day, so long as it departs no more than 12 hours from when the request is made. Continental’s fee for same-day flight changes is $50 ($25 for Platinum and Gold Elite members of OnePass).
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Continental To Link Newark And Shanghai
Continental will begin daily, nonstop service between Newark and Shanghai on March 25, 2009. The flight will feature movies in Mandarin and English on the in-flight entertainment system, an audio channel with traditional and popular Chinese music and Chinese newspapers for business-class customers, and in-flight menus developed by chefs based in the US and in China. A Mandarin-speaking flight attendant will assist customers in-flight, and Mandarin-speaking agents will be available to help customers at check-in.
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Convinced Wi-Fi’s A Necessity, Motel 6 Rolls It Out In 5 Months
Accor North America, has completed installation of wireless, high-speed Internet access in all its Motel 6 and Studio 6 propertoes.
Motel 6 has made a point of avoiding “unnecessary amenities” at its properties in order to offer “the lowest rate of any national chain.” But once convinced, brand owner Accor North American wasted no time in acting on its new-found conviction. Now available nationwide, high speed Internet access is available for $2.99 per 24-hour period.
Worked aggressively with AT&T and Teledex, the company completed installation of wireless, high speed Internet access in the properties in less than five months. Such a project, says Accor, would normally take almost a year to complete. The partnership with AT&T will continue under terms of a $9 million, three-year agreement for continued services, including the ability to expand to higher levels of bandwidth are required.
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Cornerstone Settles In Bangalore As Start Of International Growth
Cornerstone Information Systems says it plans to open an office in Bangalore, India, as the first step in an international growth plan. The company stresses that this is an expansion move rather than outsourcing, and is based on its belief that local development, systems and support resources that are aware of the local business needs and culture are the key to successfully entering new markets.
“Our aim is to continue being just the right size and just in time for the opportunities that arise in each market,” explains Mat Orrego, president of Cornerstone. “Cornerstone’s success has been based on this philosophy, and it has given Cornerstone and its customers an advantage year after year.”
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CWT Acquires Final Portion Of Long-time Partner In India
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has acquired the remaining 24 percent of shares in Indtravels Private from AFL Private, its joint venture partner in India. The travel management company is now known as CWT India Private (CWT India). Carlson claims CWT India is a market leader with 12 offices across 10 cities and more than 1,000 employees. The CWT and AFL association in India dates back more than 11 years, beginning with a partnership that transformed into a joint venture in 2000. Praveen Gandhi, will remain as CEO of CWT India.
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Country Inns & Suites Opens In Atlanta
A new Country Inn & Suites By Carlson has opened in Atlanta’s Buckhead section. The 123-room hotel an outdoor pool, a fitness center and a meeting room that can accommodate 50 people.
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Crowne Plaza Times Square Renamed, Outfitted With Butler Floor
Broadway 49 -- Times Square, the new name of the Crowne Plaza Times Square -- is putting the finishing touches on an $85-million dollar reinvention. The renovated hotel will have an exclusive Butler Floor comprised of 16 rooms. Complimentary services will include private transportation to the hotel, in-room check-in and check-out, packing and unpacking services, laundry pressing and dry cleaning. The Concierge Levels (floors 41 to 45) consist of 128 guest rooms, all of which feature views of Times Square, wireless and hard-wired Internet usage and access to a private business center.
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Crowne Plaza To Open In Mazatlan This Winter
International Hotels Group will open the 72-room Crowne Plaza Mazatlan in Mazatlan, Mexico, this December as part of the large Marina Mazatlan complex. The complex contains a golf course, a marina for 1,000 watercraft, offices and residential zones with houses and condominiums.
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CWT Publishes New Edition Of Travel Management Booklet
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has released the second edition of “Effective Travel Management,” a 36-page booklet featuring eight levers companies can use to optimize their travel program. Since the first edition was published in 2005, several updates and enhancements have been made to reflect the evolving priorities of travel managers and buyers, says a CWT spokesman. Updates include integrating demand management and corporate social responsibility into the travel program, as well as exercising greater control over ground transportation spending. The complete text is available on CWT’s web site.
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Dan Hotels Ventures Outside Israel
Israeli hospitality company Dan Hotels is expanding into India, where it has agreed to develop new hotels. Construction of the first of the new Dan hotels in India will begin in the next few months in Bangalore, and is scheduled to be completed by 2011. More hotels will follow throughout India, says Dan, which owns 13 properties in Israel.
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Davidson Adds 2 Florida Hotels To Management Portfolio
Davidson Hotel Company has signed to manage two additional Florida hotels, the 341-room Sheraton Orlando-Downtown Hotel and the 332-room Miami Mart Airport Hotel. The properties are owned by CF Hospitality and SF Hotels, both privately-held Florida companies.
The 12-story Miami Mart Airport Hotel adjoins the Miami International Merchandise Mart and is within minutes of such area attractions as South Beach, Bayside Marketplace, The Venetian Pool, The Biltmore, Biscayne National Park, and family-themed locales like Jungle Island, Miami Metrozoo, and Monkey Jungle. The 15-story Sheraton Orlando-Downtown Hotel is near Lake Ivanhoe and near such local attractions as Universal Studios and Disney-themed parks, as well as corporate offices for Wachovia, BellSouth and SunTrust.
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Delta Adding Flights To Manaus & Recife, Brazil, In December
Delta plans to launch two new routes to Brazil in December. Beginning December 19, it will operate daily, nonstop service between Atlanta and Manaus. Then, on December 22, it will launch service between Atlanta and Fortaleza via Recife. This service will operate four days per week.
The new service increases to 32 the number of weekly flights Delta offers between the US and Brazil.
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Delta Draws Down On Entire $1 Billion Credit Facility
Delta has borrowed the entire amount of its $1 billion revolving credit facility, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The airline says it borrowed the entire amount to increase its cash balance with the Northwest-Delta merger looming: “We believe this will provide us with the utmost in flexibility, at minimal cost, as we prepare for this critical transition.
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Delta To Equip Fleet With Wireless Internet
Delta will enable passengers to access the Internet onboard domestic flights, starting this fall. Access will be available to customers for a flat fee of $9.95 on flights of three hours or less and $12.95 on flights of more than three hours. The service will be offered initially on Delta’s fleet of 133 MD88/90 aircraft and will expand to the remaining domestic fleet of more than 200 Boeing 737, 757 and 767-300 aircraft throughout the first half of 2009. The airline expects to have more than 330 aircraft complete by next summer. Delta, like American Airlines and Virgin America, is partnering with Aircell to make an air-to-ground connection possible. Virgin America also intends to equip its entire fleet with the service, but American is targeting transcontinental flights only.
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Delta To Move Mumbai Flights From NYC To Atlanta
Delta will launch daily, nonstop service between Atlanta and Mumbai on November 1, and will cease New York flights to and from India’s largest city on that day. Delta says the size and scope of its Atlanta hub makes it best suited for the capacity of the Boeing 777-200LR used on the route, in terms of cargo and passenger lift. Delta has been operating New York-Mumbai service since April.
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Delta, American & Continental Waive Baggage Fees For Military Personnel
Delta, American and Continental airlines have all waived excess baggage fees for active military personnel. Delta says its waivers apply to baggage quantity, weight and size, allowing active servicemen and women to travel with optimum flexibility. American and Continental are extending their waivers of checked bag fees for active and veteran US military personnel to the third bag after learning that the military reimbursement process was creating a hardship, especially for soldiers traveling to war zones. The airlines had already waived fees for first and second checked bags.
