This news page is produced by Raymond Cote, author

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  Hospitality Articles of Interest

• Examples of International Smoking Bans: http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/08/stories/2008040860061400.htm

• The Canadian Restaurant and Food Services Association has a guide on eliminating or reducing trans fats from the menu. It is available for viewing and reproduction at: http://www.crfa.ca/research/resources/healthandsafety/pdf/transfatguide.pdf

• The Truth About High Fructose Corn Syrup: http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/features/115/hfcs-1.phtml

• Small Restaurant Chains Are Big Targets For Credit Card Fraud: http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/tools/114/creditcard-1.phtml

• Roy Rogers chain is drafting a comeback: http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080412/BUSINESS/678429299/1006

• Free food is a recent marketing strategy: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9143999

• Motivated employees with positive attitudes results in happy customers and bigger profits: http://www.restaurant.org/rusa/magArticle.cfm?ArticleID=503

 

 U.S. Hospitality News

Energy Savings

• Taco Bell has installed new electric grills that save energy, water and utility costs in 50% of the company's locations to date. The annual saving at these locations is 200 million-kilowatt hours of electricity, 1.2 million therms of gas and 300 million gallons of water.

Food Purchase Cost

• The average increase in wholesale food costs in 2007 was 7.6%, the largest percentage in 27 years. Food purchase costs continue to increase in 2008. Menu prices have increased; food portions have decreased. Suppliers are getting pressure from restaurants that are seeking to control costs; new providers are being examined.

Menu Recognition

• Uno’s has been selected as the healthiest chain restaurant in America by Health Magazine because of its is completely trans-fat free offerings, antibiotic-free chicken, low-calorie flatbread pizzas, a gluten-free menu and a kiosk of nutritional information in every restaurant. Health Magazine likes the chain's whole-grain pasta and brown rice, organic coffee and tea, and Uno's menu option of a salad at half price with the purchase of a pizza. Uno’s is planning a low-calorie, gluten-free deep-dish pizza and now that trans fats are eliminated, the next project is to reduce sodium in its products.

Sales/Acquisitions

• CKE Restaurants Inc., parent company of Hardee's Food Systems Inc., sold 59 of its restaurants as part of its strategic refranchising program. MJKL Enterprises Midwest LLC, bought 51 units from CKE and Saddle Peak LLC. Bought 8 units.

• G&R Acquisition will acquire Max & Erma's Restaurants for $4 a share in cash; its current management is continuing.

• Triarc (parent of Arby’s restaurants) acquired Wendy’s via a stock swap in which Wendy’s shareholders will receive 4.25 shares of Triarc for each Wendy’s share. The deal valued Wendy’s for about $2.3 billion or $26.78 a share. Wendy’s stock has fell more than 50 percent in value over the last two years. The company never recovered after the death in 2002 of its founder Dave Thomas. Wendy’s and Arby’s will have 10,000 restaurants and sales of about $12.5 billion and will continue as separate operating units.

F&B International Expansion

• See Bahrain, China, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates in the International Section below.

For Sale

• Dave & Buster’s owner, Wellspring Capital Management, placed the "for sale notice" in February. At least six companies have indicated interest in acquiring Dave & Buster's.

Growth

• Yum Brands, which operates Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silver's restaurants, now numbers 35,345 restaurants as of Dec. 31, compared with 34,595 in 2006. Franchise restaurants increased by 781 units and now total of 24,297; company-owned restaurants fell to 7,625 from 7,736. Yum's Web site indicates it is actively seeking franchise operators and wants more than 80 percent of its stores to be independent franchisees.

Notes of Interest

• Credit card fees increased 35% in 2008.

• Los Angeles ranks second only to New York City in its love for U.S. hot dogs.

• Some White Castle stores will sell burgers for 27-cent between 2 p.m. and 3:27 p.m. on May 27to celebrate both National Hamburger Month and the company's 87th anniversary.

