Massaging Profits
By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 6/1/2005
- Massaging Profits
- World Watch
- IndeCorp Becomes Preferred Hotel Group, Adds New Boutique ‘Brand’ To Stable
- 5 Minutes With: T.W. Hughes, 9 Beaches GM
- AMResorts Booms In Caribbean, Mexico
- 2006: A Blog Odyssey
- Club Med Wants To Please Teens
- Gostelow Report
- Hoteliers
Massaging Profits
Today hotel
spas must be
strong revenue generators. Here’s some advice on how.
WORLDWIDE At the 4- and 5-star level, spas
have gone from nice-to-have to an expected amenity. With that, competition
has become much greater, and the economics of the spa business have changed.
According to Judith Singer, president and co-owner, Health Fitness Dynamics
Inc., a Pompano Beach, Florida-based spa consultancy, while it was okay
20 years ago for a hotel spa to be a financial loss leader, and several
years ago it was acceptable for a spa to break even, today the reality
is that spas have to make money. “Nowadays with public companies
and asset managers, the whole economic viability of the spa is absolutely
critical,” Singer says. “The question on everyone’s
mind today is ‘How do I make sure my spa is profitable?’”
Market To Your Market
Tackling this challenge, Singer says that when embarking
on a new spa or renovation project it is crucial to clearly
define both the spa’s unique selling points as well as the market
to which it will cater. She advises clients to use
their competitive advantages to tell a story that becomes the spa’s
concept or theme.
 All the treatment rooms are suites at CHI spa in the Shangri-La Bangkok. |
For example, while relying heavily on the brand cache of the Four Seasons name to attract a loyal clientele, the spa at the Four Seasons Chicago—which recently underwent a major renovation to quadruple its spa space—also utilizes its name to offer tailored treatments wrapped around the philosophy of the four seasons, according to Spa Manager Tiffany Craig. Featuring a rotating selection of special treatments for each season (in addition to its core offerings) keeps the concept fresh. For a city-center spa that attracts many locals, such subtle reinvention is a great revenue driver. “It’s another way to play to your local clientele,” Craig says.
Similarly, Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts recently launched a branded spa concept, CHI, themed around the chain’s name. Since the mythical world of Shangri-La was located in the Himalayas, CHI spas feature design, treatments and products particular to that region. Further, according to the company, the word “chi” in traditional Asian philosophy means “the universal life force that governs well-being and personal vitality.” Spa treatments are designed with these themes in mind.
It also gives the spa a competitive differentiation. “Introducing a Himalayan and Chinese spa concept is new and unique to the Asian spa scene where guests in the past have been familiar with Thai, Balinese and Indian themes,” explains Ian Brewis, Shangri-La’s director of spa development. The first CHI spa debuted at the Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok last summer and approximately a dozen more are planned across the company’s portfolio.
Another approach to offering a differentiated concept comes via Wyndham International. While Wyndham owns the well-known Golden Door Spa brand, the company is introducing a new spa concept, Sasura—A Spa Experience By Golden Door, to expand its spa offering to a more diverse audience. While Golden Door spas are located in a handful of Wyndham’s most exclusive resorts, Sasura spas, the first of which will debut at the Wyndham Buttes Resort in Tempe, Arizona, next month, are geared more toward 4-star properties. These spas will be smaller, and while still featuring signature Golden Door treatments, will target the spa novice or someone seeking a quick getaway.
“It’s an introductory experience to help people get comfortable with going to a spa and to educate them about the
experience,” explains Lorraine Park, area director of Sasura and Golden Door Spas. The spa design takes a retail approach, akin to something people could have in their homes. Spa menus will be simpler, with a focus on classic treatments as well as shorter treatments—25 to 30 minutes—to draw, for example, that conference attendee who may not have hours of leisure time. Prices generally will be lower—20% to 25%—than at Golden Door spas.
Make Training A Priority
Proper training will be
crucial for Sasura staff to ensure those new spa customers
feel comfortable. As Singer says, “A problem in our industry is
that we need to be aware that many are intimated by the spa experience,
and unless we put them at ease, we create barriers.”
