Mistry out at Tata: Tata Sons today removed Cyrus Mistry as chairman, nearly four years after he was appointed the first chief outside the family. The conglomerate said Ratan Tata, 78, had been appointed interim chairman until a successor was appointed.
New Marcus chief: Joseph S. Khairallah was named president of Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Marcus Hotels & Resorts. He joined Marcus as COO in 2013 after 30 years at Hyatt Hotels, most recently as vice president of rooms, spa and security for Hyatt’s Americas Group, with responsibility for 155 properties, including 40 spas.
Preferred adds in Middle East: Preferred Hotels & Resorts added two Saudi Arabian properties, the Vivienda Residences and Vivienda Granada, in Riyadh, and one hotel in Bahrain, the Domain Hotel & Spa, to its LVX portfolio.
Old War Office plans: A 125-room hotel and 88 apartments, along with a rooftop bar and spa, will be part of the plan for the Old War Office in London’s Whitehall. The building was purchased by Indian billionaires the Hinduja brothers in March for £1 billion (and has been featured as the site of M16 in four James Bond movies); a hotel brand has not been chosen.
Skyscraper in Tasmania: Singapore-based Fragrance Group unveiled plans for a 35-story hotel in Hobart that would become the tallest building in Tasmania, along with a second, 20-story hotel of 495 rooms and a 1,000-seat conference center.
Trivago plans IPO: Trivago aims to go public by November, according to news reports. The hotel reservation company backed by Expedia has been valued at US$5 billion, and the company apparently wants to raise up to US$1 billion.
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Blue skies for travel agencies? Ensemble Travel group released the results of a survey of its travel agency members that shows that 2017 is expected to be a banner year for all travel segments. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they expect sales to increase; 46% said they are seeing stronger bookings for next year.
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Kayak paddling in Airbnb’s wake: Travel price-comparison site Kayak is testing a search function for short-term apartment and home rentals. It hasn’t been determined when the platform will be fully functional.
Hilton meets its Destiny: Destiny USA, a shopping and entertainment complex in Syracuse, New York, is partnering with Embassy Suites by Hilton for the location’s first on-site hotel, in a US$48 million project. It’s scheduled to open later next year.
Post Office conversion: Norwegian hotel group Nordic Choice Hotels will convert Copenhagen’s former central post office into a luxury hotel of 380 rooms in a US$190 million project.
Hyatt in LA: Hyatt Hotels will put a Park Hyatt hotel in a US$1 billion mixed-use project being built in downtown Los Angeles by Chinese conglomerate Oceanwide Holdings.
Read the story in the Wall Street Journal