THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39
The Review ➔ Amadeus adds HRS content NEWS BTS
AMADEUS has signed up to distribute independent hotel
content in a deal with hotel booking agency HRS that could herald the future of the industry. With global distribution systems traditionally featuring only chain hotel content, the agreement with HRS to take on 50,000 independent hotels and a further 50,000 later in the year is something of a milestone for the industry. Work has begun to integrate the additional HRS content, with the second quarter of the year the target for completion. It will give Amadeus customers access to the new inventory through its e-Travel Management self-booking tool and the Amadeus Selling Platform. “The GDS have not really had access to independent hotels before so this really shakes up the market,“ says Jon West, UK managing director of HRS.
THE ROOM REPORT IN BRIEF
• THE Carlson and Rezidor names have come together to establish the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, with a new website now live. Incorporated under the new banner are more than 1,300 hotels across 80 countries, and brands such as Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Hotel Missoni and Park Plaza. “Carlson and Rezidor have a long common history and have grown together over the past 17 years. Going to market as one is the next and natural step,” says Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Carlson.
“It’s an easy way for TMCs to
get non-GDS hotel content and it has consolidated Amadeus' strong position. They can do deals with TMCs saying ‘we’ve got all this extra content’,“ he adds. “The move has been very well received by corporates, whose
negotiated rates will feed through the GDS – the only cost to them is the fee of the self-booking tool or travel management company.“ In total, HRS content features
over 250,000 hotels worldwide comprised of chain hotels and independent properties.
➔ Best Western's trump card NEWS BTS
BEST Western has launched its first-ever payment card
for business travellers. The hotel group has introduced
its no-fee business account card facility for payment of accommo- dation, room service, restaurant and bar bills, phone calls and other hotel expenses at any of its 278 independent UK properties. A full breakdown of spend is available through an online centralised billing and reporting
facility, plus there’s six weeks' interest free credit, VAT reporting and Best Western Rewards points for employees. “Employees miss out by not claiming back the full amount of their trips and by losing receipts, while companies miss out on VAT capture,“ says Will Helsby, Best Western's director of sales GB. “Anything at the hotel can be charged to the card – including meetings and events – and all our
hotels are behind it. It takes the admin headache away from both the hotel and the corporate. We're a group of small independent hotels and that's the sort of companies we're targeting – the SMEs out there,“ says Helsby. The group has also teamed up
with Red Spotted Hanky to sell rail travel through the same account. There are 278 Best Western hotels across the country featuring over 1,000 meeting rooms.
• ABU DHABI-based Rotana Hotels will invest over US$750million in eight new properties this year, including its first hotels in Bahrain, Jordan and Oman. A second Rotana hotel will open in Qatar, plus two in Abu Dhabi and two in Dubai. The expansion will lead to an inventory of over 14,000 rooms by the end of the year. Selim El Zyr, president and CEO of Rotana, says, “Despite the generally gloomy global outlook, Rotana is proud to be growing and expanding. One of the key areas for growth that we are currently addressing is the mid-tier market, for which we developed the Centro Hotels by Rotana brand.” The first of the new hotels to open this year is the Boulevard Arjaan by Rotana in Jordan’s capital city, Amman.
• LONDON'S historic Ampersand Hotel is set to re-open ahead of the Olympic Games this summer. The boutique Victorian hotel is located in South Kensington and has 110 guestrooms. There will be a patisserie and a Bellini bar, and an ‘atmospheric vaulted destination cocktail and dining experience' on the lower ground floor is expected to become one of The Ampersand Hotel’s focal attractions.
Untitled-3 1
08/12/2011 10:56:26
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88