Susan Harmsworth, founder and CEO of UK-based E’Spa, believes training is the key to a successful spa operation, particularly as the market becomes saturated. “I see so many high-profile spas that spend a fortune on architecture and then balk at training,” she says. “They forget about the soft aspects—which they wouldn’t do in a hotel.” E’Spa is spa company that offers clients—Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula and dozens of luxury independents—training, design consultancy, treatment development, spa management and a product line.
To create a seamless guest experience from the hotel into the spa, Harmsworth recommends that spa workers be hotel employees, not outside contractors. This, she says, will help ensure a consistent delivery of service standards, as well as helping to retain staff and manage their training and work schedules. “At the end of the day, it all comes back to consistency of service,” she says.
Another key element that will make a spa more profitable, Harmsworth suggests, is to cross-train therapists and create multifunctional treatment rooms. “Multi-skilled therapists drive much better RevPAR. When you don’t have to move the guest and can keep the same therapist, it just makes better utilization of space and therapists’ time. Eighty percent of our therapists in Miami (at the Mandarin Oriental) are dual trained.” To capitalize on these skills sets, Harmsworth has developed a signature spa offering wherein guests simply book time, not treatments. This way the guest and therapist can tailor a custom program based on what the customer wants that day.
Alternate Revenue Generators
While treatments are the spa’s bread-and-butter, easy revenue generators
such as retail, spa cuisine and extra elements, such as water therapies (saunas,
plunge pools, etc.), are non-labor-intensive ways to drive profits.
Retail is an essential part of the equation at Bliss, the trendy New York-based spa concept Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide acquired last year to incorporate into select W hotels. “Our products have been going over like gangbusters at the hotel,” says Tyler Morse, president of Bliss. While previously Bliss only had stand-alone spas in New York and London, it has had an extensive retail product line and successful catalog business for years, making it a well-known brand with W’s clientele.
The first Bliss spa within W debuted at W New York in January. It features Bliss guestroom amenities and sells full-size Bliss products, priced the same as retail, in its minibars. Each guestroom also contains a Bliss catalog. Taking advantage of cross-marketing opportunities also mean that W products, such as its bed, also are now sold within the Bliss catalog, too, Morse says. Bliss spas will debut in W hotels in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas in the coming months. And while Bliss is exclusive for W, Starwood is leveraging its new business division to bring the Bliss-developed Remède product line and spa brand into its St. Regis hotels as well.
| DINING WITH THE FISHES |
|
A
new underwater restaurant debuted in April at the Hilton
Maldives Resort & Spa. Called Ithaa, which means “pearl” in
Dhivehi, the language of the Maldives, the restaurant
sits 5 meters (16 feet) below the Indian Ocean. It
is surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in
clear, curved acrylic to offer diners 270 degrees of
panoramic views. The intimate restaurant, which was
created by New Zealand-based design consultancy MJ
Murphy Ltd. using aquarium technology, seats only 14
people under the 5x9-m (16x30-ft) arch, which runs
the length of the room. Guests reach Ithaa by a wooden
walkway from the resort’s Sunset Grill restaurant.
The menu features “contemporary Maldivian cuisine
with a Western twist.” World
Watch
NORTH AMERICA
Extended Stay Debuts New Brand
SPARTANBURG, S.C. With the
recent acquisition of 16 Sierra Suites Hotels, HVM L.L.C., the operator
of Extended Stay Hotels, introduces a new brand to its portfolio: Extended
Stay Deluxe. Geared toward the higher end of the extended-stay market,
these hotels offer enhanced amenities such as larger rooms, fully equipped
kitchens, larger guestroom workspaces with wireless Internet access and
personalized voicemail. The majority of the properties
also will feature swimming pools or spas and exercise facilities. Average
daily rates start at US$60 and vary by market.
