New blood at Kempinski: Kempinski Hotels S.A., Geneva, has appointed Christophe Piffaretti as chief development officer and member of the Management Board. He will be responsible for the expansion of the Kempinski portfolio by focusing on the company’s footprint growth in current and new markets as well as supporting the real-estate development strategy. He will also oversee Technical Services & Design of new-build and conversion hotel projects before the pre-opening phase. Piffaretti joins Kempinski Hotels from his most recent position of leading two real estate investment funds for Credit Suisse Asset Management. Previous senior roles in development include companies such as Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Residencium and La Perla International Living.
Remington names CEO: With the November 6, 2019, acquisition of Remington Hotels by Ashford Inc., Remington is making several, significant strategic enhancements to its organizational structure, including the promotion of Sloan Dean to chief executive officer and president from COO. To further support its anticipated growth into the third-party management space, Stan Kennedy has been promoted from SVP of operations to COO; appointed Jarrad Evans as chief investment officer; and created a chief commercial officer role.
More declines in NYC: RevPAR in New York City fell 3.1% in Q3, primarily due to declines in average daily room rate ADR, according to a PwC report. Growth in lodging demand did not keep up with a supply increase of 3.1%, resulting in occupancy falling 0.5%. Across all Manhattan hotel classes, luxury properties exhibited the most notable 3.7% decline in RevPAR during the third quarter, largely driven by a decline in ADR of 2.7%.
Read PwC’s Manhattan Lodging Index Q3 2019
MENA profits rise: For the second consecutive month, hotels in the Middle East and North Africa recorded a year-over-year rise in profit, a positive sign for a region where GOPPAR declines had previously abounded. GOPPAR in October increased 4% over the same month last year, according to data from HotStats. The increase comes on the heels of a strong September, which saw 10.9% YOY growth in the metric. Still, the 12-month-moving average GOPPAR remains a negative 5.4%. The jump in October profit came despite a revenue squeeze. Year-over-year RevPAR was up slightly at 0.5%, dragged down by a 4.2% YOY decrease in average room rate. The narrow RevPAR gain was underpinned by a 3.5 percentage-point increase in occupancy. Profit margin was up 1.2 percentage points to 38.7%, the highest point of the metric since April 2019.
GOPPAR rises in Europe: October in Mainland Europe marked the second consecutive month—and third month of the year—of growth in profit per available room compared to the same period last year, according to HotStats data. A strong top line drove the 1.2% YOY increase in GOPPAR. In the rooms department, a combination of occupancy (up 1 percentage point YOY) and average rate (up 0.1% YOY) led to a 1.5% increase in RevPAR. Profit conversion in Mainland Europe was recorded at 40.1% of total revenue.
Benchmark to manage Margaritaville: Benchmark will operate a new resort property in the Houston area, which will be the first Margaritaville Resort in Texas. Scheduled to open the summer of 2020, the Margaritaville Lake Resort, Lake Conroe-Houston, an all-suite resort, will feature 335 guest suites. The project is a joint venture of Songy Highroads and The Wampold Companies. The resort will be part of Benchmark’s signature brand, Benchmark Resorts & Hotels.
Accor grows Australia portfolio: Accor & Fragrance Group Ltd. have announced a new 431-room Novotel Perth Murray St. to the Australian city’s fast-growing tourism infrastructure. The hotel is slated for a soft opening on December 2019 in the heart of the Perth CBD. Opening of the Ibis Styles Hobart, which is the largest hotel in Tasmania.
Hotel JAL City grows outside Japan: Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co., and Grand Tower Enterprise Co. have signed an agreement to rebrand the Hotel Verve Bangkok as the Hotel JAL City Bangkok and reopen as a 324-room Okura Nikko Hotel Management property from 2nd quarter of 2020. The deal marks the introduce the Hotel JAL City brand outside Japan and the fourth property in Thailand to be operated by Okura Nikko Hotel Management.
Campbell Gray joins GHA: Global Hotel Alliance announced that Campbell Gray Hotels will soon be joining the growing portfolio of over 30 independent brands and 550 hotels in 78 countries. Campbell Gray currently operates in five countries and is expanding into three more destinations by 2022. Campbell Gray’s hotel portfolio includes the newly-opened Alex on Lake Zurich; Le Gray, Beirut, The Machrie Hotel & Golf Links in Scotland and The Merchant House in Bahrain. The integration and launch of Campbell Gray’s properties into the Discovery loyalty program is expected during the second quarter of 2020.
Safir-Preferred alliance grows: Kuwaiti hotel management company Safir Hotels & Resorts and Preferred Hotels & Resorts have expanded the reach of their relationship by adding the Marina Hotel Kuwait as the third hotel in the portfolio to join Preferred. Safir is interested in growing its collaboration with Preferred to include more of its portfolio of hotels into the agreement. However, a number of properties Safir manages are currently too small to justify a full-fledged market representation relationship. For these hotels, Safir and Preferred are discussing ways to tailor their cooperation to a “distribution only” relationship that would grant these properties access to the I Prefer loyalty program and to the Preferred central reservation system.
PPHE buys in London: PPHE Hotel Group, London, has acquired for £12 million (US$15.5 million) in cash the freehold interest in a London site, where it intends to develop a hotel near its Park Plaza London Waterloo. PPHE has an exclusive and perpetual license from the Radisson Hotel Group to develop and operate Park Plaza band hotels in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.