“We always understood that soldiers traveling on duty were reimbursed by the military for the fees on required excess baggage. However, after recently hearing of the burden the military reimbursement process put on soldiers traveling to war zones, the choice for us to forgo payment for a third checked bag from the Department of Defense was clear,” says Tom Del Valle, American's senior vice president for airport services.
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Denver CVB Site Adds Carbon Calculator For Meeting Planners
The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB) web site has unveiled a carbon calculator and offset program to help event planners green their meetings and events. The site allows individuals or groups to measure their carbon footprint using an online carbon calculator, and then offers the option to purchase carbon offsets to support new, verifiable, greenhouse gas reduction projects in Colorado which deliver both environmental and social benefits.
According to Richard Scharf, president & CEO of the Denver Metro CVB,
one in three meeting planners have been told by their delegates to only meet in green destinations. The same study found Denver to be one of the top three greenest cities, he adds.
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Dolce Tweaks Company Name
Conference center operator Dolce International has changed its name to Dolce Hotels and Resorts, saying the new name “more accurately reflects the breadth and caliber of services and amenities that will soon be offered to its meetings, leisure and individual business travel clients and guests.” A new partnership with Broadreach Capital will enable Dolce to grow significantly; $100 million in capital improvements is being invested at several properties.
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DOT And Airport Authority Butt Heads Over Slot Auctions
The Department of Transportation will auction takeoff and landing slots at Newark Airport on Sept. 3. The slots, which were to be allocated to Eos before it went out of business, will enable the winner to operate daily at Newark, said the DOT. However, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the airport’s operator, plans to block any flights operated by auction winners at New York-area airports.
The DOT maintains slot auctions promote airport competition, and that auction proceeds will be used to reduce airport congestion. The port authority disagrees; it says slot auctions will result in higher tickets prices and a drop in service to secondary cities. Plus, the port authority said slot auctions are illegal without congressional authorization. The airlines are on the port authority’s side, as the Air Transport Association (a trade group representing major U.S. airlines) has vowed to “sue to prevent this illegal action.
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Doubletree Opens Tenth Hotel In North Carolina
Doubletree Hotels has opened the Doubletree Hotel Rocky Mount, the brand’s tenth hotel in North Carolina. Rocky Mount is 50 miles from Raleigh-Durham in the Coastal Plains of North Carolina. The 166-room hotel is adjacent to the Gateway Convention Center.
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Egencia Unveils New Tools, Pursues Wider Market
Egencia, which changed its name from Expedia(r) Corporate Travel just last month, is introducing new tools for business travelers, travel managers and travel bookers.
• SeatGuru: an interactive airplane seat selection tool that integrates frequent business travelers’ observations regarding the convenience and comfort of different seats for over 275 airplanes and more than 40 airlines.
• Hotel Reviews: leisure and business traveler feedback on the hotel search results page.
• TripAdvisor(r) City Guides.
• Ticket Performance Report: data on unused tickets, including usage of unused ticket inventory, review of tickets that are about to expire, evaluation of lost credits and overall savings.
• the ability to easily configure how hotels are displayed based on preferred suppliers, as well as deliver personalized messages to travelers.
The new name is meant to establish Egencia as a standalone company within Expedia Inc. as it pursues the global market. “Egencia” is also the name of a European company acquired by Expedia in 2004. Executive teams in the newly-named company will remain the same.
Egencia currently has 10 points of sale in its global footprint: Belgium. Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, the UK and the US. The company has also announced that Egencia Canada has agreed to acquire Synergi Global Travel Management, a corporate travel management, meetings and incentives company based in Mississauga, Ontario.
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Embassy Suites Pipeline Looks To 300-hotel Goal For 2010
Saying it is experiencing its strongest development pipeline in its history, Embassy Suites Hotels has announced that it expects to open 62 new franchised hotels within the next three years. Many will feature the company's Design Option III prototype, with emphasizes efficient use of land and lower construction costs.
With 192 hotels already in operation, "we are well on our way to exceeding our goal of 300 hotels open, under construction or in the pipeline by 2010," says Jim Holthouser, senior vice president of brand development.
Development is being fuels through a combination of new builds, conversions, adaptive reuse, and mixed use properties. While focusing on downtown and urban locations domestically, Embassy Suites is also expanding its growth in Latin America. In the next three years, the brand has scheduled openings in Valencia, Venezuela; San Jose, Costa Rica; Tijuana, Mexico; and Panama City, Panama. Urban, downtown locations in primary markets include Denver, CO; New Orleans, LA; Memphis, TN; Houston, TX; St. Louis, MO; and Miami, FL. Airport locations will also be a major focus, in both secondary and tertiary markets, including: Columbus, OH; Jacksonville, FL; Tucson, AZ; and Indianapolis, IN.
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Enterprise’s Ethanol-fueled Cars Arrive In South Florida
Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s location in Hallandale Beach (in South Florida’s Broward County), is now offering vehicles that run on E85 fuel. Approximately a quarter of the vehicles at the branch have the ability to run on E85 fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. E85 has been available primarily in the Midwest, according to Enterprise, but availability is growing in other parts of the country, including the Southeast.
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European Commission Approves Delta-Northwest Merger
Delta and Northwest have received unconditional clearance from the European Commission on the airlines' proposed merger. Delta said the European Commission concluded that the merger would not hinder competition in Europe and on transatlantic routes. The airlines, which intend to finalize the merger by the end of the year, have yet to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Expedia Signs Preferred-Supplier Deal With Thrifty
Thrifty Car Rental has expanded its existing relationship with Expedia. Under a multi-year agreement, Thrifty will join the Expedia Preferred Rental Car Program on Expedia.com and Expedia.ca, where Thrifty said it can effectively expand its online presence.
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FAA Threatens To Withdraw Funding To New York-Area Airports
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated an investigation to determine whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will violate federal regulations if it follows through with its proposal to bar airlines from using takeoff and landing slots at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports if the slots are acquired by auction. The three airports received a total of $27 million in grants from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program during fiscal year 2008, said the FAA.
Under law, airports receiving federal grants are required to provide airlines with “reasonable and nondiscriminatory access” to their facilities, the FAA says. As part of its investigation, the FAA says it will evaluate whether the Port Authority’s August 4 proposal is unlawfully interfering with the airlines’ ability to access takeoff and landing slots at the airports by discouraging bidders from participating in slot auctions. If the FAA finds that the proposal by the Port Authority is discouraging open access to the airports, the port authority may no longer be eligible for FAA grants, or payments under existing grants, until the matter is resolved, says the agency.
The FAA’s first slot auction in the New York area is scheduled on September 3, when two slots at Newark will be up for bid. The Department of Transportation believes that slot auctions will increase competition at New York-area airports, and that the proceeds from auctions will be used on congestion-reduction initiatives. Opponents of slot auctions, which include airlines and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, say that slot auctions will increase the cost of air travel and result in reduced service.