“We saw an opportunity to capture that segment of traveler who is not being reached—one that is value conscious yet wants enhanced attributes and larger rooms,” explains Gary A. DeLapp, president and CEO of HVM LLC, about the new brand. “We feel there is an opportunity to provide guests with an upgraded product that will have more appeal to corporate customers. We believe it will help us attract us more customers and different customers. Plus we can parlay off the Extended Stay America name and capitalize on its brand recognition.”
The Sierra Suites Hotels, located in markets across the United States, including Phoenix, Seattle, Orlando, Boston, and Washington, D.C, were immediately reflagged as Extended Stay Deluxe properties. With these conversions, there are now 21 Extended Stay Deluxe hotels. Going forward, HVM plans continued expansion of the new brand throughout 2005, primarily through conversion of existing StudioPLUS hotels and 30 former Wellesley Inn and Suites hotels, which it acquired in October 2004. DeLapp says the goal is to have 100 Deluxe hotels by the end of 2005.
Such rapid growth plans illustrate why HVM has emerged as the company with the largest distribution of extended-stay properties in the United States. Currently it owns and operates 670 hotels under the following brands: Extended Stay America, Homestead Studio Suites Hotels, StudioPLUS Deluxe Studios, Crossland Economy Studios properties and now, Extended Stay Deluxe.
Choice Unveils Global Plans
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND
At its annual conference last month
in Las Vegas, Choice Hotels International, with the help
of its global partners, made it clear that it is looking to grow aggressively
throughout the world in the next few years.
Joining a host of operators who have targeted India, particularly for mid-scale brands, Choice too sees the country’s vast potential and says it largest growth is likely to occur there, where it plans to introduce the Clarion and Sleep Inn brands. Choice Hotels India will open the first Clarion in Goa, with plans for eight additional Clarions in markets, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai in the next few years. Choice Hotels India also is actively soliciting a joint-venture partner to aid in development of at least 10 Sleep Inns throughout the country.
Also prime for growth is Asia Pacific, with 22 hotels under development and 14 scheduled to open this year. China is the main focus. With just two Choice hotels currently open, Bruce Haase, senior vice president, international, says China is of great interest, particularly as “the mid-market segment is undeveloped and unorganized.”
In Europe, where there are still many smaller, unbranded properties ripe for brand affiliation, Choice also sees a likely expansion of its Clarion Collection brand, beginning with the conversion of about 30 hotels in Scandinavia. “There are a lot of unique boutique properties [in Europe] that would benefit greatly from global distribution,” Haase says.
Haase sees a parallel situation in Mexico, where there are also many unbranded hotels looking for brand affiliation. He envisions Choice, which now has just three Mexican properties, having an equal number of properties in Mexico as competitors Best Western or Holiday Inn within five to 10 years.
Also expect rapid growth in Brazil, where Choice has 12 properties now under development and plans 37 new-builds likely in the next few years, and Canada, where there are 28 properties in development and another 14 scheduled to open this year. Choice also expects to expand its new Cambria Suites brand to Canada eventually, Haase adds.
IHG Launches ‘Any Hotel,
Anywhere’
ATLANTA Setting
another first for the hotel industry, InterContinental
Hotels Group (IHG) has added a new rewards option for its
Priority Club Rewards loyalty program members: free nights at any hotel
worldwide that accepts the American Express card. “Even though
we’re
the largest hotel company in the world, we’re not everywhere,
so we are allowing our members to redeem points for stays
at any hotel,” explains
Steve Sickel, senior vice president, Priority Club Rewards. “No
one else in the industry is doing anything even close to
this.”
 |
As research shows, most loyalty club members want to use their points for reward nights, and Sickel believes this new option will increase loyalty because its giving its customers added freedom and choice. “It is our belief that offering guests this flexibility will make them more loyal to our brands,” he says.
The program works via a new partnership with American Express Incentive Services. Members can redeem points for an American Express-branded prepaid lodging card in denominations valued between US$100 (or 29,000 points) to US$250 (or 150,000 points). The card can be used as payment at any lodging establishment where the American Express card is accepted. The program is launching first for U.S. members only.
