June 15, 2007
 
Caribbean Draws More Development, Less Tourism
At a recent conference on this Dutch West Indies island, hotel and real-estate executives raved about the record amount of development under way across the Caribbean, long a top vacation spot for Americans.
But underlying their excitement was a more immediate worry: tourism, which is rising world-wide, is declining in the Caribbean, with overnight stays in the region down 2.3% last year to 18.45 million, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
According to The Wall Street Journal the decline has been even steeper in some of the places whose beaches and other charms have traditionally drawn the region's biggest share of tourists from the U.S. During the first quarter of this year, American visits were down 12% in Jamaica, 9% in the U.S. Virgin Islands and as much as 8% in the Bahamas, the CTO says.
Whether the decline is a blip or a longer-term trend will go a long way in determining the economic health of the region. Tourism is critical to the Caribbean, making up 16% of its overall economic activity, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. On smaller islands such as St. Lucia, tourism can account for as much as 50% of the economy.
The Bush administration's announcement Friday that it will temporarily ease passport requirements for Americans traveling to the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada is expected to give Caribbean tourism a temporary lift. Stricter rules, which took effect in January ­ right as the high season was under way ­ caused huge backlogs of passport applications, prompting many Americans to change their travel plans and vacation closer to home.
 
How The Rich Spend Their Summer
While the broader retail and consumer sector may be slowing, spending by the rich continues to astound says The Wall Street Journal.
A new survey of 198 people worth $10 million or more, conducted by Prince & Associates for Elite Traveler magazine, shows that the wealthy will spend 56% more this summer than in 2005.
Yacht charters top the list, with $384,000 in planned spending, which sounds about right, given that big yachts now charter for $200,000 to $250,000 a week. (See average planned spending of Prince respondents in 10 categories below.)
Ranking second was redecorating. Granted, redecorating may not seem like a popular summer pastime for the rich. But since they’re usually traveling for the season, it’s an optimal time to let in the contractors and install that new lap pool or home theater.
Another high-ranking spending category: “experiential excursions.” For those unfamiliar with this new breed of primal-luxury vacation, they usually involve paying some high-priced guide to take you and your family running with springbok in Botswana, trekking with penguins in Chile or learning wine-making in New Zealand.
Of all the categories, however, the one that almost all respondents planned to spend money on was charity. Fully 98% of them planned to donate to charity this summer, averaging $82,000. All those summer fundraisers may also explain why the rich plan to spend $56,000 on entertaining, and $24,000 for wine for entertainment.
 
Nickelodeon Targeting Travelers
Nickelodeon, Marriott International and real estate company Miller Global Properties said Thursday they are launching a new global family hotel brand called Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott. The first hotel, filled with such favorite Nickelodeon characters as SpongeBob SquarePants, Diego and Dora the Explorer, is set to open in early 2010 in San Diego, and plans call for 20 hotels around the world by 2020 says The Hollywood Reporter.
Water parks will be the focal point of the hotels, where even the guest rooms and restaurants will be built with themes for kids in mind, said J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International.
"Besides being a great destination resort for families, we believe that these exciting properties will also attract younger adults and the young at heart," he said. "We expect these resorts to fill a very important segment of the marketplace, and we're very enthusiastic about the prospects for this new brand." He said Miller Global would be the primary owner and developer of the hotels, which will be managed by Marriott.
The first Nickelodeon resort in San Diego will be a 650-room property at Liberty Station, which will incorporate a 100,000-square-foot water park and activity deck complex featuring a variety of pools and interactive attractions. Other locations are under consideration at family-oriented resort destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico, the U.K., Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
 
Arkansas Testing U.K. Tourist Waters With Carp Fishing
The huge carp that populate many Arkansas lakes and rivers are scorned by American anglers as bony and inedible, but state parks and tourism officials hope the fish can help attract tourists from the United Kingdom. In England, says MSNBC, the bigger they are and the harder they fight, the greater the challenge for people fishing for fun.
Arkansas officials are partnering with a British marketing firm to test whether the state can boost tourism numbers by appealing to carp lovers of the United Kingdom.
Most Americans consider carp "trash fish." The fish are bony and aren't good for eating. But the British love the sport of just catching a great big one. They follow CPR: catch, photograph and release.
Neil Stern, a board member of the North American chapter of the Carp Anglers Group, says European fishermen view carp "as a good fighting friend." "They are very, very respectful of these fish," Stern says. "Pound for pound, it's the toughest, roughest fighting fish there is."
 
