Meeting News - November 19, 2007 - (Page 28)

International Rezidor Continues To Blaze Path for Park Inn Brussels—Rezidor Hotel Group, which runs majority owner Carlson Hotels’ brands in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has made strides with the mid-tier Park Inn brand and will continue to chart a heady course for it over the next few years. Beginning in 2003 with the 1,000room flagship Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz, the brand has extended into Zurich, London, Paris, Nice, Egypt, and St. Petersburg in Russia. The brand will reach a milestone in 2009 with its 100th European property, the 184-room Park Edited by William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Hilton, Marriott Face Off In Colombia’s Capital City Both companies have Bogota property openings for 2009 Bogota, Colombia— Marriott International and Hilton Hotels are in a race to open properties in the Colombian capital. Construction on Hilton’s 245-room property began in October, marking the company’s return to the city after 17 years. Slated to open in mid-2009 and be run by the company, the Hilton Bogota will have 10,000 sf of meeting space. It will be the second Hiltonmanaged hotel but third overall in Colombia; the company runs the 341Rendering of Hilton Bogota, to open in 2009. room Hilton Cartagena and franchises the 96-room Embassy Suites Bogota. Marriott will have two openings in Bogota in 2009: the 264-room JW Marriott Hotel Bogota and the 239-room Bogota Marriott. No specific opening dates have been determined, but the hotels will be strategically located, with the Marriott near El Dorado International Airport and the JW property within the financial district. The JW will have just over 9,100 sf of meeting space, while the Marriott will have 11,300 sf. Latin American expansion is a focus for both Marriott and Hilton. In Colombia, Marriott also will open five Courtyard by Marriott hotels over the next few years, with the first in late 2009. Ed Fuller, Marriott’s president and managing director of international lodging, said it is the company’s longterm goal to be active in all gateway Latin American cities. Hilton has concentration in Argentina, with three properties opening there within the next three years. In the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires, the company is launching a 196-room Conrad hotel geared for a luxury showdown with Starwood Hotels’ 160-room St. Regis, also opening in 2010. occupies a historic palais and is located in an upper-end district. Reflecting its luxury aspirations, the hotel will have a major Les Bains de Léa Spa with its own line of products, an indoor rooftop pool, and a luxury shopping gallery with Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci stores, among others. ICCA Showcasing Tech At EIBTM in Barcelona Barcelona—There will be no shortage of major industry organizations at the big EIBTM meetings, incentives, and business travel show Nov. 27-29, including the International Congress & Convention Association. This year, tech tools will play a key part in ICCA activities. A new feature that will give ICCA members who are convention sales professionals valuable insight into the needs of associations is a database of past group programs and convention bids, called ICCA Data Workshop. ICCA members will be able to scan archived documents; the organization will hold demonstrations of the tool at its booth. The group will also educate members about mobile Internet technology, including how to use mobile devices as conference marketing and planning tools, with case studies and ICCA’s own examples of use. And, the trade organization will once again hold its Forum for Young Professionals, which gives neophyte members an opportunity to network and gain some contacts. ICCA will also have group-wide functions, as always, including a 3 p.m. “Victorian High Tea” networking reception. Inn Aberdeen in Scotland. “Park Inn is our fastest growing brand,” said Rezidor’s president and CEO, Kurt Ritter. “We feel a growth from one to 100 hotels within a five-year period [sic] is quite an accomplishment.” Most Park Inns have meeting space for small to mid-size groups. Rezidor intends to open 20,000 more guest rooms under the Park Inn flag by 2009, and, notably, it has its sights on Scotland and the Middle East. The company has at least three Park Inn projects in Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport; also to come are at least two properties in Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom, Germany, and Scandinavia will continue to be the brand’s core markets. Meanwhile, Rezidor is taking luxury brand Regent Hotels & Resorts into France with a reflagging and redesign of a 150-room property with 10,750 sf of meeting space in Bordeaux. Rezidor and the hotel’s owner originally pegged it as a Radisson SAS but decided to take the property upmarket, given that it 28 MeetingNews Japan Keeps Closer Tabs On Incoming Foreigners Tokyo—Japan has begun new immigration procedures that photograph and fingerprint all foreign nationals as part of efforts to combat terrorism. Personal identification data will be used to spot persons who pose security risks. Persons who refuse to undergo the procedures will be denied entry, unless they have diplomatic status or are special permanent residents. Japan passed the new immigration law in May 2006. www.meetingnews.com November 19, 2007 http://www.meetingnews.com

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