IndeCorp
Becomes Preferred Hotel Group, Adds New Boutique ‘Brand’ To
Stable
CHICAGO Looking
to make its expertise in the hospitality business more easily
recognized and understood,
Chicago-based hotel consortium IndeCorp Corp., parent company
of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Summit Hotels & Resorts
and Sterling Hotels & Resorts “brands” for independent
hotels, has changed its name to Preferred Hotel Group. “The
new name is more descriptive of what it is we do. It clearly
communicates to our target audiences that we are in the hotel
business,” says
Chairman and CEO John Ueberroth. “Preferred is a long-standing
brand and is well-known in the industry.” Plus, Ueberroth
says, since the real aim of the change is sales and marketing,
the word “preferred” works well with many other marketing
opportunities. Ueberroth says he already is envisioning marketing
campaigns centered on the word “preferred,” as it
presents an exclusive image. For example, advertising with
the themes “Preferred beds” or “Preferred France,” to
promote the group’s collection of luxury properties. “It’s
a
powerful word,” he says.
|
Complementing the name change is an updated logo with a new icon that resembles a pineapple, a traditional symbol of luxury. “It’s supposed to look like a pineapple, but it could be many different things—we’ve already heard a lot of different interpretations,” Ueberroth says. “The point is it gives a high-quality impression; it’s a thing of distinction.” This icon will be used subtly in new logos and print collateral as a visual to bring all the brands together.
Coinciding with the name change, this month Preferred Hotel Group also is adding a new brand to its portfolio, Boutique. Similar to Small Luxury Hotels or Design Hotels, Boutique will target smaller, high-end, and often design-oriented independent hotels. Boutique will offer these hotels a broad range of support services, from distribution and revenue management to sales and marketing. One of the group’s selling points is Preferred’s robust—and recently restructured—sales force, which now includes regional worldwide sales offices as well as a new focus on group sales for small, executive meetings.
 Kimpton’s Hotel Rouge in Washington, D.C., is among the first Boutique member hotels. |
Looking to jump-start Boutique’s membership base, Preferred partnered with San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels. In early May, 11 Kimpton properties were confirmed as the first members of Boutique. These hotels originally were part of Boutique Lodging International (BLI.com), a Kimpton-developed representation group for independent hotels founded in 2000. However, because of the rapid growth of the core Kimpton hotel brand, the company determined that the site wasn’t a core focus and sought to establish a partnership with a hotel company that could grow the concept and offer a greater portfolio of services. “We felt that Preferred Hotel Group had the established infrastructure and brand recognition to take the concept of independent boutique representation to the next level,” explains Steve Pinetti, vice president of marketing for Kimpton. “They’re a dynamic company in a growth mode willing to invest in the development of a boutique brand.”
Boutique’s aim is to grow to be around the same size as Preferred Hotels & Resorts, about 150 members. This summer the focus will be on introducing the Boutique brand to the hotel world; thereafter, the sales force will shift gears to target prospective customers.
“We think we’ll get a different type of customer and anticipate interesting marketing opportunities with this new brand,” Ueberroth says. He adds that Boutique fills a niche its other brands may not have been able to accommodate, particularly in Europe where there is a larger selection of smaller, independent hotels. As a result, Ueberroth sees this new division as a way to grow distribution in Europe.
5
Minutes With: T.W. Hughes, 9 Beaches GM
A 25-year veteran of resort management,
T.W. Hughes recently was appointed general manager of
the new 9 Beaches resort in Bermuda. T.W. took some time
to talk with HOTELS just before the resort opened at
the end of April. “A
pre-opening does not provide much in the way of a personal
life,” he says. His answers to our questions and
his impressions of the industry are based on working
internationally for the past 17 years.
 |
HOTELS: With 25 years in resort hotel
management, 12 countries, 8 islands...
Aren’t you tired?
Hughes: Not at all, really. I love what I do. That someone
will pay me to do something I love is a real blessing. As
for 12 countries... I can remember in the late ‘80s
wishing and praying for the opportunity to work internationally.