U.S. To Temporarily Relax New Passport Rules
The Bush administration has temporarily waived some of its new, post-Sept. 11 requirements for flying abroad, hoping to help irate summer travelers whose trips have been jeopardized by delays in processing their passports.
The change would aid those fliers awaiting a U.S. passport to meet the new rule requiring one for travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. But, reports MSNBC, it won't clear the way for travelers who haven't already applied for a passport.
There is still no passport required for Americans driving across the Canadian or Mexican borders or taking sea cruises, although those travelers are expected to need passports under new rules beginning next year.
Easing the rules should allow the State Department to catch up with a massive surge in applications that has overwhelmed passport processing centers since the rule took effect this year, officials said. The resulting backlog has caused up to three-month delays for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of travelers.
Until the end of September, travelers will be allowed to fly without a passport if they present a State Department receipt, showing they had applied for a passport, and government-issued identification, such as a driver's license. Travelers showing only receipts would receive additional security scrutiny, which could include extra questioning or bag checks.
 
Chinese Tourism To Japan Jumps By A Quarter
The People’s Daily reports that travelers to Japan from China rose by nearly a quarter last year, boosting the total number of visitors and the economy, the government said Tuesday. A total of 810,000 Chinese visited Japan in 2006, a growth of 24.6% from the previous year, according to a report by the transport ministry.
Overall, 7.33 million foreign tourists visited Japan last year, up 9% from the previous year and breaking the seven-million mark for the first time. The government's "Visit Japan" campaign aims to double the annual total of visitors to 10 million by 2010 from 5.21 million in 2003.
 
Study: American Tourists Staying Away From Canada
Canada is seeing a sharp decline in American tourism, a new study suggests. Reasons: a stronger loonie, stricter US passport rules and a shift toward more exotic travel destinations, says the Calgary Herald.
"The Canadian tourism sector ­ ravaged in recent years by the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak in Toronto ­ has experienced a 34% drop in US travelers since 2000," the newspaper says.
Americans are overwhelmingly the biggest foreign visitors to Canada, representing four-fifths of all outside tourism dollars spent here. But interest appears to be waning, especially among younger US travelers, industry officials say.
Since 2000, reports TravelMole, the number of tourists coming from America to Canada has been on the decline.
Part of the problem is that Canada isn't being touted as an adventure destination, said Randy Williams, president of the Ottawa-based Tourism Industry Association of Canada, which recently released a study that examined American perceptions on travel to Canada.
The report found that Canada is losing a steady share of visitors to countries such as China and Australia, whose governments have launched aggressive advertising campaigns to attract lucrative US travelers.
 
Hilton Moves To Expand Hotel Spas
Jumping full bore into the burgeoning luxury hotel-spa trend, Hilton Hotels Corp. today will announce a new partnership with luxury-goods firm LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and a separate spa concern that will see the hotelier add more than 70 new spas to its upscale properties world-wide.
Hilton, Beverly Hills, Calif., already boasts 65 spas at hotels throughout its system but plans to spend about $200 million over the next 2½ years to more than double that number, the company said.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the new spas will be operated by Spa Chakra Inc., New York, and will feature LVMH products. The initiative's first new spa will open at the company's flagship Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York next February. Closely held Spa Chakra manages the spas at the Hilton's Conrad hotels in Miami and Indianapolis.
Hilton officials say the 10-year partnership with Paris-based LVMH and Spa Chakra will attempt to standardize spa offerings at its hotel chains, including the Waldorf-Astoria Collection.
"When you look at the spa industry around the world, it's pretty fragmented, and a lot of people say they're in it," says Tom Keltner, chief executive of the Americas and global brands at Hilton. "We were somewhere in there, but now we have a way to really make our spa product stand out across the top end of our brands."
 
