Meeting News - October 6, 2008 - (Page 12) International Citing intensifying competition, France has been embarking on an international promotional project to enhance its image as a dynamic, well-rounded business travel destination. As part of the $1.4 million campaign overseen by Maison de la France—a joint venture between the French government and the tourism industry—highly targeted marketing, including print ads, videos, and a new website, is being aimed at various types of planners. In the “Ever-Surprising France” campaign, French tourism promotion agencies and DMCs are being armed with “appeal kits” ready to be sent or handed out, containing facts/figures, misconceptions, sales pitches for planners to use, and testimonials. Fourteen areas are being promoted, among them beaches, culture, wine, golf, nature, and cities. Main markets are the U.S., Mexico, the U.K., Germany, and Belgium. Emerging China and India are also targets, as are Western European nations and Canada. The electronic hub is www. franceguidepro.com, organized around “incentives,”“trade shows and fairs,” and “meetings and congresses.” It has the requisite information on hotels, convention centers, CVBs, DMCs, and off-sites, a search engine, plus “practical information.” Users also can find information based on region or theme. Thirty-second and three-minute versions of a promo video and a testimonial leaflet in nine languages reinforce France’s message. The video plays on the “Ever-Surprising” angle, showing the nation’s variety of meetings options and facts and figures. Maison, with offices in 29 countries and on every continent filled by a staff of 1,400, hopes to counter leading competitors London By William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Campaign Intended to Reinforce France as Top Host Country and Barcelona, and Germany and Austria on the city and national levels, respectively. Maison noted Dubai and Shanghai as rising threats, as well, grabbing a share of the lucrative worldwide business travel market. Research cited by Maison found that while business travelers comprised only one-tenth of all of France’s visitors, they generated more than one-third of all tourism revenues ($43.1 billion). Moreover, meetings and trade shows accounted for more than onefourth of France’s business-travel income, at $11.5 billion. Starwood Slates a Pair of W’s in the United Kingdom Starwood Hotels & Resorts is seeding a pair of its W lifestyle properties in England in 2010, with one in Manchester and the other in the heart of London’s West End. W London-Leicester Square has a “late-2010” debut scheduled, with 194 rooms and meeting spaces planned. The hotel is being built on the site of the former 4,300 sf, respectively, plus outdoor spaces. A Willow Stream spa, with 20 treatment rooms, is in the offing for this property, as well. Incentive winners or VIP attendees will have available 50 oneand two-bedroom villa suites and a 5,000-sf presidential villa. Sanya is on the southern edge of an island near the coast of Vietnam. Swiss Centre building. Meanwhile, W Manchester is being envisioned as a 160-room hotel with 7,000 sf of meeting space, located in the warehouse district. The Manchester property, part property. The hotel will shut down from January to late March 2009, while construction at other times will take place during normal operation without disturbing guests, according to property manager Rezidor Hotel Group. The project will redesign the lobby, and it will remodel and expand the 17,500 sf of meeting spaces. No details were given on the meeting space expansion. Brand-new additions will be a bar/lounge and a sauna-equipped spa and wellness center. The hotel is in Hamburg’s tallest building, located next to the Dammtor rail station. While Fairmont Plans for Two in Southeastern Asia Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will open a 350-room property in the Indian city of Hyderabad in 2010, the Toronto-based company’s first in the country. It will be located in the growing IT and biotech hub nicknamed Cyberabad, and it will have a roster of meeting spaces including a ballroom for up to 800 attendees. A Willow Stream spa will lead amenities. In the southern China resort locale of Sanya, Fairmont has announced the 702-room Haitang Bay Resort for 2011, which will have two ballrooms of 8,600 and Radisson SAS in Hamburg Begins Major Renovation The 560-room Radisson SAS Hotel Hamburg has started to undergo a $65 million refreshening that will culminate in August 2009 with a nearly entirely new, 556-room of a mixed-use development named Origin, will have a 4,000-sf ballroom, plus a spa and fitness facility. The London hotel’s meeting spaces have yet to be specified. Features at both properties will be advanced in-room entertainment systems, the W signature bed, and high-thread-count, Egyptiancotton sheets, as well as goosedown comforters. Meanwhile in London, Marriott has reopened the iconic 494-room Grosvenor House, after a complete restoration, and branded it a JW Marriott property. Restored to classic contemporary elegance, the hotel’s features were largely retained, such as the Art Deco-influenced marble bathrooms and the 2,000-guest Great Room. The 20 function rooms of 86 Park Lane have been relaunched, and a spa under construction is slated for a 2010 opening. r 12 MeetingNews October 6, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.franceguidepro.com http://www.franceguidepro.com http://www.meetingnews.com
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