As they say, be careful what you pray for... With very few
exceptions, I have enjoyed the adventure of living and working
in 12 countries.
HOTELS: Why did you want to go to Bermuda and 9 Beaches?
Hughes: Three reasons really. First, I love
openings. This is my eighth. I enjoy the challenges of an
opening, the almost
endless amount of work, putting a team together to function
as one, establishing the traditions, training and being involved
in developing talent in this business, and the thrill of
putting it all together and making it all work well.
Second, 9 Beaches offered me the opportunity to do things differently. We want to think outside the box; we want to do the unexpected. That’s a very attractive proposition for a GM that enjoys doing it differently and exceeding expectations.
Third, island life appeals to me big time. Bermuda is a beautiful island and close to the U.S. Having spent the last 17 years away from the States, it is nice to be this close again at this stage in my life.
HOTELS:
What has been the biggest surprise since arriving?
Hughes: The cost of living here borders
on outrageous after so many years in Asia.
HOTELS: What is the most important thing to keep in mind
when launching new resorts?
Hughes: To owners I would say: Bring the GM in at least six
months before opening. There are so many details to attend
to and if you are doing it on an island, there are usually
fairly long lead times to get things ordered and delivered.
Otherwise, it’s all in the details. Well, details and
the right
marketing and public relations.
HOTELS: What are you thinking about the hotel industry right
now?
Hughes: We in the industry tend to lump hotels and resorts
into the same category and yet they really are different—different
categories with different approaches, different features
and functions, different styles of service, different marketing
approaches, and, I believe, even different styles of management.
Having said that, I think that the resort side of the business will continue to grow quite a bit. If we can generalize for a minute, much of Asia has a growing middle class. They will want vacation options as they continue to gain economic wherewithal. So, just looking at Asia alone, this will continue to push the demand side of the equation for resorts and hotels in destination cities and gateway cities.
For the hotel side, it seems to me that we are fairly well developed—if not overdeveloped, in developed countries. In developing countries, that process will lead to increased demand for hotels. Of course the hotel market continues to evolve with the growth of boutique hotels, style hotels, etc. So that trend will probably grow business but at the expense of existing properties.
HOTELS: Tell us a secret about our
industry that’s
hiding in plain sight.
Hughes: It’s all about the staff. After the investment
has been made and the development has been done, it’s
the staff that will take care of that investment, it’s
the staff that will go a long way to ensuring that the investment
is successful, and it’s the staff that make that investment
in the physical plant come alive. It seems so obvious but
surprisingly too many owners fail to realize this truth.
HOTELS:
What’s the next innovation
that will revolutionize the hotel business?
Hughes: Cell phones. Here at 9 Beaches we don’t have
phones in our cabanas. Instead we give each cabana a complimentary
Bermuda cell phone. So whether they are on the beach or in
their cabana or on a mountain bike tour, they have immediate
access to us as well as the freedom to call any where in
Bermuda. Further, we are in the process of setting up a system
to transfer a land-line call for a 9 Beaches guest right
to his/her cell phone.
AMResorts
Booms
In Caribbean, Mexico
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania Look
out Sandals—AMResorts
is in the passing lane. A year ago, the company operated five resorts in the
Caribbean and Mexico representing 1,873 hotel rooms. Today, the company manages
11 resorts representing 4,265 rooms and projected revenue of US$225 million for
2005. The all-inclusive luxury market is booming, says AMResorts President Alejandro
Zozaya-Gorostiza, and the company is set to continue its rapid growth, with plans
to develop nine hotels in the next 24 months and a goal of having 35 properties
in five years.
 |
The company’s three resort brands include Secrets, Dreams and Sunscape. Secrets is a 5-star brand catering to adults in romantic settings (4-post beds in every room) and dedicated to upscale vacations for couples, singles and honeymooners. Dreams is a new brand for couples, friends and families, with the same level of service as the Secrets brand. Each resort has a distinct personality reflecting the area’s character and culture. Sunscape is a fun concept for families, couples and singles, with resorts characterized by lots of color, spirited personalities and an array of amenities. Think Monday Night Football on the beach, Zozaya says. With five properties in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, Sunscape has the most locations now, but Zozaya says each brand’s market is booming, with occupancy high even in the newest hotels.
