“Four More Luxury Hotels to Join Wyndham Brand in China” plus 2 more |
- Four More Luxury Hotels to Join Wyndham Brand in China
- Hotel Fees In Revenue Management
- All bets are on Macau hotels | By Jonathan Barsky and Lenny Nash
| Four More Luxury Hotels to Join Wyndham Brand in China Posted: 12 Apr 2010 10:26 AM PDT SOURCE: Wyndham Hotel Group PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwire - April 12, 2010) - Following the recent addition of three luxury hotels in the key markets of Shanghai, Changsha and Hangzhou, Wyndham Hotel Group, part of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies ( Soon to join the brand's prestigious Wyndham Grand Collection are the 420-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Palace Chengdu, the 311-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Jingsi Garden Suzhou and the 374-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Colorful Kunming. Also joining the brand is the 321-room Wyndham Shanghai Bund East. All four hotels, which are currently under construction, will be managed by Greater China Hospitality (H.K.) Limited. "We are delighted to continue our long time relationship with veteran hotelier Wilburt Chang and especially proud to welcome several outstanding properties to the Wyndham Grand Collection, our most distinguished ensemble of hotels," said Eric Danziger, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer. "The addition of these hotels strengthens our position as the largest U.S.-based hotel company in China." Wyndham Hotel Group's 207 hotels in China represent 33,336 rooms in primary and secondary cities under the Wyndham, Ramada®, Howard Johnson®, Days Inn® and Super 8® brands. The Wyndham brand debuted in China in 2009 with the opening of the 588-room Wyndham Xiamen. The 337-room Wyndham Baolian Hotel is scheduled to open next year. "Our hotels and the Wyndham Grand Collection are setting new expectations for luxury accommodations in China," said Wilburt Chang, chairman and chief executive officer of Greater China Hospitality (H.K.) Limited. "It is exciting to be at the leading edge of our country's lodging industry at a time of incredible growth in our national economy." The 420-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Palace Chengdu, now under construction in Sichuan Province, will feature 12 meeting rooms to accommodate groups up to 800 including a 430 square-meter multiple-function hall and 880 square-meter banquet hall, business center, three restaurants, six private dining rooms, cigar and wine bar, executive club lounge and lobby lounge. Designed to be the only five-star hotel in Western Chengdu, the hotel will offer free Internet access, parking and guest rooms 36 square meters and larger, all equipped with 42-inch, flat-panel televisions. The hotel is scheduled to open in late spring this year. The 311-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Jingsi Garden Suzhou will specialize in meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions with 1,300 square meters of function space including 14 VIP rooms and a 1,100 square-meter banquet room. Hotel facilities will include three restaurants, lobby bar and business center. The 374-room Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Colorful Kunming, commanding a view of the entire southern part of Kunming, will feature two restaurants, VIP dining rooms, lobby bar, business center and meeting rooms including a ballroom. A key asset will be its proximity to Kunming's airport, just 7 kilometers away, and city center, just a 5-kilometer drive. The 321-room Wyndham Shanghai Bund East, in the city's South Bund neighborhood, will feature two restaurants, seven VIP dining rooms, lobby bar, business center, and 10 meeting rooms including an 870 square-meter banquet hall and 440 square-meter divisible multifunction room. Guests of the new hotels will be able to take advantage of the brand's guest recognition program when they join Wyndham ByRequest® which offers complimentary benefits including high-speed Internet access and choice of favorite welcome snack and beverage. Members also earn Wyndham Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for complimentary hotel stays, airline tickets, name-brand merchandise and dining and shopping gift cards, among other options. In lieu of points, members may elect to earn airline or rail miles with a variety of carriers. More information is available at www.wyndhamrewards.com. Wyndham Rewards is the world's largest lodging loyalty program, based on the more than 6,000 participating hotels. The Wyndham Grand Collection, an ensemble of distinct hotels within the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts brand, represents one-of-a-kind experiences in key destinations around the world with refined accommodations, exceptional service and surroundings designed to satisfy and delight business and leisure travelers alike. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, LLC and its affiliates, subsidiaries of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation ( EDITORS: High-resolution images of the hotels mentioned above may be downloaded here. CONTACT: Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Hotel Fees In Revenue Management Posted: 12 Apr 2010 08:44 PM PDT Airlines and hotels are the two pillars of the travel industry, and they share many characteristics. They are heavily consumer-focused industry segments, with more customer interactions than many other industries. They produce and sell two of the most perishable products in the history of economics: a seat on a flight and a night in a room, both of which 'spoil' immediately if not sold. Their product is also dominated by an intangible experience component, the quality of which can accentuate- or ruin- an otherwise perfectly suitable product, i.e., a safe trip, a clean and secure room. They both segment their product by class and charge for upgrades (first or business class on an airline, the suite or club level for hotels). They rely on loyalty programs to encourage and reward repeat business. The airline and lodging industry segments also feature a variety of auxiliary or ancillary services linked to the core product. Even in this, the options are similar; airlines offer food and beverage in flight, hotels have minibars, room service and restaurants. Airlines peddle personal in-flight entertainment, hotels offer On Demand television. Duty free and SkyMall shopping is available on most flights, and most hotels have at least limited retail options, if not high-end boutiques on premise. In terms of their ancillary revenue sources, the main difference between hotels and airlines is that airlines had traditionally bundled them into their core product while hotels had traditionally kept them separate (bed and breakfasts and old American-plan meal service being exceptions). As airlines began unbundling the fare, they found that some of those previously-included services could be sold for a fee. A few of these services, like the privilege to check a bag, are integral enough to the air travel process to be considered compulsory- which creates a steady revenue stream. Fees have become big business for airlines in the past few years, and innovation in this area is a dynamic pursuit for the industry segment, while hotels have largely shied away from this revenue generation tactic. Until now. Hotels around the world are beginning to emulate their airline brethren and charge guests fees for previously included services. The stories of luxury hotels installing motion-sensitive minibars that automatically impose a room charge if an item has been removed for a certain period, or of vague-sounding 'resort fees' cropping up on guests' final bills have been proliferating lately. Since these stories have been appearing with increasing frequency, and considering the demand drought the hotel industry is just emerging from, there are a couple of perspectives on this new trend that should be given equal weight. The first reaction, even from industry insiders that are at least sometimes regular travelers, is that such fee imposition is detrimental to customer perception. No one likes to be nickel and dimed, and consumers will push back at tactics that make them feel that way. Of course, the airline industry's experience with compulsory fees refutes that; since 2008 when checked baggage fees became more or less standard across the major US carriers, revenue from fees rose to almost $2B per year. But anecdotal perception of airlines is resoundingly negative, and the hotel industry- with a more competitive marketplace and more options for consumers- ought not to imitate the strategies that result in negative consumer sentiment. On the other hand, though, fees can serve a productive purpose (beyond creating revenue opportunities). The unbundling of the airfare exposed the airline's true core product- a seat and safe conduct- which has gone a long way toward changing consumer behavior. The most aggressive fee imposers among airlines (the industry prefers ancillary revenue generators) like Ryanair and Spirit have effectively changed their customers' expectation as to what a flight should be. The industry in general is moving in that direction, and what that has ultimately done is allow consumers to build their own flight experience. Hotels, likewise, can benefit from this core-product focus, and guests should be able to customize their lodging experience as well. From a revenue management standpoint, the stripping out of extraneous services and offering them for a fee can have dramatic positive effects on the basic rate. By enabling hotels to advertise a low basic rate, they can attract a wider array of potential customers. The industry effect of this process is an increase of competition based on price, which, in the era of the OTA and online rate aggregator, can revitalize some stagnant markets more quickly than new competition might. Conversely, the imposition of fees by some operators can allow others the opportunity to differentiate their product based on service, or based on how "bundled" their rate is. In the airline industry, carriers like Emirates and Singapore have carved out successful and highly profitable luxury niches by competing based on service. Fundamentally, though, new hotel fees will only place emphasis on what really matters