Revival For Australian Domestic Tourism
Latest figures indicate domestic tourism in Australia is experiencing a long-awaited revival reports Yahoo.
The number of domestic overnight holidays grew by 5% for the year ending March 31, according to a new report by Tourism Research Australia. Domestic tourism expenditure rose by 7% to $55.9 billion in the same period and 54% of that expenditure was in regional Australia.
Domestic tourism has been struggling over the past few years, but in recent times there has been a strong resurgence in holidaying at home, Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said. The result is at least partly due to a 15% increase in domestic air travel over the past 12 months.
More Australians are taking advantage of cheap airfares to go away for a short break. With healthy competition in the domestic aviation market, this trend can only continue into the future, Ms Bailey said.
 
Souvenir Of Your Hotel Stay Could Be Custom-Made
Hotel keepsakes, once limited to plastic key chains and stolen bathrobes, now represent a booming sales sector worth millions to the hospitality industry says CanWest News Service.
From the soap to the elevator soundtrack, almost anything Canadians experience at a property can be purchased as a souvenir of their stay - and now the trend has evolved to include "bespoke" (tailor-made) objects and experiences that evoke the same hotel memories, but without the prefabrication.
Visitors to the Fairmont chain, for instance, can create their own custom-made perfume (in Monte Carlo), design a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry (London), or commission an ice cream flavor - think chocolate-covered potato chip or pumpkin avocado - tailored to their taste buds (Chicago).
Guests at One & Only's Le Touessrok in Mauritius can take home a custom fitness plan designed especially for them by the resort's personal trainers. In Dubai, visitors to the Jumeirah Hotel may order made-to-measure suits and shirts from the property's on-site tailors.
"It takes the concept of the concierge one step farther and delivers that personalized service that's so critical right now," says Tony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada.
 
Philippine Hotel Plan Attracts Major Investment
The Philippine Department of Tourism estimates that more than $4 billion will be slated for hotel development throughout the country, including a hotel complex in the central business district of Makati City in Metro Manila says ModernAgent.
The complex, a joint venture between Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and Dubai-based Kingdom Hotel Investment (KHI), one of the major equity holders for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, is expected to be a key component in the area's redevelopment into a global business destination.
An ALI spokesperson said that the development group has 33 new projects currently slated for the Philippines in 2007.
 
Southwest CEO Sees Summer Pricing Under Pressure
Reuters reports that Southwest Airlines expects fare prices to be under pressure in the traditionally strong travel months of June and July, the low-cost carrier's chief executive said on Wednesday. "At this point, we're experiencing the effects of the slowing economy and the softening demand for air travel," Gary Kelly said, speaking at a Merrill Lynch investor conference.
He said traffic and booking trends in June and July appeared strong, but average ticket prices were under pressure. "It's more of a low-fare environment this year than it is an environment that allows for fare increases," said Kelly.
Because of tepid demand and rising fuel prices, he said, Southwest will probably not be able to increase unit revenues by 5% this year as it had hoped.
The sluggish per-seat revenue growth puts Southwest's earnings growth target in jeopardy. The carrier aims to increase earnings before special items by 15% a year, but that growth goal is based on a 5% rise in unit revenues.
Southwest's jet fuel hedging program will help the leading U.S. low-cost carrier partially offset the softer demand. Kelly said he expected that program to account for about $500 million in savings this year.
Southwest has been working on ways other than ticket sales to generate revenue, such as putting televisions and wireless entertainment systems on board its planes.
 
Europe Plans A Quieter And Cleaner Passenger Jet
Driven by concerns that it is falling behind on airplane development, the European Union is planning a 1.6 billion-euro public-private partnership to help its aviation industry develop a generation of greener and quieter aircraft, reports The New York Times.
European officials say the project, known as Clean Sky and costing the equivalent of $2.1 billion, will bring vast economic benefits and offset the impact of huge growth in air travel by cutting jet carbon emissions by 20% to 40% in the coming decades and reducing jet noise.
The use of 800 million euros in European Union money, however, may revive tensions with Washington, which, on the behalf of Boeing, has fought a long-running battle at the World Trade Organization over charges of illegal public support to the aircraft maker Airbus.
 