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FCm Sees Latin America, Ireland & Russia As Hospitality Hot Spots In '09
FCm Travel Solutions is concentrating on adding new hotel partners in Latin America, Ireland and Russia for its 2009 global hotel program, all identified as key markets for growing corporate demand. Nevertheless, says Joe McCormack, general manager of the program, “the main growth areas continue to be USA, the Middle East, India, China and South America.”
His assessment of the new focus markets noted strong demand over the past 18 months in Latin America and the Caribbean; Ireland's growing economy and Moscow's global record highs for room rates. McCormack also indicates that FCm is aiming to expand its hotel partner portfolio not only in terms of size, but also in the blend of hotel product: "In light of the growing corporate interest in boutique properties, we're looking to partner with individual, stand alone hotels just as much as the larger chains.
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FCm Travel Solutions Establishes Partnership In Yemen
FCm Travel Solutions has signed a partnership agreement with Murjan Travel in Yemen, further expanding its Middle Eastern network. Murjan works extensively with companies in the Yemeni oil sector, and has serviced clients such as Total E&P (Yemen), Griffin Energy and Imtac (Yemen). It also manages corporate travel for various United Nations businesses, including UNICEF.
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First Indigo Hotel In California Opens
A Hotel Indigo, IHG’s boutique brand, has opened in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario. The property is the first Indigo to open in the state and the brand’s 16th hotel overall.
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FLO Adds Ravens Games To Expedited Access Service
FLO Corporation has signed a four-year, exclusive agreement with the Baltimore Ravens football team, giving holders of its FLO card preferred access to its games at to M&T Bank Stadium beginning in 2009. The new feature is "highly synergistic" with FLO's airport registered traveler service, which provides speedy access through airport security lines, says Glenn Argenbright, FLO's CEO.
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Four Points Opens Hotels In Beijing And Victoria
Four Points by Sheraton’s first hotel in northern China has opened at the same time as another is opening in Canada's province of British Columbia.
The Four Points by Sheraton Beijing, Haidian is located in the heart of Beijing’s technology district. The hotel features 355 guest rooms, 177 serviced apartments, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a full-service spa, Italian and Chinese restaurants, and meeting space that can accommodate groups of up to 850 people.
Meanwhile, the newly constructed The 117-room Four Points by Sheraton Victoria Gateway has opened in Victoria, BC, 15 minutes from the downtown area.
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Frontier Changing Mileage Program To Offset Fuel Costs
Frontier Airlines is changing setting new redemption levels and fee structures in it EarlyReturns mileage program, as part of its campaign to balance fuel costs. The changes, effective September 15, are being detailed in e-mails to EarlyReturns members this week.
Starting September 15, Frontier will add a $25 non-refundable redemption fee per ticket on EarlyReturns award tickets. Award tickets purchased within 14 days of travel will be charged a $75 non-refundable expedite fee per ticket. Both fees will be waived for EarlyReturns Summit members. The $75 expedite fee will also be waived for PLUS redemptions (Ascent & Summit elite members only) and all redemptions booked via Weekend Web Fares. Additionally, any award ticket changes or cancellations resulting in a redeposit of miles will be subject to a $75 change fee. This change fee is also waived for Summit members.
Also, the mileage redemption level for a domestic roundtrip ticket will be increasing from 15,000 to 20,000 miles. All other mileage redemption levels will increase by 5,000 to 10,000 miles. In advance of the fee and mileage redemption changes, Frontier is launching a sale on EarlyReturns miles via the "Buy Miles" tool on its web site.
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Frontier Pursues Alternate Financing Deal
Frontier Airlines said it has chosen an alternate financing deal, a week after Frontier announced a deal with private investment firm Perseus. The new lenders are Republic Airways Holdings, Credit Suisse Securities and AQR Capital. All three are creditors in Frontier’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The companies have agreed to provide Frontier up to $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing, with a firm commitment for $30 million in immediate funding. Perseus’ offer was also for $75 million, but Frontier said the new package gives it lower financing costs, less restrictive covenants and greater flexibility to pursue strategic opportunities.
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Gaylord, Anticipating Omni Takeover Bid, Adopts Countermeasure
Gaylord Entertainment has adopted a shareholder-rights plan to make it more expensive for a shareholder to attempt a hostile takeover “in light of recent stock accumulations by certain of the company’s shareholders.” Last month, TRT Holdings increased its stake in Gaylord to 5.8 million shares, or 14 percent of the company. TRT, controlled by billionaire Robert Rowling, is the holding company of Omni Hotels. The new plan enables the company’s shareholders to buy more stock at a discount if an investor acquires 15 percent or more of the company’s stock.
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General Dynamics Buys Jet Aviation, Eyes Global Flight Support Service
Zurich-based Jet Aviation has agreed to be acquired by General Dynamics, based in Falls Church, VA. The acquisition will expand the purchasing company's aviation operations into global flight-support services. The deal is subject to normal antitrust clearance and is expected to be closed by the end of 2008.
Following completion of the acquisition, the company will be a new business unit within the General Dynamics Aerospace group, operating under the Jet Aviation and Midcoast Aviation brands. Jet Aviation will continue to operate and be managed in its current configuration and structure as an independent business unit in the General Dynamics Group.
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Hampton Opens 16 U.S. Hotels In July
Hampton Hotels, a Hilton-owned brand, opened 16 properties in July, representing 1,482 new rooms. The openings include six Hampton Inn hotels and 10 Hampton Inn & Suites properties. All openings are franchised, newly constructed hotels.
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Hertz Guarantees 10-minute Check-in For Self-servers
If Hertz customers use self-service check-in, the car rental company is guaranteeing that they will get their car in 10 minutes or less. Hertz will give customers a $50 credit toward a current or future Hertz rental if it takes longer. The guarantee applies to customers who start the check-in process at Hertz.com and use self-service kiosks or express counters at Hertz’s 50 largest airport locations.
Hertz’s #1 Club Gold members will continue to bypass the rental counter and kiosks and proceed directly to their vehicles because their check-in process is completed in advance.
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HRG Deepens Its Roots In Middle East & Africa
Dnata, a subsidiary of Dubai government-owned Emirates Group, has acquired a 20 percent stake in the Hogg Robinson Group (HRG). Dnata, which is now HRG’s largest shareholder, says it does not intend to make a formal offer for the UK-based travel management company although it reserves the right to do so in the future.
Dnata provides passenger, cargo, ramp and technical services for airlines at Dubai International Airport. It also owns a travel agency, and HRG is its travel management partner in the Middle East.
In the meantime, HRR has named two new partners in Africa: Hull Blyth in Angola and O-Voyages in Côte d’Ivoire. Hull Blyth has a network of offices across Angola, including in Luanda, Lobito, Cabinda, Soyo and Namibe. O-Voyages is part of the Olizair Group, a specialist in airline representation in West and Central Africa. O-Voyages has a network of agencies in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Togo and is headquartered in the business center of Abidjan. It also has an office within Côte d’Ivoire’s international airport.
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Hilton Garden Inn Opens First U.K. Hotel
Hilton Garden Inn has opened its first location in England, the Hilton Garden Inn Luton North. The hotel is located in Butterfield Business Park, a short distance from both the Luton town center and airport. Meeting facilities can accommodate up to 100 delegates.
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Hilton Opens Baltimore Convention Hotel
The Hilton Baltimore, in the city’s Inner Harbor area, has opened adjacent to the Baltimore Convention Center. The convention center and the hotel are connected via an enclosed pedestrian sky bridge. The 757-room hotel has 60,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space.