in a hotel-the room, and the customer service experience. No one is considering charging a fee for cleanliness, or for courtesy. Hotels that continue to execute their central mission well will continue to thrive in a fee-for-service environment, just as high performing airlines like Southwest and Jet Blue have thrived in theirs. It is important to note though, that to avoid the negative perception that the airlines are experiencing because of their new fee structure, hotels must be as transparent as possible during the booking process as to what fees will be charged on top of the daily room rate. There may be some initial resistance to fees in the lodging industry, but ultimately if implemented correctly, they will not spell doom for the consumer-focused segment. In fact, they may present previously unlooked-for opportunities to increase hotels' revenues. About REVPAR GURU SOURCE: REVPAR GURU Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| All bets are on Macau hotels | By Jonathan Barsky and Lenny Nash Posted: 12 Apr 2010 06:43 AM PDT Last year, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's No. 1 gaming revenue market. But how are casino hotels in Macau handling this growth? Can they keep up with new competitors in Asia and how do they compare to legendary Las Vegas? While major casinos in Las Vegas have been hit hard by weak consumer spending and sharply declining hotel rates, Asian gambling has started to grow again. As Asia surges out of the Great Recession, hotels in Macau and the Asia Pacific region lead the world in terms of occupancy recovery with double–digit growth. Known worldwide as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient", Macau is Asia's largest destination for gambling and now takes in more gambling revenue than Las Vegas. One big factor is location — there are over a billion potential gamers within a two–hour flight of Macau. Macau is also the only location in China with legalized gaming. But what is the guest perception of Macau's casino hotels? The following table provides scores based on guest perceptions of the top 10 casino hotels in Macau and Las Vegas. Customer Satisfaction: Las Vegas vs. Macau Las Vegas has earned a global reputation for its lavish casino resorts. New properties such as Encore and The Palazzo have taken the Las Vegas guest experience to the next level. But Macau is keeping up. New Casinos in Macau are attracting gamblers from all over the world. From a face lift of the historical Lisboa to the posh Mandarin Oriental, Macau casinos are now neck and neck with Las Vegas in terms of overall customer satisfaction. In fact, the top 10 Macau casino hotels received higher scores for 'Rooms' and 'Cleanliness'. Conversely, guests rated Las Vegas higher in 'Service', 'Location' and 'Value'. Other differences remain between these two casino mega-markets. Macau's hotel industry depends much more on gaming revenue. In Macau, 70% to 80% of casino operators' revenue comes from gaming. Contrast that with Las Vegas, where more than half of revenue comes from other sources such as hotel rooms, restaurants, conventions, and shopping malls. This opportunity, however, is not being overlooked in Macau. There is a new development on the Cotai Strip, referred to as "The Las Vegas Strip of the East". The huge Venetian Macau opened its doors in August 2007 and the not-much-smaller City of Dreams followed in 2009, with many others planned. But Singapore and South Korea also offer great casino resort options with more on the way. South Korea's Jeju Island, which has eight casinos, could become Asia's next casino gaming giant. Japan and Taiwan are also considering legislation to legalize casino gambling. While Macau hotels are currently filling rooms, often with premium pricing, this may be hard to maintain. Guests are harder to satisfy when they return, and as room supply swells and competition heats up, Macau hoteliers will have to work even harder to provide value. But as part of the fastest-growing gaming market in the world, the odds are with Macau.
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About Market Metrix | Market Metrix is helping hospitality companies around the world succeed in the tough economy. With guest feedback collected 24/7/365, and built-in service recovery and investment decision support tools, we help clients save money and reduce risk of client defections. Based on award-winning research and breakthrough concepts, our SaaS-based products deliver instant survey results, analysis, and management tools for increasing revenue and reducing staff turnover. Our benchmarking database, MMHI, is the most comprehensive, independent comparison of consumer brand satisfaction in the industry. Our annual MMHI Awards are coveted by lodging and travel enterprises around the world. With clients that include more than 120 brands across 70 countries, Market Metrix has been helping leading hospitality companies turn feedback into performance since 1996. Visit | You are subscribed to email updates from Yahoo! News Search Results for Hotels and Lodging To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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