News & Stories

Barcelona. As Spanish chains start to penetrate more and more markets, hospitalityInside.com will portrait the most ambitious chains and fascinating business concepts. Hotusa Hotels is Continental Europe's leading hotel consortium and sixth-ranked in the world, combines a voluntary affiliation network with owned and managed hotels - all under the same roof. Hotusa was founded in 1977 by a group of Barcelona hoteliers, who joined forces to create an organization offering business and marketing services for independent hotel properties. Hotusa Group's president, Amancio Lopez Seijas, owns a majority stake in the company. Currently, Hotusa Hotels boasts over 2,000 affiliated hotels offering more than 170,000 rooms across 40 different countries.

Victoria/Toronto. British Columbia Investment Management Corporation acquired Delta Hotels Limited from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc.. It's the first sale of a brand after the ownership changed with Fairmont.

New York. An ecotourism survey conducted confirmed what many are already aware of - travelers are willing to shell out more cash to stay in an environmentally friendly hotel.

Amersfoort. Golden Tulip Hospitality announces the intention of directly purchasing hotel assets in the UK, now that its master franchisee has been sold to Whitbread plc. The group will make available for UK acquisitions an initial sum of 50 million GBP in pursuit of acquisitions.

Aachen/Berlin. Following the lead of tour operators and public portals such as holidaycheck, now it's the travel agencies' turn to rate hotels. The German Hotel Association sees the whole idea more as a chance than as a problem.

Mumbai. EIH Ltd., mother company of The Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, will terminate its strategic alliance for marketing and co-branding with Hilton International Co for the Trident Hilton brand in India.

Mumbai. The message from Indian Hotel Company Ltd was clear: It announced  that it acquired a stake of 10 per cent in Orient-Express Hotels and wants to pursue possible associations between its brands and Orient-Express. But Orient-Express doesn't want to pursue the proposal.

London. The first Yotel opened at London Gatwick, but there are still some details to improve. An interview with Gerard Greene, CEO of yotel hotels, and Nigel Buchanan, Operations Director, gives background-information to the hotel concept, to things that will be changed and to the approach to other countries.

Hongkong Luxury hotel group Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has launched a two-year development strategy to enhance its corporate social responsibility activities. A corporate CSR Committee, spearheaded by the group's chief operating officer Simon Bridle, has been established to continue to fulfill the group's responsibilities.