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Hilton’s First Hotel In Russia Opens In Moscow
The 273-room Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya has opened in Russia‘s capital city. The hotel, owned by JSC Sadko and managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, is the Hilton brand’s first in the country. Originally constructed in 1954, the 28-story Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya underwent an extensive renovation, but many of the building’s architectural features were preserved, Interstate said.
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Hotel Indigo Opens In New Jersey
InterContinental Hotels Group has opened the 112-room Hotel Indigo Basking Ridge in Basking Ridge, NJ. The property, a conversion from the Inn at Somerset, is the second Hotel Indigo to open in New Jersey, joining the recently opened Hotel Indigo Skyview in Rahway.
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Hyatt Provides Route Cards For Runners And Walkers
Hyatt’s hotels in North America are providing palm-sized route cards to runners and walkers. The cards, designed by San Diego-based media company Athletic-Minded Traveler, have researched route maps with directions on one side (beginning at each hotel’s front door) and a map with mileage markers on the other (routes range from 2 to 8 miles).
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IATA: Air Demand Growth Hits Five-Year Low
Worldwide demand for air travel grew 3.8% in June, the slowest growth that airlines have seen since the SARS crisis in 2003, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) international traffic data for the month. North American airlines saw demand growth drop to 4.4%, down from the 8.2% growth recorded in May, IATA said. Demand growth dropped to 2.1% for European airlines, compared with 4.1% in May. “With consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.
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IHG To Manage Hotels In South Korea Development
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed an agreement to manage three hotels in Alpensia, a vacation/meetings retreat under development in South Korea’s Pyeongchang district of Gangwon-do Province, a ski destination. The InterContinental Alpensia Pyeong Chang Resort will have about 236 rooms, the Holiday Inn Alpensia Pyeong Chang Resort about 182 rooms and the four-tower Holiday Inn Alpensia Pyeong Chang Suites, with around 551 rooms.
All the properties are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2009.
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InterContinental Hotel Planned For Kuwait
InterContinental Hotels Group has signed an agreement to operate the InterContinental Kuwait Downtown when it opens in early 2010. IHG said the 200-room property will cater to high-end intra-regional and international business travelers.
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Interstate Inks Management Contract For Best Western In NYC
Interstate Hotels & Resorts has signed a contract to manage the 102-room Best Western Bowery Hanbee Hotel in Lower Manhattan/Chinatown in New York City. The newly-built property is owned by Ben Wong, founder and principal owner of New York-based Wok and Roll Restaurants, a fast food operator with restaurant locations nationwide. Interstate now manages a total of nine hotels in New York City.
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JetBlue Pursues Supply Chain Savings With Ariba Procurement Solution
In an effort to maintain its cost structure and competitive advantage, JetBlue is broadening its portfolio of on-demand spend management solutions to include Ariba® Procure-to-Pay™. Jet Blue will leverage the offering, along with Ariba’s sourcing, contract management and supplier performance management solutions, to streamline its procurement process and drive savings and efficiencies that positively impact its bottom line.
Designed to enable savings identified through strategic sourcing to actually reach the bottom line, Ariba Procure-To-Pay combines the functionality of Ariba Buyer™, Ariba Invoice™, Ariba Settlement™ and Ariba Analysis™ in a single, integrated solution. Delivered on demand via the Web, the solution will enable JetBlue to centralize its procurement process and accelerate the results that its spend management initiatives deliver.
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JetBlue Readies For Opening Of New JFK Terminal
JetBlue will take the wraps off its new $743 million terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport on October 1. JetBlue officials recently called upon nearly 1,000 frequent travelers and their friends and family to put the new terminal to test. The mock experiment was meant to mimic how the terminal will operate once passengers start departing from JFK’s Terminal 5. When opened, the terminal will have 20 security checkpoints, more than anywhere in the US, according to the airline. Lines will be broken down into three groups: one for expert travelers, another for casual travelers and a third for families. There will also be 40 ticket counters, an additional 65 check-in kiosks, and two skycap areas with a total of six curbside check-in counters.
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JetBlue Starts Selling Pillow-Blanket Kits
JetBlue has partnered with CleanBrands to offer passengers pillow-blanket kits for $7 on flights longer than two hours. The kits replace free blankets and pillows. The pillow is made from MicronOne fabric, which blocks all micro-toxins larger than one micron in size, such as dust mites, mold spores, pollen and pet dander, said JetBlue. The kit includes a $5 coupon for any purchase at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
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Jumeirah Hotels Now On Expedia
Expedia has signed a long-term global agreement with Dubai-based Jumeirah Group. Under the agreement, Jumeirah’s luxury hotels will be available on all Expedia and Hotels.com points of sale globally.
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Kayak Launches Fuel-Cost Calculator, Airline Fee Chart
Travel-search provider Kayak has launched a fuel-cost calculator that estimates the total cost of gas for a trip and instantly adds this figure to the daily rate of each car option. Kayak says the fuel-cost calculator takes into consideration four factors: miles per gallon for each vehicle; average price of gas; number of estimated miles to be driven during the trip; and the type of driving, including highway, city and combination.
Also, Kayak has introduced an airline fee chart that lets travelers view an airline’s policy for five of the most popular fees without having to visit each carrier’s web site. Available on the flight results page, the chart outlines the fee policies for baggage, meals, transporting pets, unaccompanied-minor service and seat assignments with added legroom for 25 of the most popular carriers searched on Kayak.com.
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Langham Plans Boutique Hotel For Phuket
Langham Hotels International has signed a management contract for an all-villa boutique resort at Kalim Bay in Phuket, Thailand, overlooking the Andaman Sea. Scheduled to open in early 2010, the Langham Place Miora Resort and Spa will have 78 villas on a hilltop location overlooking Kalim Bay.
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Marriott Opens Adjacent To Raleigh Convention Center
The 400-room Raleigh Marriott City Center, attached to the new Raleigh (NC)Convention Center, has opened. The 16-story hotel has more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 9,000-square-foot ballroom and 6,000 square feet of individual/breakout meeting rooms.
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Marriott Program Will Build Larger Multi-lingual Hotel Staffs
Marriott International is reinforcing its international growth throughout the organization with the launch of Global Language Learning, an online resource from Rosetta Stone that will offer up to 30 languages to the corporate workforce. Marriott is also expanding its Sed de Saber program, a handheld, portable device that teaches English to Spanish-speaking employees; the tool will now teach Spanish to English-speaking employees.
Marriott says more than 1,400 employees have participated in the Sed de Saber program since its launch in 2006. That cohort alone can be expected to grow, based on four new agreements that will nearly triple the company’s presence in Mexico over the next five years. Marriott plans to add 29 branded hotels in Mexico, representing a total investment of more than $1 billion by the owners of the Marriott properties. Currently, Marriott’s portfolio in Mexico consists of 16 hotels and resorts under the JW Marriott, Marriott, Courtyard, Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn brands.
Marriott will begin offering the Rosetta Stone program throughout the US at its company-operated hotels, regional offices and Bethesda, MD, headquarters. The program will roll out to Marriott International’s subsidiaries, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Vacation Club International, by the end of 2009.