Timeshare Sales Climbed 16% In 2006, Reaching $10B Mark
According to a study of the U.S. vacation ownership industry, timeshare sales jumped 16% from 2005 to 2006 and reached the $10-billion mark. Ernst & Young, LLP conducted the study says HotelBusiness.
The study surveyed 625 timeshare resorts throughout the U.S. Those resorts exhibited during the past five years an 81% increase in sales and an average resort size growth of 32%.
Furthermore, during 2006, timeshare resorts averaged 80.9% occupancy. In comparison, U.S. hotels’ average occupancy for 2006 was 63.4%.
 
UK Workshops Planned To Bring Tourism And Town Planning Together
A series of local workshops that will enable town planners and the tourism industry to work better together will take place in eight towns and cities across England over the coming months, tourism minister Shaun Woodward announced today.
The workshops are designed to promote the government’s Good Practice Guide on Planning for Tourism, which aims to ensure that town planners know the value of their local tourism industries, and how to help them prosper.
They will also work the other way, by giving the tourism industry a better insight into how planners work says Leisure Opportunities.
“This is a great opportunity to share what does or doesn’t work, what could be improved and to encourage suggestions from stakeholders on how this can be achieved,” said Woodward. “This is particularly important as we prepare to maximize the opportunities that the 2012 Games will offer. The planning system plays an important role in helping to protect the environment and is crucial in ensuring that the tourism industry can develop and thrive in a sustainable manner.”
 
Nobel Prize Urged For Tourism
Lelei LeLaulu, president of the non-profit Counterpart International organization called on the Nobel Peace Prize committee which convenes in Norway, to seriously consider how tourism prevents conflict and maintains peace.
Speaking to reporters about the recent Global Ecotourism conference held in Norway in May, LeLaulu confirmed his call for the Nobel Peace Prize to recognize the linkages between sustainable tourism and peace and noted "tourism is the only real peace dividend."
"Think of the millions of have-nots who have died violently trying to get, or to defend, resources for themselves and their families," he added, says a report on InsideCostRica.
He urged Norway to focus its development priorities onto helping poorer countries build tourism infrastructures which enable visitor revenues to enhance the health, wealth, culture and environment of destinations - "the essential elements of peace."
 
Airbus Faces Wide Gap In A350 Orders
With the Paris Air Show less than a week away, Airbus has so far been unable to lure crucial customers to its proposed A350 jetliner despite making sweeping changes to the plane a year ago, giving rival Boeing Co. a major opportunity to cement its market dominance for the next decade.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Airbus had hoped to shore up its credibility with customers before the industry's most closely watched trade show of the year. Five years behind Boeing in developing a new midsize long-haul jetliner, Airbus has booked only 13 firm orders for the A350, compared with nearly 600 for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
The European plane maker must move quickly. Customers are racing to secure delivery spots in the Dreamliner order book, making it difficult for Airbus to catch up. In recent weeks, Airbus has offered steep discounts and other incentives for A350, said one airline and others familiar with the matter.
Officials at Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., say they are on the right track, though they acknowledge they are facing an uphill battle in closing deals. "It's moving more slowly than some might have expected," said John Leahy, Airbus's chief operating officer for customers, in an interview. "But nobody's informed me they want to cancel."
The marketing offensive comes nearly a year after Airbus agreed to redesign the A350 amid customer complaints that the jetliner wouldn't be as fuel-efficient, as easy to maintain or as comfortable as the 787. While Airbus is likely to announce some A350 orders at the show, it isn't likely to make the big splash it had hoped.
 
Eurostar Steps Up Play For Air Travelers
Eurostar is stepping up its campaign to persuade air travelers to take the train. The company which operates high speed trains between London and Paris and Brussels is in talks with UK train companies about offering travelers through tickets from British cities to the continent.
According to BusinessTravelEurope, Eurostar aims to offer such tickets when it moves into its new terminal at St. Pancras in November. It will enable travelers to buy a single ticket for journeys from, say, Sheffield or Leeds to Paris or Brussels.
As a second part of the project, Eurostar is aiming to introduce through tickets from French and Belgian cities to the UK from 2008 followed by tickets for onward journeys from Paris or Brussels to cities like Strasbourg or Amsterdam.
A spokesman for Eurostar said the new ticket availability was being introduced in stages because it was a "fairly complex IT challenge."
 