• International fast food competition: See China

• The number of food-service establishments in New Orleans is now 1,355 compared with 1,882 pre-Katrina, according to the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

• Starbucks is testing a pour-your-own coffee concept; the brewer is located near the condiment bar.

• Starbucks has recognized complaints about coffee gushing from the sip holes in its. Its lids now have "splash sticks;" a plastic plug on top of the lid for sipping resembling the Starbucks siren. See: http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2008-04-13-ad-track_N.htm

Accounting News

• FASB’s New Codification of GAAP: FASB is reorganizing GAAP into a more user-friendly structure; the scheduled project is due for completion by April 2009. It will become the single authoritative source of GAAP. While the codification will change the manner in which GAAP is documented and researched, the content of GAAP will not change. The reassembling project will organize GAAP into about 90 topics; contents in each topic organized as follows: first by subtopic; then a section; and finally a paragraph level containing the substantive content of the topic. For more information refer to: http://asc.fasb.org

Access to the research system is free during the verification period (until January 2009); no decision has been made whether to charge for access after it is adopted.

 

  INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Australia

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Overseas Arrivals and Departures data in the first two months of 2008 indicates arrivals increased 1.7%; outbound travel has increased by a 14.5%.

Bahamas

• Norwegian Cruise Line is resuming short cruises (for three- and four-night cruises) in July from Miami to the Bahamas, the first since 2003. This quick move, on short notice, is a sign that despite recession and economic hardship, the major lines are confident about profitable Caribbean travel bookings.

Bahrain

• Pizza Inn has signed a development agreement to open up to 20 new locations over the next 10 years; the new franchisees will initially convert former Domino's Pizza locations into Pizza Inn restaurants.

Belgium

• Hertz has introduced lets customers rent a car for short periods and drop off cars at different locations without extra charge; making it possible to rent a car for three or six hours for short day trips, or nine hours for overnight trips. The new service – Hertz 369 – is available at over 1,200 city and airport locations across Europe, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
  

Canada

• Winnipeg will not have a local trans fat ban; instead it will have an educational campaign to alert consumers to avoid trans fats.

• The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has passed substantial tax breaks for businesses and consumers. For example, the 15% tax on insurance premiums is eliminated; the payroll tax exemption threshold is increased; and for individuals, there is a one per cent drop in all personal income tax rates.

China

• Western fast food chains continue to compete for a bigger share of China's 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) a year market. McDonald's owns more than 900 restaurants in China. Yum Brands has more than 2,000 KFC stores. Burger King, the world's No. 2 hamburger chain presently has only 12 units but hopes to open several hundred restaurants over the next three years. However Burger king Asia Pacific President Peter Tan cautions: "How many hundred, I don't what the number is. It's definitely more than a hundred, but how much more will depend on the availability of sites. About 90 percent of the Burger King’s new restaurants will be franchised and 10 percent self-owned in line with its international business model."

• Yum! Brands Inc is preparing to expand in China offering a menu of fried dough, preserved egg porridge, and its famous chicken.

• FASB and the China Accounting Standards Committee (CASC) have issued a memorandum of understanding and a commitment to strengthen cooperation and communication between the two standards-setting organizations.

• Budget hotel GreenTree Inn now has more than 100 chain hotels across China; most are located in the Yangtze River Delta region and the economically developed regions like southern China, Beijing and Tianjin. GreenTree Inn’s competitors are Super 8, Motel 168, Home Inns, and Express y Holiday Inn. GreenTree Inn mainly targets business people. The management company of GreenTree Inns is a foreign owned group of investors, namely American Pacific Homes, one of the partners of Coldwell Banker George Realty; Tone Yee investment, one of the partners of Cox Castle Nicholson; and some other international companies based around the world.

• The newly opened Swissôtel Grand in Shanghai has 467 rooms and suites, executive floors, an exclusive Club Lounge on the 27th floor and four restaurants and bars.

Cyprus

• The Columbia Beach Resort, the luxury five star hotel in Pissouri Bay Cyprus has been recognized by the World Travel Awards, with nominations in two categories in 2008; Cyprus’ Leading Resort and Cyprus’ Leading Spa Resort.

