Meeting News - June 16, 2008 - (Page 35) International In Scotland, Edinburgh & St. Andrews Rejuvenate Spaces, Spa, and F&B Edinburgh, Scotland—Upgrades to various elements of the meetings, convention, and incentive infrastructure in this Scottish hub are promising to make it a compelling group destination, MeetingNews learned during a recent press tour. The Edinburgh International Conference Centre is undergoing a sizeable, $168-million expansion. Slated to add over 192,000 sf of meeting and exhibition space, the center’s renovation is set for completion in 2012. Meanwhile, northeast of Edinburgh, in St. Andrews—which calls itself the Home of Golf—two key convention hotels are sprucing up. At the Fairmont St. Andrews, 115 guest rooms are being transformed while the spa is being converted from a small operation to a full part of the guest experience, said a spokeswoman. The redesigned spa, said to include 12 treatment rooms, will include three rooms that can be joined together for small groups. The resort lobby, public areas, and dining outlets will complete Fairmont St. Andrews’ restoration project. These changes come after recent enhancements were made to the hotel’s 15,000-sf conference centre and a sports-themed bar was added. Complementing the resort renovations is a redo of the Torrance golf course. Scheduled to be finished next spring, the renovations will include the rebuilding and relocations of tees, new irrigation and drainage systems, replanting of native plants, and a bevy of design enhancements. At the Old Course Hotel, the Road The Road Hole Grill provides panoramic views of St. Andrews. Hotel Table,” which boasts a promiHole Grill has reopened following a refurbishment. The space now offers nent corner position directly above the 17th “Road Hole” of the famous floor-to-ceiling glass windows, givgolf course. The venue also includes ing diners a bird’s-eye view across the neighboring Road Hole Bar. the links to the sea, the Grampians, The Old Course Hotel has 144 and St. Andrews. guest rooms and suites. Also among the improvements —RK made was the addition of a “Road Australia Enlists Maritz’s Aid Los Angeles—Tourism Australia, the country’s national tourism agency, is enlisting St. Louis-based incentive major Maritz to help with a largescale campaign to drive U.S. business “Down Under.” Joint efforts will include a direct-mail campaign, sales calls, and promotion to Maritz’s “top incentive accounts.” Tourism Australia is conducting a roadshow through Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco this month, and the organization will be hosting incentive and corporate event buyers in a familiarization program later this year. “In 2007, we ran two extremely successful [familiarization programs], resulting in big pieces of business,” said Michelle Gysberts, Tourism Australia’s VP of the Americas. Australia is also going after meeting planners as an exhibitor at MPI events, at September’s Motivation Show in Chicago, and at Incentive Travel Exchange this month. www.meetingnews.com Posadas Accelerates in ’08 Mexico City—Grupo Posadas, which opened seven hotels last year, is set to more than double that output this year with 15 property debuts, including business hotels with meeting space under the Fiesta Inn brand, the 74-room business boutique Caesar Park Silver Buenos Aires Obelisco, and the Aqua Bosques resort in Mexico City. Aqua Bosques will be a sister property of 371-room Aqua Cancun, which made its debut last December and is suited to incentives. The Caesar Park Obelisco, with two boardrooms, will join five brethren across Buenos Aires, Rio, and Sao Paolo. The Caesar Park Rio de Janeiro – Ipanema and the 175-room Caesar Park Buenos Aires—both substantial meetings properties— belong to the Associated Luxury Hotels International portfolio. Grupo Posada’s Fiesta Inn offerings will expand from 58 to 66 properties stretching across Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Grupo Posadas is a 30-year-plus company with 104 hotels and just over 19,000 total guest rooms. New Hotel Brand to Take London By Storm This Fall London—A company has acquired six hotels in London and is investing more than $300 million in their spruce-up to become part of the new Guoman Hotels collection. The properties are the Cumberland, at the top of Park Lane; Charing Cross, a Victorian-era hotel near Trafalgar Square; the Tower, offering views of Tower Bridge and St. Katherine’s Dock, the Royal Horseguards, a traditional property near Westminster and the Houses of Parliament; the Grosvenor, adjacent to Victoria Station; and Marble Arch, just steps from the eponymous monument. Sanjay Nijhawan, COO of Guoman, said each hotel will carry distinct styles and identities, but there will be Guoman brand touches. One of those is the Guoman Bed, created by U.K. bed maker Hypnos, outfitted with high-count Egyptian cotton linens. Another is Elemis toiletries in guest bathrooms. Each Guoman property will have meeting spaces, a dedicated meetings and events welcome desk, and a team that will handle meeting and event details. Guoman said it plans to open hotels in Asia and elsewhere around the world. Four Seasons Enters India Mumbai—Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has opened its first Indian property, a 33-story, 202-room tower with 5,400 sf of meeting space in Mumbai City. It is currently building what’s intended to be the “city’s finest ballroom” for 2009. The hotel has two signature restaurants and an eight-room luxury spa. VIPs will be transferred in style, with a fleet of 20 BMW 7-Series sedans kept by the property. r June 16, 2008 MeetingNews 35 http://www.meetingnews.com
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