Hoteliers around the world are expecting major declines in business performance in 2009 across brands, accoring to the Horwath HTL Global Hotel Market Sentiment Survey.

“The results are not unexpected and generally there are little differences across regions, however, the survey does highlight a few differences,” said Mr Damian Little, Director for Horwath HTL based in Asia.

“However, I do think it sets up a good base of results for us to now compare the improvement in market outlook in the subsequent surveys we will be conducting.”

Not surprisingly, the global economic downturn is ranked as the #1 effect influencing the market.

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Hilton Hotels Coproration announced the opening of their first Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Eastern China. The Hotel is located in Huaqioa/Kunshan.

The new 397-room hotel is located in the new Huaqiao Central Business District, strategically located between the Shanghai and Suzhou, two of China’s top five economies. 

‘The Doubletree by Hilton Huaqiao/Kunshan is perfectly suited to meet the needs of this rapidly growing business centre and represents an incredible new chapter for our growing Doubletree hotel collection in China and across Asia. We continue to attract considerable interest from hotel owners throughout Asia, as they discover Doubletree by Hilton is a dynamic and lucrative branding opportunity in the upscale, full-service hotel market,” said Dave Horton, senior vice president - brand management for Doubletree Hotels. 

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Hotusa Hotels grew their portfolio by adding 32 new associated hotels. Of the 32, ten are part of the international network and 22 are spread across Spain.

The consortium’s portfolio at present contains over 2,150 associated establishments throughout 27 European destinations, 12 Latin American countries, 4 African countries, 2 Asian Countries and in the USA and Canada.

Hotusa Group is headquartered in Barcelona and created in 1977.

The leader of hotel ecommerce solutions, TravelCLICK, announced that is entering a strategic agreement with the world’s most popular search engine, Google.

TravelCLICK will now become an authorized reseller of Google’s AdWordsTM online advertising program.

We are applying Google best practices and customizing them for the unique needs of the hospitality industry,” said John Hach of TravelCLICK.  “By establishing this relationship with Google, TravelCLICK is setting global standards for paid search in our industry.  With local market search customization-driven by our regional hotel Internet marketing experts-hotels can efficiently tap into the power and reach of the Google AdWords online advertising platform to reach more potential customers worldwide.”

Google AdWords is a cost-effective and popular way for business of all sizes to market their products and services in a permission-marketing manner.

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The Days Inn brand made it clear during their worldwide conference that it continues to be ‘The Best Value Under the Sun’ by providing resources that will help enhance guest experiences and encourage travelers to stay at Days Inn properties.

They revealed two new online tools that will make it easier for franchises to train staff and maintain brand standards as well as a new marketing campaign designed to evoke an emotional response from travelers.

Days Inn President Ken Greene said, “We must ensure that every employee is trained, confident and prepared to serve as a brand ambassador. How well employees respond to various interactions will determine how well they deliver on the Days Inn ‘Sure as the Sun’ promise, the brand’s service pledge.  These cutting-edge resources will help prepare them.” 

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See the rest of the reasons here.

The fire at the construction site of the 40-floor Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Feb 9th seems to have been lit by fireworks, as suspected.

From the CCTV website came this statement:

“Beijing Fire Control Bureau says CCTV staff responsible for the construction of the new TV complex, hired staff to ignite large festive firecrackers outside the building, and caused the fire. The move did not receive approval from related authorities. The fire has caused severe damage. CCTV sincerely apologizes for the damage that the fire caused, and the inconvenience it has brought to the public.”

All employees were safe and are accounted for after the fire, though a fireman did lose his life battling the flames.

Get more information.

An unfinished luxury hotel in Beijing has caught fire Monday after sparks from nearby fireworks displays reigned down on the half-completed property.

The hotel is located next door to China Central Television’s landmark headquarters, situated in the heart of downtown Beijing.

The luxury hotel, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, apparently caught fire in the evening as the skies above the city were filled with celebratory fireworks that were part of the lantern festival, a celebration following the Lunar New Year.

Eye witnesses reported seeing the 44-story building catch fire after sparks from a nearby firework showered the building, but the cause of the fire is still not known.

Erik Amir a senior architect at building designers OMA said the fire had destroyed years of hard work.
“It really has been a rough six-seven years for architects who worked on this project,” said Amir, who rushed to the site after hearing of the fire.
“I think it’s really sad that this building is destroyed before it can be opened to the public,” he said.

- AP news

Development remains high on the lists of priorities for Hilton Hotels and to that end they have appointed Elie Younes as Vice President of Development, and Carlos Khneisser as Director of Development for the Middle East. The team will be based in the Dubai Internet City Area office.

Dubai and the other Gulf countries are high on Hilton’s list.

“We are thrilled to have Elie and Carlos join our ever-expanding Hilton Family. Despite the current economic climate, our development activity is well on track, and we are increasing our resources to ensure we are maximising and driving all opportunities,” said Andrew Clough, Senior Vice President, Development, Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Asia Pacific.

France registered a 1.9% growth rate in RevPAR for 2008, driven by the Rugby World Cup, Paris AIr Show and other major tourist drawing attractions. 

Most likely France won’t enjoy such growth in 2009 if the analysis of the past two quarters are any sign of what is to come. The small growth rate was mainly held up by a strong first quarter in 2008, with the second half of the year bringing steep declines.

There’s a couple charts and graphs available here for you to look at and see how other parts of Europe performed across the different segments.

See more charts and graphs.