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Marriott Reaches Technology Agreement With AT&T
Marriott International has contracted AT&T to transform multiple communications networks at hotels into one converged network for voice and data transmission based on Internet technology. Marriott's first prototype hotel with a converged network is the recently opened Renaissance Boston Waterfront. Marriott said wired and wireless high-speed Internet access will become more reliable throughout hotels, and that a managed network means bandwidth can be automatically adjusted to meet peak demand. The converged network also will enable hotels to incorporate advanced interactive communications services, such as video-on-demand and Internet TV, and telephone services such as voice over Internet telephony (VoIP) more easily, quickly and more cost-effectively, Marriott said.
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Microtel Hits 300-hotel Mark
Economy chain Microtel Inns & Suites, recently acquired by Wyndham Hotel Group, is celebrating a milestone this week with the opening of its 300th hotel, a 56-room property in Delphos, OH.
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Midwest Prepares To Sell Reserved Seat Upgrades, Using Sabre Technology
Sabre has partnered with Midwest Airlines to introduce seat merchandising functionality. The technology enables Midwest to differentiate and sell upgraded seats on its own web site, and enables Sabre-connected travel agents to do the same via the Sabre GDS.
Midwest says it needs the merchandising capability because the airline is reconfiguring its fleet of Boeing 717s to include Signature and Saver seats in the economy cabin (Signature seats have more legroom). Travelers can pay a fee to reserve a Signature seat with a Sabre-connected travel agent, when they book at Midwest’s website or when they’re using an airport self-service kiosk.
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Names In The News 8-07-08
Atlas Travel International, a travel management company based in Milford, Mass., has named Mimi Cleary vice president of corporate service. She is charged with standardizing, organizing and managing the methods currently in use by travel agents. She will implement new initiatives for agents who work from home.
Continental Airlines said its senior vice president of customer experience, David Grizzle, has decided to retire on Sept. 19.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has named Pamela Nicholson president. She succeeds Donald Ross, who will continue as vice chairman of the company. Nicholson will retain her role as Enterprise’s chief operating officer and member of the board of directors of Crawford Group, Enterprise’s parent company.
National Car Rental and Alamo have promoted Denton Partridge to assistant vice president of a newly configured shared-services center at the former Vanguard corporate headquarters in Tulsa, Okla. Partridge joined National and Alamo in 2004 as controller of vehicle accounting. In his new position, Partridge will be responsible for accounting and administrative functions in the Tulsa shared-service center.
The Grand Wailea Resort on Maui has appointed Bryan Waltz director of incentive and Midwest sales. Most recently, Waltz served as the regional director of sales for Posadas/Fiesta Americana Hotels.
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Names In The News 8-14-08
Air Canada has named Claude Morin vice president of global sales, effective September 1. Morin will succeed the retiring Marc Rosenberg, who has been with Air Canada since 1972 and has been vice president of sales and product distribution since 1996. Morin is currently president and CEO of Air Canada Cargo.
American Marketing Group (AMG), parent company of the Travelsavers travel agency network, has announced that Anne Marie Moebes has rejoined the organization and is heading up Acclaim Meetings as executive vice president as well as with the AMG executive team on other new business opportunities. Moebes previously served as Travelsavers’ chief marketing officer.
Comtec (Europe) Ltd., The Travel Technology Company, has named Denise Womble general manager and senior vice president of the Americas, in a move designed to establish the UK-based company's presence in North America. She is charged with building relationships with major travel retailers, suppliers and tour operators as well as creating a greater awareness for Comtec in North America. She previously was vice president of membership services and technology at Vacation.com, an Amadeus company. Womble's previous experience includes positions at the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), Independence Air and US Airways.
GlobalStar Travel Management Corporation has appointed Mary Pace to the newly- created position of vice president and managing director. Pace has served the company as director of account management for the past 4 years and previously managed various offices and on sites for the company.
Hilton Hotels has promoted Larry Luteran to senior vice president of group sales and industry relations. Luteran, who currently is chairman of the international board of directors for Meeting Professionals International, had served as Hilton’s regional vice president of sales and marketing for the Southeast and South Central regions.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced that Stevan Porter, president of IHG’s Americas region, died on Aug. 7 following a short illness. He was 53. IHG on July 14 announced Porter had relinquished his responsibilities due to medical reasons. As previously announced, IHG Finance Director Richard Solomons has been appointed president of the Americas region on an interim basis.
Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) has announced that CEO Paul McManus will vacate his position on September 1 to become vice chairman of Leading Ventures, LHW’s vehicle for business expansion. Ted Teng will replace McManus. Teng currently manages his own hotel investment and operations firm, Prime Opus Partners, which he founded in 2006. Prior to that, Teng was president and chief operating officer of Wyndham International.
The Institute of Travel Management UK & Ireland (ITM) has appointed Anne Deamer to the newly-created post of general manager and Diane Steed as head of sales and marketing to create a new senior team reporting to Executive Director Paul Tilstone. Deamer joins ITM with more than 30 years industry experience, most recently as GM for Air Jamaica. Her remit will include a review of the association's education and training programs, and development of the ITM Academy concept, which will create a business travel management degree with key universities. Steed, a 21-year industry veteran, most recently with EOS Airlines, succeeds Mark Harris, who has left the institute to focus on his own business.
Marriott International has named Tina Edmundson senior vice president of lifestyle brands and Renaissance operations, a newly created role. She will join Marriott in mid-September. Edmundson comes to Marriott from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where she most recently served as senior vice president of brand operations for Starwood’s luxury group. At Marriott, Edmundson will lead brand strategy and operations for the Renaissance and Renaissance Club Sport brands. She will also provide strategic oversight and operational direction for Edition, Marriott’s new boutique brand being jointly developed with hotelier Ian Schrager. The brand’s first hotel is due to open in 2009.
Prestige Resorts and Destinations has named Kristi Miller-Hahne regional director of sales, based in Las Vegas. Miller-Hahne is responsible for corporate, association and meeting-and-incentive business throughout Nevada and some areas in Texas, and national accounts in the Southeast and Phoenix/Scottsdale markets. Miller-Hahne was with the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she held several positions, including convention sales manager and director of sales and services.
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Names In The News 8-21-08
Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) has added hospitality industry veteran Mary Kreins to its Mid-Atlantic regional sales team as a director of sales. She joins ALHI from Marriott International, where she served as director of national accounts for 20 years.
Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Charles Reece as general manager for the Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, IL. Reece was previously the vice president hotel operations at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. His prior locations included positions at the Hilton Harrisburg, the Hershey Philadelphia Hotel, and the Vista International hotels in Kansas City and New York.
JetBlue Airways has elected Stephan Gemkow, CFO of Deutsche Lufthansa, to its board of directors. Gemkow is the second director nominated to the JetBlue board by Lufthansa in connection with the German airline's investment in the US airline.
Kayak.com has appointed Faisal Galaria to the role of managing director for Europe and Asia. Galaria brings with him extensive international business and corporate development experience, acquired within entertainment, technology and telecommunications markets with high-profile companies such as Skype, FON and Jaman. His experience in international business development is expected to help the company gain market share in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and India.
Lodgian Inc. has elected John W. Allison, founder and chairman of Home BancShares, to its board of directors. Lodgian owns and manages a portfolio of 43 hotels with 7,921 rooms located in 23 states and Canada.