“We mainly court North American customers,” he says. “Most seek a luxurious, hassle-free, romantic, fun and entertaining escape, plus great value. Our average client discovers AMResorts at age 30, and then explores other brands as their families grow.” When Zozaya says “court,” however, that’s not really what he means. “Travel agents are our base,” he notes. “We do little or no consumer advertising, but maintain a strong PR program.” Incentive programs and structured commissions drive travel agent loyalty, Zozaya says, and “our Web sites offer a wealth of information, including downloadable brochures, tools to track sales, familiarization opportunities and more.” The brands gain further visibility through wholesalers and tour operators, group and incentive meeting planners, and their associations with Preferred Hotels & Resorts (Secrets and Dreams) and Summit Hotels & Resorts (Sunscape).
AMResorts’ toughest competition comes from luxury cruise lines like Celebrity and Disney, Zozaya says. But attributes like twice-daily maid service and 24-hour room-service at the properties keep the playing field level and help the brands stand apart from other resorts, he notes. Most of all, though, Zozaya attributes the company’s high repeat-guest ratio to hiring the right people. “We always strive to hire and retain exceptional resort staff,” he says. He cites continuing to do that as one of the biggest challenges as the company continues to grow, along with educating travelers about the convenience of its resort destinations. “We stress that the Caribbean and Mexico are safe havens, which warmly receive Americans,” he says.
With that in mind, plans for future properties include three each in Jamaica, the Tulum and Riviera Maya area and the Dominican Republic. “Aruba and Costa Rica are possibilities too,” Zozaya says. Construction will begin on three of these resorts in the next two months, he adds. Zozaya sees the rapid expansion as fulfilling booming demand, but notes that there’s always the risk of oversupply.
2006:
A Blog Odyssey
Question: Why
would a hotel or hotel company want to create a blog?
Answer: Marketing.
A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that by November
2004, 32 million adult American Internet users had visited a blog. Dictionary
publisher Merriam-Webster even crowned “blog” the No. 1 word of the
year in 2004. Online journals of sorts, many blogs are strictly personal, but
a growing number of businesses are harnessing the potential of this medium. The
Isle of Eriska Hotel in Scotland, for example, has a blog in which its owner
writes about everything from the hotel’s ups and downs to local wildlife
and useful recipes.
| What are blogs? |
A Web log, or blog, is a Web application that contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common Web page. More simply, blogs are basically online journals with reflections and comments from their writers. Some of these enable visitors to leave public comments; others are not interactive. |
Paolo Torchio, vice president of Bethesda, Maryland-based E-site Marketing, recently noted the marketing power of blogs and their accompanying RSS technology for those in the travel industry while contributing to a weeklong travel blog hosted by the International Association of Online Communicators. “Blogs can be leveraged in many ways to promote a travel supplier Web site,” Torchio wrote. “The first would be to add a blog to the Web site itself. For example, various subject matter experts from a resort hotel property, such as the executive chef, spa director or the golf pro, could regularly blog about their area of expertise, events and happenings to encourage an ongoing dialog with prospective or past guests.”
The Power of RSS The other technology Torchio mentioned, RSS, is a standard for Web syndication used by the blog community to share the headlines of blogs’ latest entries. Users can subscribe to an RSS feed and are then notified every time content is updated on a blog. “The obvious application of RSS technology in travel is to allow Web site visitors to subscribe to the special offers and events pages to be notified whenever something new is added,” Torchio writes. “From the supplier perspective this is great push marketing to get your targeted promotion to a very qualified customer (one who has opted-in by subscribing). An additional benefit to incorporating this technology on a travel Web site is that RSS can greatly improve Web site rankings due to the fact that new content delivery is a major influencer in the search engine ranking process.” Without taking advantage of blogging and RSS, you may be missing an opportunity to maximize your Internet marketing and content delivery potential, Torchio says.
