But corporate rates will see more focus on the value of ‘extras’ – breakfast, wifi, etc – in 2016, and “buyers will need to negotiate carefully to ensure they are getting relevant inclusions at the best rates for their travellers,” says Alastair Dick- enson, client business manager at Wings Travel Management. UK hoteliers, however, are themselves facing a more existential challenge: the surge in the so-called ‘sharing economy’
as typified by Airbnb and others who link up private accommodation providers with travellers, both on leisure and business. There is no doubt that this represents a potential threat to the traditional UK hotel model of doing business, although issues with duty-of-care over traveller safety and security may sway many travel buyers rather than simply paying less. And UK hoteliers are fighting back with new budget brands aimed at
What’s in the pipeline?
LONDON’S LATEST FIVE-STAR HOTEL – the Intercontinental O2 (see Reviews, p114) – will this year be joined by two other luxury properties as the demand for high-end hotels in the capital shows no sign of abating. According to the city’s marketing agency London and Partners, another 18 five-star hotels are due to open in London by end-2018. First up later this year is likely to be the Four Seasons at 10 Trinity Square, the century-old former headquarters of the Port of London Authority, located close to the Tower of London with views over the Thames. The hotel will feature 98
rooms and suites along with 41 private apartments, as well as all the other accoutrements expected of a luxury hotel nowadays, including a private members’ club.
Also on the London luxury agenda is a five-storey, 156- room Nobu hotel in trendy Shoreditch, the first European hotel for the group best known for its restaurants, developed by chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The hotel’s angular glass design, with concrete balconies and steel beams, will also feature a signature Nobu restaurant. But London will continue to see more conventional four-star properties opening this year, including two Park Plazas: a 494-room hotel at Waterloo and a 168-property at Park Royal in the west of the capital.
84 BBT MARCH/APRIL 2016
millennial travellers, such as Hub by Premier Inn, a scaled-down version of the regular Premier Inn offering but with added technology. Only two Hubs are open so far – both in central London – with another due to open in March on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. While the jury is still out over the success of the sharing economy, there is little doubt that the UK hotel world is living through interesting times.
Four Seasons Trinity Square
Other UK cities can only envy London’s ability to attract high-end hotels. Much of the recent hotel pipeline in Edinburgh, for example, has been in the budget to mid- market range, but the city’s tourism and business experts believe there needs to be more luxury hotels in the pipeline. At the budget end of the hotel spectrum, London is surging ahead with a 29 per cent growth expected in its planned properties over the next three years, including eight new Travelodges and three Premier Inns slated for the capital this year. But both Premier Inn and Travelodge also have a vigorous regional development programme. Premier has already started
the year at a rapid pace with more than a dozen openings throughout the UK so far. Rival Travelodge is adding 19 new hotels this year – including properties in Glasgow, Poole and Weston-super-Mare, to take its total to 542. It has also identified a further 250 towns and cities in the UK for further development. And there are plenty of other operators also fuelling the low-cost sector around the country, including Easyhotel, Ibis Budget (part of Accor), and Tune. Easyhotel, for example, has new properties in the pipeline in Liverpool, Manchester and Ipswich. Further ahead, expect more accommodation to be built at UK airports which are going from strength to strength. Work
on a new £45 million, 357-bed Hampton by Hilton hotel at Stansted Airport is due to start later this year, with completion scheduled for 2017. Outline plans have also been lodged for a £700 million International Business Gateway project alongside Edinburgh Airport. Meanwhile, the Arora group, which designs, builds and operates primarily airport hotels, has also put forward plans for a 13-storey, 298-room property adjacent to the multistorey car park at the new Heathrow Terminal 2, with a three- or four-star hotel planned. Arora is also set to build and operate two new hotels at Heathrow T4 – a Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express – which are due to open in 2018.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124