NYLO Hotels has named Charles (Chick) Armstrong to head up its franchise development, with the title of senior vice president. In his new role, Armstrong (a 15-year industry veteran) will oversee the expansion of the NYLO full-service and select-service brands across the United States and Canada. The company has an aggressive growth plan of 50 properties opened or under construction by early 2011.
The Palace at Somerset Park (New Jersey) has named Richard Cimilluca director of sales & marketing, responsible for growing both corporate and social business at The Palace. Cimilluca was previously opening director of sales & marketing for The Heldrich, the luxury hotel and conference center located in downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey,
The Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas has named Edward Hahn III its new business travel sales manager, succeeding Young Yoon, who has been promoted to the position of director of operations for the hotel. Before moving to the Warwick Melrose Dallas, Hahn spent four years as business travel sales manager for the Radisson Hotel Central in Dallas.
Wyndham Hotel Group International has appointed Andrew Dufty as vice president of international marketing, responsible for developing and executing marketing plans in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region including brand initiatives, advertising campaigns and promotions outside of North America. He is based in London.
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Names In The News 8-28-08
Abacus Internationalhas appointed Nikhil Dhodapkar as managing director of its wholly-owned subsidiary Abacus Distribution Systems (India) Pvt Ltd. He succeeds Charmaine Ng, who is returning to Singapore to rejoin Abacus International Pte. Ltd., after serving as interim managing director in India.
CHI Hotels & Resorts (formerly Corinthia Hotels International), has appointed Glenn Carroll its senior vice president for sales and marketing. Glenn is expected to take up his new position in October of this year.
Enterprise has named Richard Sayre, a noted biofuel researcher, to be the director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. Enterprise created the Institute in 2007 with a $25 million gift from the company’s founding family, the Taylors of St. Louis, to support development of renewable energy sources.
Flight Options, a provider of private air travel services, has named Eli Flint regional sales director for the US Southeast region. Flint has spent the last four years as a sales director with an aircraft manufacturer-owned fractional program.
GetThere, the Sabre-owned corporate booking tool, has promoted Grant Rattray to director of its Asia-Pacific division. Rattray previously was focused on GetThere and corporate strategy for three years with Sabre Pacific. The appointment represents a sharper focus on growing GetThere’s corporate travel procurement business in the region.
Southwest Airlines has appointed Kathleen Wayton vice president of strategy and change leadership. Wayton joined Southwest in 2004 as a director in technology, leading the airline’s enterprise data team. She was then promoted to senior director of the Rapid Rewards and Southwest.com teams in technology. Last April, she moved to the strategic-planning department as senior director.
Shangri-La Opening New Hotels In Beijing, Shenzhen Business Districts
Shangri-La is preparing for the opening of two new hotels in China: the Traders Upper East Hotel in Beijing on September 8, and the Futian Shangri-La in Shenzhen in October.
The Traders Upper East will be Shangri-La’s fifth hotel in Beijing. It will be between the Third Embassy District (where the new US Embassy is located), the Wang Jing Hi-tech Park, and Lido Place, home of many multinational companies. It will also have easy access to the fashionable 798 art district, Sunlitun entertainment district and the Olympic park's famed Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
Futian Shangri-La will be in Shenzhen's business district, a short distance from thriving retail areas and office towers, as well as the mass transit railway system that links directly to the Hong Kong border crossing.
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Nikki Beach To Open Panama Resort In March
Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts will open its first Central American location, Nikki Beach Playa Blanca Resort & Spa, on March 1 of next year. The resort is set on a beach in Farallon, a 45-minute drive from Panama City.
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Northwest And Delta Pilots Ratify Labor Agreement
The Air Line Pilots Association says Delta and Northwest pilots have ratified the joint collective-bargaining agreement reached between Delta and Northwest union leadership in June. The deal would become effective when and if the merger between Delta and Northwest closes. The US Department of Justice has not yet approved the merger.
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OAG: Nearly 60 Million Fewer Airline Seats In Q4
The world’s airlines will offer 59.7 million fewer seats in the fourth quarter of 2008 than they did a year ago, according to OAG (Official Airline Guide).. The latest figures from OAG’s consolidated database reveal a 7% drop both in the number of flights and in seat capacity for October, November and December 2008. The U.S. domestic market will account for just below 20 million of that figure, or 33% of the global decline in capacity.
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Oneworld Leaders Align Operations While Awaiting Immunity Decision
Oneworld alliance members American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have signed a joint business agreement on flights between North America and Europe and plan to expand their global cooperation. The airlines plan to file today for worldwide antitrust immunity from the US Department of Transportation and will notify the appropriate regulatory authorities in the European Union. Fellow oneworld members Finnair and Royal Jordanian are included in the antitrust immunity application.
Though the three airlines will continue to operate as separate legal entities – with their own fleets, employees and brands – they will cooperate more closely to improve travel choices, offer more convenient schedules and give customers more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles as well as more opportunities to enjoy their respective airport lounges. The airlines will also expand codesharing on flights within and beyond the United States and Europe, significantly broadening the number of destinations they offer customers.
Under the joint business agreement, the three airlines will cooperate commercially on flights between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and the European Union, Switzerland, and Norway while continuing to operate as separate legal entities. They will expand their codeshare arrangements on flights within and beyond the EU and US, significantly increasing the number of destination choices that the airlines can offer customers.
A oneworld spokesman says the agreement will enable the alliance to compete effectively with rival global air alliances that have already received transatlantic antitrust immunity. Currently, six airlines in SkyTeam and nine Star Alliance airlines have such immunity. The joint statement acknowledges that there are risks involved the plan, including "receipt of (and conditions to) various regulatory approvals, successful negotiation of definitive documents setting forth the agreements of the airlines and implementing their plans."
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Oriens Unveils Green-certified Hotel Brand
Oriens Travel & Hotel Management Corp. has extended it Hotel PURE line with a new brand, called Hotel PURE GREEN, in recognition of growing awareness of the living environment and air quality. The change is being led by hotels in Costa Rica and Central America that are already green certified.
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Pan Pacific To Open Serviced Apartments In Bangkok
Pan Pacific Serviced Suites will open its first property in Bangkok and second in the Asia Pacific region in the first quarter of 2009. The Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Bangkok is part of Eight Thonglor, a mixed-use development that includes a 34-story apartment tower, restaurants and shopping. The 148-suite property will staff personal assistants to help guests ease into living in Bangkok. The assistants will arrange for an orientation tour of the immediate locale, including banks, convenience stores, transportation, dining and entertainment, Pan Pacific says.
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PASS Offers Modular Application To Integrate, Consolidate GDS Functions
PASS Consulting says it is pioneering use of the second generation of virtual travel organizer (VTO), a new modular booking application that allows companies to adapt technologies, content and suppliers' inventories to their own requirements. Offered as Travel World from PASS Consulting, the new capability exists in a package of three products:
* The PASS XX/1 platform, which that integrates all source systems (GDS, direct connections, proprietary databases) and makes them available via a single interface.
* The PASS Virtual Travel Organizer (VTO 2ndG), a modular booking application for agencies and service providers that builds on PASS XX/1.
* PASS IBE, a ready-to-use online booking system that travel agencies can quickly and easily integrate in their own web sites.