Hyatt Unveils Brand-Wide Wine Program
Building on the current consumer fascination with wine, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has launched a new wine brand called Canvas. Hyatt developed the brand in conjunction with members of the Mondavi family and their Folio Fine Wine Partners company says an article in HotelBusiness.
Three Canvas varietals will roll out starting this month at all F&B outlets, including room service, at all Hyatt-branded properties in the U.S. Hyatt's new brands, the select-service Hyatt Place and extended-stay Hyatt Summerfield Suites, will start serving the wines later this year.
 
Great Wall, Taj Mahal, Petra Among Leaders To Be New Seven Wonders In Contest
The Great Wall, the Colosseum and Machu Picchu are among the leading contenders to be the new seven wonders of the world as a massive poll enters its final month with votes already cast by more than 50 million people, organizers say.
As the July 6 voting deadline approaches, the rankings can still change, the organizers say. Also in the top 10 are Greece's Acropolis, Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, the Taj Mahal and Jordan's Petra.
According to USA Today, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, are assured of keeping their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete for a spot.
"It's the first ever global vote," said Tia B. Viering, spokeswoman for the "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign. The organizers are hoping for a final surge of voting from the United States and Europe to make the selection truly global.
The ancient city of Petra in southwestern Jordan ­ popularized by "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and famous for its water tunnels and stone structures carved in the rock ­ jumped from the middle of the pack to the top seven in January thanks to campaigning by the Jordanian royal family and thousands of Jordanians voting by text message over their mobile phones, Viering said.
The campaign was begun in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with almost 200 nominations coming in from around the world. The list of candidates was narrowed down to 21 by the start of 2006. Since organizers started a tour to each site last September, the competition has been heating up.
There is no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite wonder, but most of the votes are cast by Internet in a system that registers each participant's e-mail address to discourage people from voting twice, Viering said.
"We have a lot of kids (voting) and that trend is continuing...but we have votes really from every part of the population," she added.
 
Extreme Fare War: Hawaii Airline Offers $1 Tickets
The Hawaii interisland airfare war reached a new extreme on Monday as go! airlines offered 1,000 one-way tickets for $1 each reports Associated Press.
The carrier launched the campaign to mark the first anniversary of its entry into the Hawaii market last June. Both Hawaiian and Aloha airlines, which had matched most previous go! fare cutting, said they would not offer this one.
"I have been asked many times if the fares are going to get any lower," said the head of go!'s parent company, Mesa Air Group, Jonathan Ornstein. "With today's special fare, I think I can say that's probably unlikely."
 
Study: Driving Word Of Mouth Among Business Executives
There’s a ton of talk about word of mouth these days ­ understandably says Jack360.
Consumers continually cite personal recommendation as a top influence on purchase decision; they consistently say it’s more trustworthy than other forms of communication. They also say it’s twice as valuable as traditional marketing, according to the Keller Fay Group, a market research firm focused on word of mouth.
New research sponsored by Jack Morton and conducted by Keller Fay confirms the value of word of mouth as well as its ties to face-to-face, but examines this topic from a new angle: the BtoB world in which executives get and share information about business-driven purchases.
The research, a study of executives in the US and UK, confirms that word of mouth is the #1 influence on business purchase decisions and is best leveraged through face-to-face marketing efforts. Word of mouth is far more influential for business executives than other communication channels. Fifty percent of business executives report they are highly likely to buy a product or service based on word of mouth; 49% pass on what they’ve heard to others. Executives report that word of mouth has more than twice the influence of advertising, direct mail or press coverage on purchase decisions.
Business decision-makers most value communication channels that provide two-way dialogue. Top influences on their business purchase are: recommendations from a colleague or friend, interaction with a salesperson, participation at in-person marketing events, conferences and tradeshows and the Internet.
 
