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Briefs: UAE’s Emaar to open 12 hotels | Icon Scherz passes

Brookfield aims to raise US$100B for new flagship funds: Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management said it plans to raise US$100 billion for its next round of flagship funds after it delivered first-quarter earnings buoyed by share sales and asset divestitures. The alternative asset manager sold US$13 billion of assets during the quarter, resulting in US$6.4 billion in profit for Brookfield and its clients, the company said Thursday. Brookfield’s share amounted to US$1.8 billion. Chief Executive Bruce Flatt called it “an exceptional result.”

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Emaar to open 12 new hotels: The UAE-based Emaar Hospitality is planning to open 12 new properties this year and next as it charts an expansion within the UAE and across new markets amid a recovery in tourism. The addition of the new properties will expand Emaar Hospitality’s portfolio to more than 35 properties. Emaar currently operates hotels in the UAE, Egypt and Milan. It plans to enter Bahrain and Turkey where it will open new properties this year and it is also considering expanding operations in Saudi Arabia.

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Swiss hotelier dead: Luxury hotelier Ernst Andrea Scherz died on May 13 at the age of 81, following a long illness, the Swiss-based Gstaad Palace has shared. Scherz played a significant role in establishing The Leading Hotels of the World and he presided over the Gstaad Palace from 1968 to 2001 before handing it over to his son Andrea Scherz, who is now the third-generation owner and general manager. “We are mourning our father, and more broadly also a person who was, quite literally, born to be a host. Messages of condolence are reaching us from many corners of the world. As a family, we are very touched by this,” said the Gstaad Palace’s General Manager Andrea Scherz in a statement.

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DIG acquires loan: Laguna Beach, California-based investment firm Dornin Investment Group (DIG), in partnership with an investment fund, acquired a US$195.5 million non-performing loan secured by a portfolio of 18 separate properties located throughout Southern California, according to JLL. The properties include multifamily, office, retail, hospitality, and land located in Los Angeles, San Bernardino County, and Orange County. DIG has acquired both single asset and multi-asset loan portfolios, ranging in size from US$5 million to now nearly US$200 million.

India hospitality group pleads for aid: The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India has submitted a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of his team requesting for immediate fiscal support to save the hospitality sector from collapse. “To expect our industry to continue paying off loans without any income or revenue generation is simply unfair,” the group said in a statement. “Our right to conduct business was taken away but the right to recover loans from us is being allowed. This is discrimination against our industry.” The group requested special provisions to waive statutory charges for the hospitality sector, among other requests.

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Aimbridge managing in St. Thomas: Plano, Texas-based Aimbridge Hospitality has been selected by Fortress Investment Group to manage the 384-room Frenchman’s Reef Marriott Resort & Spa and Noni Beach, Autograph Collection located in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The hotel is set to reopen in the fall of 2022 after a US$250 million rebuild. Fortress, a New York City-based firm, recently purchased the property and will spearhead the rebuild and reopening efforts over the coming year. Upon reopening, updated amenities at Frenchman’s Reef will include three oceanfront pools, 72,000 square feet of meeting and event space, 3,500 square feet of spa, and 2,000 square feet of casino space in addition to retail shopping.

Dubai sustainability mandate: A directive from Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) mandates that all hotels comply with the Sustainability Requirements for Hotel Establishments by the deadline of July 1, 2021, as set by Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST). Under the directive, hotels must also resume monthly submission of carbon emission drivers. The system has the long-term objective of advancing sustainability performance across the sector.  The progress on implementation of the mandatory standards will be tracked by hotels and audited by DST. The 19 Sustainability Requirements include sustainable management approaches, performance metrics, energy, food and water management plans, guest education, employee training initiatives, the presence of sustainability committees within hotel establishments and corporate social responsibility programs for local communities. These requirements support Dubai’s Carbon Abatement Strategy 2021 target to reduce the carbon emissions by 16% by 2021, overall.

TSA volume tops 1.8M: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that it screened 1.85 million passengers on May 16, the first time the TSA had seen a number above 1.8 million since the start of the pandemic. The number is still well off the 2.6 million that the TSA screened during the same day in 2019, but it is very different from the 253,000 that it saw in 2020. The 1.8 million from Sunday is the highest number since the TSA screened 1.9 million on March 8, 2020. While the passenger volume is slowly returning to normal, TSA rules and protocols put in place during the pandemic are remaining in place.

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Dubai allows full hotel capacity: Dubai on Monday eased COVID-19 restrictions, allowing hotels in the regional tourism hub to operate at full capacity and permitting concerts and sports events where all attendees and participants have been vaccinated. The United Arab Emirates ranks highly globally for COVID-19 testing and vaccination rates. Social distancing and compulsory face masks will continue, Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management said. Capacities for restaurants and entertainment venues also increased.

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The return to meetings: There’s good news on the meetings and incentives front: 70% of over 400 planners surveyed last month by Global DMC Partners said that their organizations will begin holding in-person events by Q4 2021, while 84% of planners surveyed in the past month said that their first post-pandemic domestic reward-travel programs will take place by the end of Q1 2022. Further, 59% of survey respondents said that international travel-reward programs will happen in that time frame as well.

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Chiva-Som campaigns for herd immunity: Chiva-Som in Hua Hin, Thailand is taking steps in the process of reopening its doors to international guests following an extensive period of quarantine restrictions. ‘Hua Hin Recharge,’ a campaign initiated by Chiva-Som, is a collaboration to achieve herd immunity targets of 100% of healthcare and hospitality workers, and 70% of its population in the Prachuap Kirikhan province in Thailand. The property says the move is a “vital step forward to welcoming international travelers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to visit without having to go through the mandated quarantine period from October 2021.” Once visitors are able to return, the Hua Hin Municipality expects to receive approximately 100,000 travelers between October and December 2021, employing 89,900 staff in the hotel and tourism sector.

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