Sonesta launches new brand, adds nine
Newton, Massachusetts-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp. is adding nine new hotels to its U.S. portfolio and launching an upscale, “focused-service” brand, Sonesta Select. The company said that Sonesta Select will have more than 70 destinations by early 2021. The nine hotels are in its existing markets of Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Chicago; Fort Worth, Texas; and Washington, D.C.; properties will also enter new markets for Sonesta, including Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Singapore to open travel bubble
Singapore is to allow a limited number of business, official and other “high economic value” travelers from around the world under a bubble arrangement that offers a glimpse into what visitors might expect for the 2021 version of World Economic Forum’s annual conference, which has been relocated from the ski resort of Davos, Switzerland, over coronavirus safety concerns. The four-day conference will make its debut in Asia in May. Singapore’s borders have been largely shut for most of 2020, but the new arrangement due to start in late January will keep visitors segregated to guard against COVID-19 infection while allowing for safe meetings between people from abroad and from Singapore during stays lasting up to 14 days.
Cambria expands in Tennessee
Choice Hotels International will develop new Cambria Hotels in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. These agreements further the upscale brand’s traction in Tennessee, which includes one open and two other pending hotels in the Nashville area. The new Tennessee-based hotels are being developed via franchise agreements with Victor Patel of VRL Hotels.
Rosewood and Tongpai expand in China: Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group and Tongpai Hotels of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises entered into a strategic partnership with Trip.com to expand both hotel brands’ footholds in mainland China. Rezen Hotels Group, a subsidiary of Trip.com, will cooperate with New World Hotels & Resorts and Tongpai Hotels to grow the brands by leveraging both groups’ distribution networks, technology and customer databases for increased marketing strength and enhanced customer experience.
St. Joe launches Hotel Indigo in Panama City
The St. Joe Co. in Watersound, Florida, is launching a boutique hotel, the Hotel Indigo, in Panama City’s downtown waterfront district. St. Joe intends to build, own and operate the previously announced hotel on a portion of the Panama City Marina property fronting St. Andrews Bay. The city and St. Joe completed a lease agreement on the property earlier in the year. St. Joe anticipates construction on the restaurant and the 124-room hotel to begin in the second quarter of 2021.
WATG names new CEO
Travel and tourism design firm WATG named David D. Moore president and chief executive officer. Moore joined WATG in 1989 and is currently chairman of the board. The company named Robert Day regional managing director, Asia Pacific and China. Day, who is taking over Moore’s previous position, joined WATG in 1998 and has worked in three of the firm’s large offices – California, London and Singapore, where he has been based since 2008.
Davidson adds two in Illinois
Atlanta, Georgia-based Davidson Hotels & Resorts has been chosen by National Real Estate Advisors to manage the 286-room Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette and the 116-room Courtyard by Marriott Peoria Downtown, both located in Peoria, Illinois. The Perl Marquette hotel will undergo a renovation to modernize guest rooms and public spaces. With the additional of those two properties, Davidson now operates seven hotels in Illinois.