Shorter Trips Mean More Online Dollars
Longer weekend trips or three night stays away from home have emerged as the most popular type of leisure travel, according to a new report from PhoCusWright.
"Long weekend trips represent an important opportunity in leisure travel and the online leisure marketplace," according to Susan Steinbrink, PhoCusWright's market research analyst. "And while long weekend trips potentially offer travel providers lower margins, they do offer more frequent travelers and trips to target."
The study, says TravelMole, reinforces the trend that Americans are working too hard - so hard in fact, that many don't find time for long periods away from the office.
"But they still need to relax, and the lure of a vacation always beckons. This means leisure travel is defined less by a prescribed number of weeks off, and more by the opportunity to carve out chunks of available time," says PhoCusWright.
 
Bermuda Tourism Numbers Soar
Caribbean Travel News reports that Bermuda is back and the numbers prove it. By the close of the first quarter 2007, Bermuda experienced a 23+% increase of visitor arrivals compared to the same period last year.
This increase marks the highest first quarter visitor arrival statistic since 2000. Of these visitors, 45,825 came via air, representing a 17.8% increase over air arrivals through the same period in 2006 and 2,765 came via cruise ship, an impressive 550.6% increase compared to the same period last year.
"With the increase in air carriers to the island, a rise in hotel development, Bermuda's annual lineup of signature events and the announcement of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, there is no doubt that 2007 is going to be a record breaking year for Bermuda," said Bermuda's Premier, Minister of Tourism and Transport, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown, JP, MP.
 
Athens Hoteliers Hit The revPAR Jackpot
With the city of Athens recently playing host to the prestigious Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League Final, we use the latest data from Daily HotelBenchmark™ by Deloitte, to analyze the impact of this major event of the city’s hotel industry.
Few other sports, if any, attract such widespread support as football, so hosting the showcase final of the European game is a massive coup for any city. And few clubs have the tradition and support of Liverpool and Milan; with no fewer than eleven European Cups between them before last week’s game, everybody expected a classic encounter.
Fanatical supporters travelled in their tens of thousands from across Europe, and special charter flights were organized from Liverpool’s John Lennon and Milan’s Malpensa airports to transport the fans to the Greek capital. Although only 17,000 tickets were allocated to each set
Following the success of the 2004 Olympics Athens’s hoteliers were well placed to predict the demand for rooms, and forced average room rates accordingly. Athens’s occupancy levels are generally highest in May and September; either side of the scorching summer months, so hoteliers could expect to raise their average room rates around this time of year. However to measure how far this was achieved, we compare the figures between 2006 and 2007 for the three days up to and including match day.
From 22-24 May 2006, Athens’s average room rate stood at €158 with revenue per available room (revPAR) at a comparably impressive €138. Coincidentally this hit a peak on Wednesday 24 May 2006 – exactly a year to the day prior to the Champions’ League Final – when average room rates hit €167 and occupancy stood at 93.4%.
Fast-forward one year however, and the Champions’ League effect is obvious. For the three day period 21-23 May 2006, Athens’s average room rate was a staggering €302, with revPAR standing at €270. On match day itself, 23 May 2007, average rates peaked at €341. With the city’s supply saturated and occupancy levels almost overflowing at 98.8%, revPAR on this day hit €337. These figures equate to a 95.5% increase in revPAR from 2006 to 2007 for the three-day period, and an incredible 116.0% revPAR rise on match day.
 
Extended Domestic Travel Weakness On The Horizon?
U.S. airline shares fell Wednesday June 13, 2007 afternoon as several carriers, including low-cost leader Southwest Airlines Co., warned of extended domestic travel weakness.
According to Airline Travel News the Amex Airline Index fell 1% to 48.28, its lowest intraday level since mid-September, as airlines painted a dimmer picture for revenue growth as the economy slows.
The broader Dow Jones Wilshire Airline Index fell 1% to 1,174.
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and Southwest all figured in the early action.
Delta said earlier Wednesday it would change its accounting for its SkyMiles frequent-flyer program. This would add $72 million to revenue for the two-month period ending June 30 and $186 million for the eight-month period ending December. For the latter period, Delta forecasts $43 million in pretax income, a turnaround from its previous estimate of a loss of $145 million.
 
