Extract
Travel Business News - North America.
New York (AirGuideBusiness - Travel Business News North America) Oct 23, 2011
Expert offers "truth" about condition of the hotel industry The hotel industry is still seeing strong demand in markets such as New York and Washington, D.C., and the hotel construction pipeline is showing renewed activity, contrary to popular belief, said Bruce Ford, an executive at Lodging Econometrics. In addition, the industry has been maintaining positive performance for the past 18 months and shows no signs of being affected by recession in the global economy. This muted but steadily growing supply coupled with robust demand will lead to higher occupancy and room rates as the industry stabilizes, Ford said. Oct 19, 2011 Lenders, borrowers eye maturing debt in hotel properties Owners of hotel properties with maturing commercial mortgage-backed securities loans should be flexible and prepare for the possibility of resorting to pay-downs, modifications or using property-improvement-plan money to restructure debts, advised franchisers and other panelists at the Fishing for Solutions conference in Grapevine, Texas. "You're going to see deleveraging.... It's got to happen," said Bob Massey, vice president of hospitality assets for TriMont Real Estate Advisors. Oct 19, 2011 Added Tips- Hotel Bars Upscale NYC bars start adding tips to the tab. Some of New York City's upscale hotel bars and nightclubs will add gratuities of 18% to 20% to patrons' tabs. The practice is raising the hackles of some patrons, and Jimmy at the James Hotel dropped the practice after a blog featured an unhappy customer's story last month. Oct 18, 2011 AH&LA-American Hotel and Lodging Association Coalition advances U.S. visa and entry reforms . The American Hotel and Lodging Association recently organized a coalition of travel and business-related organizations to launch the Discover America Partnership. The Coalition will advance visa and entry reforms in order to regain the share of the international traveler market the United States held in 2000. Oct 17, 2011 Amelia Island CVB Amelia Island Voted Tops in Five Categories of 2011 Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards. Amelia Island, Florida placed in five categories in the 2011 Cond Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards, including a #8 ranking among the Top 10 Islands in the United States. This is the fifth consecutive year Amelia Island has been voted a Top 10 island destination, finishing this year ahead of Hilton Head, S.C. and Cumberland Island, Ga. on a list topped by Maui, Hawaii. Three Amelia Island hotels were also ranked in four other categories: Top 30 Small Resorts in the U.S., Top 150 Resorts in the U.S., Top 50 Small Hotels in the U.S., and Top 100 travel experiences in the world. The Fairbanks House, a 12-room Amelia Island bed and breakfast inn located in the historic district of Fernandina Beach, was voted #2 in the Top 50 Small Hotels in the US, and #56 in the Top 100 Travel Experiences in the World. The Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, a 25-room, oceanfront boutique hotel, was ranked #6 in the Top 30 Small Resorts in the US. Additionally, the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, a 444-room beachfront resort, was also named in the awards, voted #46 among Top U.S. Mainland Resorts. The awards are based on the results of the magazine's annual Readers' Choice Survey, in which more than 28,800 travelers voted this year. Winners will be published in the Novembe...See the full content of this document