| IGNORE AT OWN RISK |
How important could blogs possibly be? Important enough for Business Week magazine to publish a cover story about them while this article was in production. The headline of that story? ‘Blogs will change your business.’ Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Internet Editor Heather Green wrote, “Blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone or delegate... Blogs are not a business elective. They’re a prerequisite... While you may be putting it off, you can bet that your competitors are exploring ways to harvest new ideas from blogs, sprinkle ads into them...” |
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) seems to recognize this. Using the free blogging service owned by Google, the company quietly started a blog last fall for its Priority Club rewards program members. Featuring posts about special promotions, the blog now is registered to be crawled by search engines, and visitors to the Priority Club homepage can link to it. “We’re trying to establish an understanding of how this can work—what resources will be needed to keep it up to date, whether to allow commenting, and how to moderate (the blog) if needed,” says Del Ross, vice president of global e-commerce services. “We think there is a lot of promise for this as a marketing tool. It’s the ultimate opt-in marketing medium. Consumers decide when they want to see about offers (and in this way) it differs from e-mail marketing. We think it has a great deal of potential in a world in which consumers are flooded with spam.”
Hoteliers not early adopters So far, “we haven’t spent a dime to promote this,” Ross says. “We’re in early investigation and learning stages.” Even in those stages, however, IHG is in the minority. Most hoteliers have not been early adopters of this phenomenon. “I doubt if a whole lot even know what this is,” Ross noted. “I don’t know many e-commerce players (in general) seriously thinking about this yet.”
CNN.com reported last fall that Starwood Hotels & Resorts, White Plains, New York, was planning a blog service on its Web site through which guests could see what others were doing, allowing them to meet up for sports or share restaurant tips, for example. But apparently the idea is on the back burner, as Starwood has been unable to provide any further information about the initiative.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Toronto, Canada, also is not currently pursuing any blog-related initiatives, according to Jens Thraenhart, the company’s former director of Internet strategy (now director of marketing for Fairmont Heritage Place). “Even though I think blogging is a great viral marketing tool, there are two concerns,” Thraenhart says. “You must have a content strategy and resources to make it an effective marketing tool, and the return on investment is not there. We’re not doing anything with blogging because we’re focusing on so many other things in online marketing that have proven to have great ROI.”
Thraenhart notes, however, that although interest in blogs may not currently be high industry-wide, that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future. “So many times the hotel industry is behind and not ready to embrace new initiatives and technology—(we) don’t understand the potential and what’s around it,” he says.
“I don’t blame people for not adopting every new potential marketing medium that comes up,” IHG’s Ross says. “We thought it was important to start our learning curve as early as possible.” Ross says blogs are coming up more and more often at industry conferences, and he wouldn’t be surprised if 2006 is the year of the blog. “It could be what wireless was before and metasearch is now.”
Club
Med
Wants To Please Teens
CORAL GABLES,
FLORIDA Looking to further differentiate
itself in the all-inclusive resort niche, Club Méditerranée
has created what it sees as the ultimate teen hangout for
its family-oriented villages: a two-story combination open-air
lounge and skateboard/rollerblade ramp.
 |
Debuting at its Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, resort in March, “The Ramp” is open to guests ages 14 to 17 and offers programming throughout the day, with a special focus on evening activities. Happenings include everything from skateboard demos to dance parties to movie nights with films projected onto the structure’s immense fabric sail. The lounge features a soda fountain bar, two foosball tables and a jukebox with music from around the world.
Upon check-in to the village, each 14- to 17-year-old receives his or her own welcome packet, which includes a combination for a personal mailbox located at The Ramp. The mailboxes, which have a clear front panel where teens can put a sticker photo of themselves from The Ramp’s photo booth, serve as a way to get daily information on activities to the teens and also allow teen guests to communicate with new friends. “The mailbox system has been extremely popular,” says Mark Wiser, vice president of marketing for Club Med Americas. “(The boxes) and notepads become a low-tech version of village e-mail. And with the photo stickers teens can leave notes for their friends without even remembering their names.”