Starwood Reveals Major Makeover Plan For Sheraton Brand
Last week, Starwood marketers transformed a portion of the W Times Square into a maze of features and amenities that will eventually be found in the lobbies, guest rooms, meetings spaces, club floors and fitness centers of Sheratons worldwide.
The build-outs were part of a full-court press to woo investors, developers and media into looking at Sheraton anew, says Travel Weekly, and the show-and-tell was timed to dovetail with the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, taking place a few blocks away at the Marriott Marquis.
The stakes for transforming the climate of opinion about Sheraton are high. The brand has been dogged by criticism that it is inconsistent, a charge Starwood executives did not deny. Sheraton is Starwood's "biggest and most important brand," said Sheraton's brand manager, Hoyt Harper, with more than 400 hotels in 75 countries accounting for 51% of Starwood's room inventory and 40% of the corporate bottom line.
The first of five initiatives being undertaken to revitalize the brand is to redefine the lobby space with the attributes of a park, which Sheraton's vice president of marketing, Brian Povinelli, called "the human symbol of community." This will be accomplished, Harper added, by employing scent, plants, furnishings, high-tech devices and food-and-beverage offerings.
Central to the high-tech innovations will be Microsoft's newly released coffee table "surface computer," which a guest can use to order drinks, download tunes to MP3 players and transfer photos from digital cameras to create e-postcards. Investors were offered an opportunity to play with it, and they did, posing for digital photos and then enlarging their images to table-size proportions.
Other initiatives involve upgrading bed furnishings, installing flat screen TVs (with for-pay programming exclusive to Sheraton), adding extras to meetings spaces (including a vibrating machine that will revive drowsy attendees who stand on it) and fitness center programs that can fine-tune a guest's workout, even after checkout.
 
Behavioral Advertising On Target To Explode Online
After years of deriding the Internet as "only" a direct advertising vehicle, major brand marketers are discovering powerful new ways to target their users online, and major online players are clearly noticing.
"Nearly $10.5 billion sends a very clear message about future strategies," says David Hallerman, eMarketer Senior Analyst and the author of the new eMarketer report, Behavioral Targeting: Advertising Gets Personal." "Four deals in 35 days ­ Google-DoubleClick, Yahoo!-Right Media, WPP Group-24/7 Real Media and Microsoft-aQuantive ­ are a clear indication of the onrush of brand-focused advertisers onto the Web."
Internet advertising is no longer all about paid search. Targeted online display advertising is exploding.
Spending for Internet advertising with a behavioral targeting component will soar from $575 million this year to $1 billion in 2008, and that still represents only 11% of the US display, rich media and video market.
"With the greater attention paid to overall ad targeting, and the rising focus on brand messages online," says Mr. Hallerman, "this market will nearly quadruple by the end of 2011, growing to $3.8 billion."
There are three key reasons for the large spending gains:

 

 Butler Service On Rise At Luxury Hotels
Sophisticated diners know how to pair wine with food. Increasingly, sophisticated hoteliers know how to pair guests with butlers says a report on hotelchatter.com.
Yes, butlers, those silent but obsequious senior servants commonly associated with the royal family and other stratospheric life-stylists, are on the rise at luxury hotels. You rang? Preferred Hotels & Resorts is tauting reinvented butler service at several properties.
Essentially floating personal assistants, the butler staff at The Lanesborough in London is on call 24/7 to pamper and problem-solve. The 23-butler staff carries wireless hand-held devices that allow guests to send their requests from parts afar.
If your meeting's running late, ping! A butler will move back your dinner reservation. If you arrive ahead of your luggage, ding! The butler staff will go into high gear.
Need something to wear to, say, dinner at Buckingham Palace? One guest recently did. The Lanesborough's butler staff summoned Sloane Street boutiques to deliver a selection of dresses. Ditto jewelry from Graft.
Stateside, The Cloister at Sea Island is the first U.S. property to receive a 5-Butler rating from the International Modern Butlers Institute. The Clearwater, Florida-based professional organization is trying to elevate the standards of hotel butler service. In addition to its rating system the institute seeks feedback from guests. (If you are so inclined, click here.)
The Cloister at Sea Island introduced butler service when it reopened in March 2006 after a $500 million renovation. At 49 butlers strong, it's the largest hotel butler staff in the U.S. One-third of the Sea Island’s butlers are women, including head butler (or butlerette?) Fiona Cameron-Williams. Apparently there's something of a cultural disconnect among some guests and the notion of butler service. Even the well-heeled can feel shy about using butler service.
 