• The Cyprus Hoteliers’ Association, Pasyxe, and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation expect this year’s tourism will be better than in recent years.

France

• Boeing delivered Air France's 50th 777. Air France's new 777-300ER, the world's largest long-range twin-engine jetliner, will be based at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.

• See Belgium article on Hertz

Guam

• Guam's economy is presently about 90 percent dependent on Japanese tourism.

• The Guam Visitor's Bureau (GVB) is teaming with local organizations and residents in drafting a five-year strategic plan to boost Guam's tourism industry. GVB General Manager Gerald Perez said the strategic plan’s goal is to increase the number of tourists to 1.5 million visitors by 2011 from the current 1.2 million.

India

• Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ joint venture management company, JHM Interstate Hotels India, has signed a contract to manage its first property in India; a 124-room under construction hotel located in Vizag (Visakhapatnam), India. Vishnupriya Hotels Resorts Private Limited owns the hotel; construction started in July 2007 and is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2008.

• Hilton Hotels has signed an agreement to franchise its Hampton by Hiltonbrand to Marigold Hospitality Limited in India. Marigold Hospitality’s goal is to franchise 16 hotels (approximately 2,000 rooms); Marigold Hospitality expects to secure initial sites in the first half of 2008, with construction to start this year; the first 16 Hampton by Hiltonhotels is planned to open in two years.

• M&C Rakindo Hospitality will develop two hotels in Chennai and Bangalore targeting the business traveler.

Japan

• California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. opened its third location in Japan; a full-service restaurant operated by franchisee partner WDI Corporation in Tokyo Dome City, with a satellite kiosk located inside the Tokyo Dome.
  

• IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan and RINKO Corporation have signed a management contract, which will bring the ANA Crowne Plaza hotel brand to Niigata Prefecture for the first time, following a re-branding of the existing Hotel Niigata. The hotel, owned by RINKO, will be re-branded as ANA Crowne Plaza Niigata by the end of 2008. Before the re-branding, the hotel will undertake renovations including upgrading of all guest rooms and several food and beverage outlets.
  

Korea

• California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. opened its second location in South Korea; it is located in Seongnam City, a suburb southeast of Seoul.

Malaysia

• Datuk Abdul Mubin Razali, the Malaysian Ambassador to the UAE provided the following information. Last year, a total of 245,302 tourists from the Middle East visited Malaysia. Some 47,300 arrivals had already been recorded from the region during the first three months of this year. This year, tourists from the Middle East, especially the United Arab Emirates should be a record high. Previously, the main destinations in Malaysia for the Middle East tourists were Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Penang.
  

Mexico

• Investors and developers see Mexico as a land of opportunity over the past 15 years. Mexico has the numerous master-planned projects in development; it offers legal certainty, quality infrastructure, ample amenities, and development platforms for hospitality developers. The country's regulations allow foreign ownership in the majority of ventures, including real estate. Mexican laws provide legal guarantees and offer investment security. Paperwork is simplified for foreign investments, and the repatriation of profits, bonuses, dividends, and interest payments is unrestricted. Title insurance is widely available for real estate purchasers.

Mozambique

• By the end of the year, Mozambique Tourism Ministry is planning to grant certificates and patents or special brands to hotels and other tourist resorts in recognition of their promotion of social and environmental practices. This certification recognizes these businesses not only for their quality of service, but also for their role in social development, environment protection and preservation. According to Hélder Chambal, tourism national deputy director, the benefit for the communities need not necessarily be financial gains or other material assets, but could be improvements of social infrastructures such as schools, hospitals or environment protection.