In order to give teens a space all their own, no guests outside the ages of 14 to 17 are allowed at The Ramp. And unlike a building, it is open air, which means it is never locked up—so teens can hang out there around the clock. At Club Med Punta Cana, during peak family vacation times such as spring break and summer, teens make up about 10% of the village’s occupancy. So why create a space for such a small segment of the resort’s population? “A happy teen on vacation invariably makes for a happy family,” says John Vanderslice, president and CEO of Club Med Americas.
Feedback on The Ramp has been extremely positive, with significant increases in teens’ impressions of Club Med vacations—especially in teens’ experiences in the evening, when most activities traditionally have been adult-focused, according to Wiser. “We’re thrilled,” he says. Club Med plans to roll out The Ramp at its other family-focused resorts in the Americas—Ixtapa, Mexico and Sandpiper, Florida—by the end of the year.
Gostelow
Report
When Whitbread CEO Alan Parker has grown
the portfolio in the UK, he will take the brand overseas.
With the exception of Accor, he feels no one is successfully
conquering the budget
sector on a global scale.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, Washington D.C., is also looking globally. The corporation already has a deal with Occidental Hoteles, Madrid, to expand in the Caribbean. It similarly has a four-year arrangement with Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises, London, to help grow in developing countries in the next three years. One success to date is the purchase of the Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia. Now, Giovanni Daniele, senior investment officer global manufacturing and services for the IFC, is looking for more hotel partners.
Kurt Ritter, president and CEO of Rezidor SAS Hospitality, Brussels, signed 50 additional management contracts in 2004 and hopes to add at least a similar number this year. At present, 30% of the complete portfolio is franchised and he expects this sector to grow in market share. He also looks for joint ventures, especially in Africa and Russia.
The African continent does not seem to get its fair share of new developments, but Hilton International, Watford, UK, is one company that certainly has high hopes for the oil-rich west African country of Nigeria. Jürgen Fischer, Paris-based managing director for Europe and Africa, is working on developments in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Sir Rocco Forte, CEO of Rocco Forte Hotels, London, is bucking the trend and expanding in Germany. In 2006 he plans to open conversions of historic buildings both in Berlin and Frankfurt, and he is working on a new-build scheduled for Munich in 2007. He still wants to be in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Venice and Zurich. In addition to city hotels, he has one resort scheduled, on Sardinia, which he admits he acquired by chance. When he has more city hotels open he might develop resorts by intent but he has no plan to add the “and Resorts” to the company name.
Giovanni Angelini, CEO and managing director of Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Hong Kong, sees “a new horizon for Asian hospitality” exemplified by the recent signing of a hotel within the 1,016-ft . (310-m) pyramid being designed by Renzo Piano at London Bridge, England. Now Angelini would like properties in Frankfurt and Paris, ideally with about 250 rooms in each case. He also is working on gateway cities in North America, where he has a project in Vancouver and hopes to have two or three by the end of 2008. In all, Angelini has 42 openings between now and 2008 and admits Asia will always be the bread and butter of Shangri-La. In China, where his projects include two in Mongolia, he still needs more on the western side of the nation. In Thailand, a Chiang Mai Shangri-La is scheduled for 2006. He is working on Phuket and thinks there could be space for a Traders in Bangkok. In the future, Angelini thinks Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam will be the leisure hub of Asia. For the present he finds it difficult to sign anything in Vietnam, even though he has made three trips there in the last year.
Robert H Burns Hotels was established last month in Hong Kong. Bob Burns is leading the group, helped by two Japanese partners from his Regent days. This time around, says Burns, hotels will bear his name, and he definitely will stick to Asia, which for him stretches from India to Hawaii but excludes Australia. He would like Shanghai, of course, and although he already has played with India—a project at Agra was taken up by Oberoi—now he would love the opportunity to revitalize the historic Claridge’s hotel in Delhi.
Mary Gostelow,
Contributing Editor
Send your news via e-mail to: mary.gostelow@wowtraveler.net
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