NYC Hotel Development To Set New Record
Manhattan will gain 50-plus hotels and 8,000 rooms over the next three years, marking the largest such increase in the city's history, according to a new report issued Monday by consulting firm HVS International.
The research was announced at New York University's annual International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference at the Marriott Marquis New York says newyorkbusiness.com.
By 2009, the city will have 72,000 rooms up from 64,000 currently. The majority of the new projects or 46% will be budget oriented properties without food and beverage outlets.
But the glut of new development is expected to contribute to a small decline in occupancy rates and slow growth rate of the price of hotel rooms.
 
Study: Problems For Hotel Bargain-Seekers
The hotel room market is changing and not necessarily for the better for those in search of a great deal, says the latest Consumer Reports. "With business and leisure travel on the rise, vacancies are down and rates are up. Fewer empty rooms could possibly mean less big bargains for consumers," the report says.
Making matters worse, some hotels are tacking on fees for everything from maid service ($5 to $18 a day) to the "chance" to use a tennis court, hiking trail, golf course and other resort amenities ($12 and up).
In the same report, Ritz-Carlton scored high in overall satisfaction reports TravelMole. Homewood Suites and SpringHill Suites also proved to be "excellent values," says the report that rates the best hotels for any budget.
Among survey findings from almost 35,000 subscribers to Consumer Reports:

 

            Chains Perk Up Breakfast Fare
More lodgings are getting guests' days started right with perked-up breakfast menus or a free meal ­ a hotel amenity much loved by budgeters and bottom-line-watching business travelers reports USA Today.
Here are just some of the programs I've heard of lately (check with your favorite chain to see what's cooking):

 

Rapid Coral Decline Threatens Vietnam's Dive Tourism Industry
With Vietnam's scuba diving capital of Nha Trang hosting a week-long maritime festival, a local marine biology expert said Tuesday the area could lose all of its coral within 30 years. 
"The coverage of coral in Nha Trang Bay shrank from 52.4% in 1994 to 21.2% in 2005," said Nguyen Van Long, head of the seafood resource department at the Nha Trang Oceanography Institute. "The bay may not have any coral left in 30 years if the coverage keeps shrinking at that pace."
According to Thanh Nien Tourism and fishing are the mainstays of Nha Trang's economy. Tran Son Hai, director of the tourism department of Khanh Hoa province, said the city received 1.1 million tourists last year, of whom 30% were international. Diving is one of the city's main attractions.
 
Marriott Teams With Ian Schrager On Boutique Hotels
Marriott International Inc. is partnering with entrepreneur and hotel innovator Ian Schrager to create a new brand of as many as 100 boutique hotels that will combine Schrager's experience in developing intimate lodging properties with Marriott's operational expertise on a global scale.
The hotels, with an average size of 150 to 200 rooms, will be located in cities throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Initial markets are to include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo.
The Baltimore Business Journal reports the brand will reflect changing lifestyles of consumers and cater to an underserved market of guests expecting and demanding a unique experience, not merely a place to sleep, the partners said in a statement.
Marriott will oversee the development process, and operate and manage the completed hotels. Schrager will lead the effort on concept, design, marketing, branding and food and beverage. The partners expect to have at least five firm development deals signed under the new brand by year's end, and 100 hotels open or in the pipeline within a decade.
Schrager, who co-owned the nightclub Studio 54 with his late business partner, Steve Rubell, helped introduce the boutique hotel concept to the world with the opening of Morgans Hotel in 1984. After leaving Morgans Hotel Group in 2005, Schrager founded Ian Schrager Co., which owns, develops, manages and brands hotels, residential and mixed-use projects. The company is currently involved in projects in New York, Miami and Las Vegas, as well as other cities around the world.
 
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