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Briefs: Americans now banned from 83 Cuban hotels

Trump cracks down on Cuba: The Trump administration on Wednesday tightened the economic embargo on Cuba, restricting Americans from access to hotels, stores and other businesses tied to the Cuban military. Some 83 hotels are on the banned list and Americans wishing to visit Cuba will again have to go through authorized tour operators, and tour guides will have to accompany the groups. 

More from the New York Times

 


Interval renews Accor Vacation Club: Interval International has renewed its master affiliation agreement with APVC Ltd., operator of Accor Vacation Club. The multi-year contract extends the relationship first established in 2000 and comprises the existing 23 club properties, as well as future properties that become part of Accor Vacation Club.As part of the agreement, Interval is providing a comprehensive package of customized services, including points-based exchange.

 


AMResorts in St. Lucia: AMResorts will bring two of its luxury, all inclusive resort brands to St. Lucia. These contracts mark the company’s entry into the island, and expand Apple Leisure Group’s resort management portfolio to its ninth country. With 16 properties in the development pipeline, ALG will have more than 60 open resorts across Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica and Panama by 2019.

 


Marriott stock: Marriott International’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 33 cents per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on December 29 to shareholders of record as of November 22. The company also announced that its board has increased the authorization to repurchase the Company’s Class A common stock by an additional 30 million shares, for a total of approximately 37.5 million shares currently authorized for repurchase. Shares may be purchased in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Year to-date the company has repurchased 23.9 million shares for US$2.4 billion.

 


A very Karl Christmas: This year, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld will style Claridge’s annual Christmas Tree, which will ultimately be unveiled in the hotel lobby on the morning of November 22. This is the eighth year the hotel has invited a creative to reinterpret the tree in their own style. Previous collaborators have included Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano, and Burberry.

 


Pipeline data, U.S.: According to the recent United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, the franchise companies with the largest construction pipelines are: Marriott with 1,298 projects/166,419 rooms, Hilton with 1,270 projects/144,191 rooms and IHG with 817 projects/83,728 rooms. These three franchise companies comprise 68% of all projects in the total pipeline.

The largest brands for each of these companies are; Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 284 projects/27,411 rooms and Residence Inn with 189 projects/23,605 rooms; Hilton’s Home2 Suites with 348 projects/36,439 rooms and Hampton Inn & Suites with 324 projects/33,627 rooms; and IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 442 projects/41,053 rooms and Staybridge Suites with 129 projects/13,635 rooms.

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