Saudization at hotels: According to the Saudi Arabian Labour and Social Development Ministry the process of Saudization has begun, in which only Saudi nationals will be appointed to positions at resorts, hotels rated three stars or higher, and hotel apartments rated four stars or higher, must be filled by Saudis range from front-desk jobs to management. Among the exceptions are drivers, doormen and porters, the ministry said in the statement. Other jobs that will be restricted to nationals include restaurant host and health club supervisor. Saudi unemployment hit a high of nearly 13% last year.
Project at The Parker: The Parker Palm Springs in California is proposing to add to it rooms and villas inventory with a luxurious private “estate” behind the hotel’s hedgerows. In January, city planning officials will consider a proposal to construct 25 new suites and a six-room main house called Parker Hall across multiple buildings at the resort.
MENA slows in November: Two consecutive months of profit growth gave way to a contraction in November for hotels in the Middle East and North Africa as GOPPAR declined 1.7% year-over-year, according to data from HotStats. The region had a nice, albeit short, run of GOPPAR gains prior to November’s downtick, but the drop is more in line with MENA’s overall dim 2019 performance. If there is a silver lining, the 1.7% drop is the smallest YOY decrease of the year and far smaller than the YTD number of -4.2%. Rooms revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same month last year, dragged down by a 5.1% drop in room rate. Occupancy for the month was up 1.9 percentage points to 76.2%. The drop in rooms RevPAR, along with a 1.5% YOY decrease in F&B RevPAR, equated into an overall decrease in total revenue of 2.7% YOY.
Four-hotel deal for Choice: Choice Hotels International last week inked a deal for four new hotels. Eric Shuster of Endeavor Consulting and Procurement signed a multi-unit franchise agreement with Choice Hotels and Brownstone Development to develop a Comfort Inn & Suites and MainStay Suites in Kansas, along with a dual-branded Sleep/MainStay in Missouri.
Hilton to Tunisia: Hilton signed a management deal with the Groupe Alliance for a property in the Tunis coastal suburb of Gammarth. An extensive renovation of Le Palace hotel will now see the property re-brand as Hilton Tunis Gammarth in 2023. A phased renovation of all guest rooms, suites and public spaces (including F&B outlets) will begin in 2021. Once complete the hotel will boast 296 guest rooms and 25 suites, seven F&B outlets and ample meetings facilities.
Lotte to Seattle: A South Korean consortium comprised of a financial firm and a hotel chain on Sunday said it has signed a deal to buy a Seattle-based hotel from a U.S. private equity fund for US$175 million. Under the agreement signed this past week, Hana Financial Investment Co. and Hotel Lotte Co. purchased the 189-room hotel at The Mark from Stockbridge. It will be rebranded as Lotte Hotel Seattle in June.
Read Yonhap News Agency report