The PASS XX/1 offers a single point of entry for all global distribution systems, making it easier to change content and adapt to new interfaces as the GDSs themselves grow and develop. It is able to simultaneously integrate direct providers, low-cost airlines, and proprietary product databases such as hotel information. During this process, PASS XX/1 compiles information and puts it into the easy-to-use XML data exchange format.
For agencies, it optimizes both the number of required GDS user accounts and the number of GDS transactions subject to fees as well as bundling segment bookings. For corporate purchasing departments, system can be used to implement quality control for their travel procurement.
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PhoCusWright And Sabre Collaborate On Travel Management Research
PhoCusWright and Sabre Holdings companies Sabre Travel Network and GetThere have made new research available to corporations and travel management companies in a white paper titled “The Changing Role of Travel Management.” The research addresses the knowledge, skills and experience required of business travel procurement professionals now and in the foreseeable future, say the researchers.
Those interested can download the study at no cost and sign up for a September 4 web cast at SabreTravelNetwork.com.
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Priceline To Open New Call Center
Priceline.com has signed a long-term lease and is moving forward with plans to establish a new customer contact center in Wyoming, Mich., southwest of Grand Rapids. Priceline said its new Michigan call center, which will occupy 45,670 square feet of an existing office building, will provide support for customers who make hotel reservations through Booking.com, Priceline’s international business unit.
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Qantas' First A380 Takes Flight In New Livery
Qantas first Airbus A380 superjumbo jet flew for the first time in its new Qantas livery in Hamburg, Germany. Qantas will take delivery of its first four-class A380 on September 19. Qantas’ first A380 passenger flight, between Melbourne and Los Angeles, will occur on October 20.
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Qantas’ A380 Service To LA Will Start In October
Qantas will take delivery of its first Airbus A380 on September 19 and launch service between Los Angeles and Melbourne with the superjumbo aircraft on October 20. With the introduction of a second A380 in November, Qantas will operate five A380 flights per week between Los Angeles and Australia: two roundtrips to Melbourne and three to Sydney. A380 service from Sydney to London via Singapore will be introduced in early 2009, said the airline.
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Radius’s Newest Partners Hail From Oman And San Diego
Bahwan Travel Agencies of Oman has joined the Radius network of travel management companies. Bahwan Travel, headquartered in Muscat, is the largest travel group in Oman, says Radius.
San Diego-based Travel Dynamics Group (TDG) has also joined Radius’s worldwide network of travel agencies. TDG, an award-winning company specializing in corporate travel management and meetings and incentives travel, produces US$70 million in sales turnover and is ranked third in its market.
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Raffles To Operate First Resort In Mexico
Raffles Hotels & Resorts will open a resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2011. The 130-room Raffles Cabo San Cristobal will be the luxury brand’s first property in Mexico. Raffles says it plans to attract corporate incentive groups with high-tech meeting facilities.
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Rearden To Offer Cornerstone Product To Customers
Rearden Commerce, a provider of travel-management services in an online marketplace, has agreed to make Cornerstone Information Systems’ Policy Compliance Manager available to Rearden’s clients. Policy Compliance Manager automates the process of securing approval for travel before reservations are ticketed and confirmed, whether travel is booked online or through a travel agent.
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Red Lion Inks Deal With Preferred Hotel Group
Red Lion Hotels has entered into an agreement with Preferred Hotel Group to provide members of Red Lion’s loyalty program access to Preferred’s more than 450 independently owned luxury hotels and resorts worldwide. Red Lion customers will soon be able to redeem points at Preferred Hotel Group hotels.
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Residence Inn Opens In DC Area
A 162-suite Residence Inn by Marriott has opened in the National Harbor development in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Marriott-managed property is owned by Integrated Capital, which has seven other Marriott-branded hotels in its portfolio. National Harbor is a multi-purpose development with offices, retail, hotels and restaurants. The development is anchored by a Gaylord convention center and hotel that opened earlier this year.
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Sabre Building Auditing Service Around BidStork Acquisition
Sabre Travel Network has launched a hotel rate negotiation and auditing service for corporations, travel management companies and hoteliers after acquiring BidStork. A web-based application, BidStork delivers and manages hotel requests for proposals (RFPs) and allows travel professionals to assemble an NBTA-compliant RFP package through an online wizard. Once negotiated hotel rates are loaded in the GDS, Sabre will provide an auditing service that ensures the rates have been properly loaded.
Sabre estimates that there are 4 million annual “passive” bookings associated with travel agents not being able to find negotiated rates. The auditing option for hotels and corporate buyers will launch later this year.
The RFP tool is available now.
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Shangri-La Opening New Hotels In Beijing, Shenzhen Business Districts
Shangri-La is preparing for the opening of two new hotels in China: the Traders Upper East Hotel in Beijing on September 8, and the Futian Shangri-La in Shenzhen in October.
The Traders Upper East will be Shangri-La’s fifth hotel in Beijing. It will be between the Third Embassy District (where the new US Embassy is located), the Wang Jing Hi-tech Park, and Lido Place, home of many multinational companies. It will also have easy access to the fashionable 798 art district, Sunlitun entertainment district and the Olympic park's famed Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
Futian Shangri-La will be in Shenzhen's business district, a short distance from thriving retail areas and office towers, as well as the mass transit railway system that links directly to the Hong Kong border crossing.
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Sheraton Installs Touch Computers In Hotel Lobbies
Sheraton has introduced Microsoft Surface computers in the lobbies of five hotels: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton Boston, Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, Sheraton Seattle and Sheraton Gateway San Francisco Airport. Microsoft Surface is a tabletop computer with a 30-inch display. Several guests can simultaneously use the unit, which responds to touches and gestures. The computers feature satellite maps to search for local attractions and restaurants as well as a photo library of Sheraton hotels worldwide.
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Sheraton Opens In St. Paul
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has opened the 150-room Sheraton St. Paul Woodbury Hotel in St. Paul, Minn. The newly constructed hotel features the Red Rock Bar and Grill.
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Singapore Adds Second All-Biz Route To US
Singapore Airlines has launched all-business-class services from Los Angeles to Singapore. The route is Singapore’s second all-business route from North America; it launched Newark-Singapore all-business service in May. For now, Singapore operates the service on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; daily service is anticipated by late September.
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Sol Melia Opens Lifestyle Hotel In Barcelona
Spanish hotel operator Sol Melia has opened the ME Barcelona, the fourth property bearing its new luxury lifestyle brand. The 259-room hotel is located in "area 22@", the Innovation District of Barcelona.
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Southwest Won’t Pay FAA Fine By Deadline
Southwest Airlines has informed the Federal Aviation Administration that it won’t pay a record $10.2 million fine by August 29, the deadline date set by the FAA. According to published reports, the airline wants to have additional discussions about the fine, which was imposed earlier this year after Southwest allegedly flew aircraft that had missed their safety inspections.
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Southwest-WestJet Codeshare Leading SWA Into Int’l Market
Southwest Airlines is on track to make its international debut next year, after the carrier implements a codeshare partnership with Canadian low-fare airline WestJet. The airlines plan to announce codeshare flight schedules and other details by late 2009. Before codeshare flights become available for purchase, Southwest.com will become a distribution channel for WestJet’s existing Canadian and transborder flights. The airlines say they are considering an integration of frequent-flyer programs.