Netherlands

• See Belgium article on Hertz

• Rapidly rising hotel-room rates and growing travel delays are creating a new market: pod hotels that offer very small rooms that travelers can spend the night or a few hours, at relatively inexpensive rates. In the Netherlands, the new Qbic hotel offers rooms the size of a walk-in closet. They're being made and set up entirely off-site at a factory in a Netherlands countryside. These pod hotels are also found in other counties. Most pod hotels don't have grand lobbies, gyms or meeting rooms, provide limited services and amenities. The rooms measure less than 100 square feet

Nigeria

• The Federal Government wants to resolve multiple taxation and over taxation in the hospitality sector. Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, the minister of culture, tourism and national orientation acknowledges that this excessive taxation is "negative, retrogressive and counter productive." The Federal Government and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) "clearly understands the need to avoid the regressive policy of over taxation in an emerging but very viable sector like tourism".

Philippines

• U.S. visitors continue to be a sizable share of inbound tourism, posting a 7.1 percent increase during the first two months of 2008 from the same period last year. Canadian tourist arrivals had an 18.7 growth percentage; the total increase for North America was 9.7 percent.

Puerto Rico

• The Ponce Plaza Hotel is one of Ponce’s oldest structures, it is being refurbished and expanded, opening in the summer of 2008; making it a new vacation option in Ponce’s Historical District. This hotel will join four other hotels in development (Four Points by Sheraton, Marriott Courtyard, Vista Magna Resort, and a yet unnamed project). New tourist attractions make Ponce a leading South Puerto Rico tourism destination in a region also known as Porta Caribe.

Saudi Arabia

• Marriott International Inc. currently has three hotel properties in Saudi Arabia. It plans to increase the number to 12 starting in 2010. Nine new hotels will be in Riyadh, Jeddah, Damman and Jubail, and will include Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Ritz-Carlton Residences, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Executive Apartments and Courtyard by Marriott.

South Africa

• InterContinental Hotels Group has opened Holiday Inn Express Cape Town City Centre, its first limited service hotel in South Africa. The hotel is the first of 25 properties IHG is developing under an exclusive agreement with ISO Leisure.

Suriname

• The Suriname Tourism Foundation‘s goal is to promote tourism. In addition to the traditional sources of revenue such as bauxite, wood, and rice; tourism makes an important contribution to the economy. With assistance from the European Union, the STF has a Tourism Development Plan that serves as the basis for future projects. The STF is supervised by a Director, and has three departments: Marketing & Promotion, Product Development, and Information & Education. In addition to promoting Suriname as a tourist destination, the STF conducts workshops and training courses for workers in the tourism industry

Switzerland

• Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, is reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 tons per year using an innovative heat pump system. Water from Lake St. Moritz serves as the heat source for the hotel's heat pump system but the heat pump has no negative effect on the lake's flora and fauna. Badrutt's Palace Hotel will save 400,000 liters of heating oil per season, a reduction of 80% annually over the previous heating system

• See China for Swissôtel Grand news.

• See Belgium article on Hertz

Turkey

• Growing tourism in Turkey is having a positive impact on the national economy; statistics show that the industry generated about £1.4 billion during the first quarter of this year, up from the 28.5 per cent recorded during the same period of 2007, during which revenues of £1 billion were produced.

Turks &Caicos

• Premier and Minister, Dr. Michael Misick, said: "While the final figure for visitor arrival to the islands over the past twelve months is still being compiled, all indications are that tourism business in these islands during the last year was better than the twelve months prior." Figures show that the number of visitor arrivals to the islands in 2007 was 264,887, an increase of some 7% over 2006.

United Arab Emirates

• California Pizza Kitchen Inc. has signed an agreement with Gourmet Gulf Co. to open at least three California Pizza Kitchen restaurants in Dubai; the first restaurant is slated to open in the fall of 2008. The company currently has 19 international restaurants in China, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, South Korea and Indonesia.

United Kingdom

• Church's Chicken has entered the U.K. market.

• The STR Global's HotelBenchmark Survey by Deloitte consultants shows that 71.9% of beds were booked in the Ireland’s city hotels in the last quarter; the UK average is 65%. Revenue generated from each room occupied in Belfast was £56; an increase of 7.4%.

• Neil Thomson, chief executive of the Federation of Chefs Scotland, believes 3000 more chefs are needed in the Scotland hospitality industry..

 

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