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Star Alliance Unveils Verification Service For Travel Documents
Star Alliance has launched “Auto Doc Check,” the first airline alliance product aimed at simplifying the often-complex task of verifying travel documentation requirements, especially for itineraries which cover several countries. The technology-based service was developed by a joint Star Alliance initiative involving experts from 11 of its member carriers.
Singapore Airlines will be the first Star Alliance carrier to implement Auto Doc Check, with further carriers planning to make use of this product in the future.
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Starwood Premiers Element Hotel Brand In Massachusetts
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has opened its first hotel under the Element brand in Lexington, MA, just outside Boston. Element is an extended-stay chain inspired by Starwood’s Westin brand. All Element hotels will be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. Starwood says the 123-room Element Lexington will serve as Starwood’s “green trailblazer,” as the company intends to apply its environmental learning at the hotel to its sister brands, including Westin, Sheraton and Le Meridien.
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Studio 6 Opens In Beaumont, Texas
Accor North America has announced the opening of a new Studio 6 property in Beaumont, Texas. The extended-stay property is located off Interstate 10.
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Swire Opens Opposite House Boutique Hotel In Beijing
Swire Hotels has made its debut with the opening of the Opposite House in Beijing. The 99-room boutique hotel is located at the Village at Sanlitun, a shopping, dining and entertainment center developed by Swire Properties. Swire Hotels, a sister company of Cathay Pacific Airways, says it plans to open two luxury properties in Hong Kong next year.
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Transportation Security Administration Announces New Laptop Standards
Starting Aug.16, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will allow passengers to leave their laptop computers in bags that meet new standards. For a bag to be considered checkpoint-friendly it should have a designated laptop-only section that unfolds to lay flat on the X-ray belt; have no metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section; no pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section; and nothing packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself. TSA expects the majority of new bags meeting these standards will be available for purchase in mid-August. There are a small percentage of bags currently on the market that meet the new standards, include sleeve-like carrying cases without pockets or zippers. These bag types have been tested and can produce a clear, unobstructed image as long as nothing else is in the case.
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Travelex Reaches Deal With ICBA
Travelex and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) have reached an agreement for ICBA member banks to sell Cash Passport prepaid currency cards and Travelex CashPax, wallet-sized packs of foreign currency. Travelex expects the agreement to increase the adoption of these foreign-currency products for leisure and business travelers across US.
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Travelport Now Automating Apollo Exchanges On International Itineraries
Travelport has announced that its Rapid Reprice® technology is now powering Apollo Automated Refunds and Exchanges (ARNE). ARNE subscriber agencies in the US can now submit international itineraries for automated exchanges, along with the domestic itineraries that have been supported since ARNE was released in August 2005.
ARNE quotations are guaranteed and customers are protected from any debit memo liability. Exchanges and refunds are electronically reported to ARC and are in compliance with ARC data reporting regulations.
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TWIN Travel Management Adds Eight Israeli Agencies To Network
The TWIN (TRAVELSAVERS Worldwide Independent Network) global travel management company has signed eight Israeli-based agencies as members in a strategic expansion that increases its in-country representation in the Middle East. The eight agencies are Hadani Rehovot, Hadasim Travel, Hillel Tours, Kikar Hayahalom, Shaked Tours, Sorrento, Star Tours and Zion Tours.
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UATP Facilitates Use Of Debit Cards For Online Airline Purchases
Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) has partnered with Acculynk to enable the use of PIN debit cards for online purchases, integrated directly into the airline checkout and requiring no consumer enrollment or redirection. When consumers arrive at the online airline checkout, they are given the option to pay for their purchase with PIN debit. Consumers enter their card number and associated information as they normally would, but the PIN is entered on Acculynk's graphical, scrambling PIN-pad. The PIN is encrypted, never passes through the airline checkout, and is processed securely, along with the card information, across existing payment channels.
Internet PIN Debit provides airlines reduced interchange fees and charge-backs, guaranteed funds with 1-2 day settlement, and new transactions from security-conscious consumers and those that cannot use their debit card without a PIN.
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United Pilots Agree To Limit Work Slowdowns
United said it has reached a temporary agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to limit what the airline characterized as pilot “work slowdowns.” Reportedly, United has had to cancel over 300 flights because of sick-out protests since July 19. On July 30, United sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court to bar pilots from engaging in work slowdowns; a hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27 and 28.
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United Pilots Want CEO Out
United Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have called for the resignation of United CEO Glenn Tilton. The pilots say new leadership is required because United “ranks at the bottom of nearly every performance and customer-satisfaction category, and its financial performance is steadily deteriorating.” The pilots cite the latest Department of Transportation data, which ranks United next-to-last in on-time arrivals and second-to-last in customer complaints. In overall reputation, the pilots say United was rated "below the rest" and tied for last place on the latest J.D. Powers satisfaction study.
The pilots union has created a web site, www.GlennTilton.com, detailing the reasons why Tilton should no longer be United’s CEO.
According to published reports, a United spokeswoman says the call for Tilton’s resignation "is an obvious and predictable attempt to deflect attention from ALPA’s illegal activity cited in our lawsuit.” The airline has accused pilots of participating in sick-outs that forced the airline to cancel flights in July.
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US Passport Cards In Production
The US State Department has begun production of the new US Passport Card, a wallet-sized, cheaper alternative to a passport that can be used for re-entry into the US at land border crossings and sea ports of entry when arriving from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The Passport Card, which cannot be used for international air travel, is $45 for adults and $35 for children under age 16. As part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, travelers will be required to present a single document denoting both citizenship and identity when entering the US via land or sea borders. This requirement will go into effect June 1, 2009.
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Worktopia’s Online Booking Available On Worldspan
Worktopia’s online group and meeting planning services has been integrated into the desktops of Worldspan-connected travel agents and corporate customers in the US, enabling the online search, comparison and booking of meeting space for simple meetings of up to 100 attendees. Corporate travel departments will gain access through the Worldspan Trip Manager(r) XE and Trip Manager XE for Small Business online self-booking tools.
Worktopia provides live, comparable quotes based on specific meeting requirements and eliminates the wait for e-mailed RFP responses. Worktopia’s shopping engine provides a broad search criteria, from room type and size to audio/visual requirements, catering needs and more.
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Wyndham Developing 20 Ramadas In South Korea
Wyndham Hotel Group has announced an exclusive agreement with AT Hotels Management, based in Seoul, South Korea, to develop 20 Ramada® Encore hotels in that country during the next six years, nearly tripling the brand’s presence there. The hotels will feature the Ramada Encore signature contemporary design with multipurpose function space.
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Wyndham Signs Pact For Nine Ramada & Days Inn Hotels In Japan
Wyndham Hotel Group has signed a non-exclusive agreement with Green Hospitality Management Co. LTD of Tokyo to open nine hotels in Japan during the next five years under the Ramada® and Days Inn® lodging brands. The agreement would quadruple Wyndham's presence in Japan.
Green Hospitality Management is a subsidiary of the Green House Co. Ltd., whose businesses include contract food service, the operation of 500 Japanese and Chinese specialty restaurants and the management of 14 hotels.
The company currently franchises three hotels in Japan: the Ramada Sapporo, Ramada Osaka and Ramada Kansai International Airport, south of Osaka. Toru Nakadate, Green Hospitality Management president and CEO, says his company selected the Ramada and Days Inn brands based on their proven and anticipated ability to perform in Japan and recognition among international travelers.
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