Index: hospitality news, hospitality accounting text, hospitality managerial accounting text, hotel accounting, restaurant accounting, advanced hospitality accounting, accounting, finance, hospitality management, financial management This website  is provided by Raymond Cote for hospitality educators, students, and professionals; Cote is the author of two leading textbooks: Basic Hotel and Restaurant Accounting (Click the Principles/System button) Accounting for Hospitality Managers (Click the Managerial Acctg Text button)   My textbook customers make this website possible. Thank you.                                                                          BASIC HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ACCOUNTING is a hospitality principles and systems text; it also has several introductory managerial accounting chapters. Press the button at left of this page labeled Princples/System Text. ACCOUNTING FOR HOSPITALITY MANAGERS is an advanced hospitality managerial accounting and financial management providing coverage for hotels, restaurants and casinos. Press the button at left of this page labeled Managerial Acctg Text.                                                                                                                                                                                                           NEW CONTACT NOTICE My new email address is: profcote@otowhomes.com                                                                                                                                 General Interest Web News A brief discourse on Cuba’s hospitality business potential: http://www.eturbonews.com/11774/cuba-ready-us-tourists Three tips to improve profits: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2009/09/how_to_accelera.html 10 Tips to promote a restaurant: http://www.chainleader.com/article/CA6686774.html Attracting families to restaurants (2 reports): http://www.rimag.com/article/CA6674688.html http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/2009/08/13/20090813gr- restaurants0814.html 10 Mistakes made by diners: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/2009/08/top_10_mistakes_restaurant_goe.html Why did Tavern On The Green fail? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/dining/16tavern.html?_r=1&ref=dining Menu pricing tips from a menu engineer. http://gigaom.com/2009/09/13/what-we-can-learn-about-pricing-from-menu-engineers/ Wendy’s and Arby’s to dual brand. http://www.qsrweb.com/article.php?id=15494    FAST FOOD NEWS McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King rank 1,2,3 according to R&I’s survey of chain brands. For the complete ranking of the top 400 chains, see: http://www.rimag.com/info/CA6670228.html  Panera Bread’s Particular Recipe for Success Average lunch price: $8.50 Charge premium price but improve quality of food Chief Executive Ron Shaich says: "Most of the world seems to be focused on the Americans who are unemployed. We're focused on the 90% that are still employed." Customer target: 25 to 50 years old, earning $40,000 to $100,000 a year.   Hotel News Radisson Hotels & Resorts increases its portfolio with the addition of the Radisson Hotel Orlando - International Drive, a 223-room in Orlando, Fl, recently renovated for $5 million renovation in all guestrooms, public areas, restaurants and technology infrastructure. The hotel will be offering special $89 introductory rates for September and October that include free breakfast buffet for their Deluxe King or Deluxe Double Queen guestrooms. Home2 Suites by Hilton, a new concept by Hilton to provide value-wise, extended-stay hotels, will open in Hattiesburg. The hotel’s opening is scheduled for early 2011. The four-story, hotel will have 90 guest suites, 1,000 square feet of meeting space, outdoor grills and an outdoor pool. Hilton has approved a franchisee.   Expansions, Divestitures, Acquisitions, Bankruptcies Apple-Metro is the exclusive franchisee of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar in the New York metro area. Apple-Metro is opening a new Applebee’s across from Fordham University and later this another in the Bronx Terminal Market. Other restaurants are planned in Flushing, Queens, Harlem and Westchester County. Tavern on the Green has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its Chief Executive states the filing is due to a financial crisis and New York City's refusal to renew its license for the 75-year-old restaurant. The federal bankruptcy filing lists 20 creditors. The New York Hotel Trades Council was owed nearly $1.78 million. The new license was granted to Dean J. Poll, who runs the Central Park Boathouse restaurant; he will take over operations January 1. Sonic has opened its first Massachusetts franchise in Peabody.   Sign of the times Restaurants are giving discounts for payments with cash Servers experiencing decrease in tips Quickservice restaurants such as Burgerville and Chipotle are offering alcoholic beverages including wine and margaritas. Traditional bank loans from historic restaurant lenders such as GE Capital and government-backed SBA loans are very difficult to get. Some large franchisors are providing special funding programs for existing franchisees to expand. Coffee shops limit the wireless use by "lap-top" customers. For more information: See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124950421033208823.html?mod=dist_smartbrief   U.S. companies expanding internationally Brinker International Inc. is expanding in Russia. See International News section for detail.  Brinker currently operates or franchises 203 international locations in 29 countries and two territories outside the U.S. The company plans to have 500 international locations by 2014. Carl’s Jr. opened its first restaurant in China. See International News section for detail.   Accounting, Finance, and Business The Securities and Exchange Commission has merged several offices and functions that now forms a division of risk, strategy and financial innovation. The merged departments include the SEC's Office of Economic Analysis, Office of Risk Assessment and other functions. This reorganization was due to the SEC’s failure to discover Bernard Madoff’s fraud scheme. This new division is the fifth SEC division, the others are enforcement, trading and markets, investment management and corporation finance. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the $33 million settlement levied by the SEC on Bank of America Corp. regarding bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch. The judge labeled the proposed consent judgment "inadequate" and opined that $33 million was a "trivial penalty for a false statement that materially infected a multi-billion-dollar merger." Rakoff set a Feb. 1 trial date. The SEC had filed civil charges against Bank of America, saying it misled shareholders about bonus payments given to Merrill Lynch employees. Visit the IRS small business and self-employed tax center to find helpful applicable sites. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html   INTERNATIONAL NEWS Australia Hotel room rates in Sydney have dropped an average of 30 per cent; Melbourne has dropped 14 per cent, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index for the first six months of the year. No figures were available for other capital cities. Bahrain Hotel Royal Taipei, one of the Nikko Hotels International group of luxury hotels, reopened on September 18th. The 202 guestrooms, restaurants and public spaces have been renovated. Belgium Occupancy and average room rates for the Dutch hotel market: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4043346.search?query=belgium+hotel+news Canada Arby's Restaurants a subsidiary of Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. has signed agreements with 13 franchisees to open new Arby’s locations in Canada. Caribbean The developers of Nail Bay Resort and Mooney Bay Estates signed an agreement Understanding with Taj Hotel Resorts and Palaces to develop the first Taj Exotica Resort, Spa & Luxury Residences in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The Caribbean Casino and Gaming Corporation reports that it has been able to pay most of its present plans to have a debt free company before the casino’s opening October 24, 2009 Choice Hotels is expanding its Ascend Collection hotel membership program to include the Caribbean region; it will add about two selected Caribbean properties, per Island within the next couple of years. China Carl’s Jr. opened its first Carl's Jr. restaurant in Shanghai, China. More than 100 Carl's Jr. units are planned for Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu over the next eight years. In China, Star Food F&B Management Co. LTD operate Carl’s Jr. The Sheraton Suzhou Hotel and Towers (484-room hotel) will be rebranded as Pan Pacific Suzhou in January 2010. Pan Pacific Hotels Group who opened Pan Pacific Xiamen in August owns the hotel. Wyndham Hotel Group (the world's largest hotel company with more than 7,000 hotels under 11 brands) has signed a management contract for the brand's third hotel in China, the new 337-room Wyndham Wuhan East Lake hotel in Wuhan. Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts opened Shangri-La Hotel, Ningbo, its third property in the Zhejiang province (the other two are Shangri-La Hotel, Hangzhou and Shangri-La Hotel, Wenzhou) to complement its current portfolio of 27 China mainland hotels. Cyprus Tourist arrivals dropped 10.9% in the first eight months of 2009. The largest decline was 31.9% in arrivals from Russia; Britain, the island's largest holiday market, showed an arrival decrease of 11.5%, and Sweden had a 5.3% decrease in arrivals. Those who had tourism gains were Norway with a 15.8% increase in tourists and Germany with a 2.3% percent arrival gain. Most tourists to Cyprus are from recession-hit European Union countries. Tourism contributes around 12% of the island's GDP. France The Eiffel Tower, built in 1887, was the entrance arch to the Exposition Universelle (the World's Fair). The unique design allows for a sway of 2-3 inches in high wind. The view from the top is phenomenal. Over 67 hundred thousand tourists visited the Tower in 2006. The tower has three stories, with the first two accessible by stairs and lifts while the top floor is only accessible by lifts. In addition to the view, the Eiffel Tower has a skating rink on the first floor during winters and the facility is free to use. Altitude 95 on the first floor is a restaurant with capacity of up to 200 customers Guam Burger King opens the newly completed Tumon Bay Center the franchisee is Pacific Fastfood Associates. The 74-seat Tumon location will offer Burger King favorites, such as the Whopper, BK Triple Stacker, fresh salads, chicken fries and breakfast items. The new restaurant also has drive-through service. Burger King is celebrating its 20th year of operation on Guam. India Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. recently opened the Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, Vashi. Also, an agreement has been signed to open the Four Points by Sheraton, Jaipur City Square in October 2009. Russia Restaurant chain Brinker International Inc. has an agreement with Trio's Group Ltd. to open 25 Chili's restaurants in Russia by June 2017. The first Chili's Grill & Bar is scheduled to open in Moscow in November 2010. South Africa The 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 19th FIFA international football tournament is scheduled between 11 June and 11 July 2010. Lodging will probably be limited. Fifa, the world football governing body has listed hotels on its website and has appointed Match, a Swiss-British company, to find and grade lodging places. Organisers have asserted strong disapproval of any hotel that attempts to charge unfair rates, but there already reports of some prices being raised fivefold. One report shows rates vary from R1,000 (£77) to R30,000 (£2,300) per night, with luxury suites rising to R49,000 (£3,770. One beach villa is asking R75,000 (£5,770) a night. Camping has always been a popular option among tourists visiting game reserves. Suriname Most businesses open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday - Friday. Government offices are open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Business suits are worn, but casual clothing is acceptable due to the tropical climate. Suriname business people prefer establishing a working relationship first instead of getting right down to business. A passport and a visa are required for entry into the Republic of Suriname. For visas, contact Surinamese diplomatic and consular missions: 4301 Connecticut Ave., NW, suit 108 Washington D.C. or for tourist visa only, contact 20008 7235 NW 19th Street, Suite A Miami, FL. Sweden Income taxes are being cut to produce jobs and increase consumer spending. Switzerland Already a world-class tourism attraction, Switzerland is expanding its vacation interest areas. The government is promoting eco-tourism. The country has a national park plan, outstanding public transportation, and large open spaces. Turkey Franchisee, Almana Yiyecek Ve Icecek San. Ve. Tic, Ltd, STI (part of the Almana Group) has opened the first Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in Turkey. 25 stores are planned for the country over the next five years. United Arab Emirates According to a Proleads study, 118 hospitality projects are on hold or canceled. The Address Dubai Mall, a five- hotel linked directly to The Dubai Mall, opened in September. It is the third property in The Address Hotels + Resorts, portfolio.   This website is provided for educators and field professionals by Raymond Cote, Author of: BASIC HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ACCOUNTING; A hospitality principles and systems text.  This poppular text also has several introductory Imanagerial accounting chapters. Click the button at left of this page labeled Princples/System Text. ACCOUNTING FOR HOSPITALITY MANAGERS: An advanced hospitality managerial accounting and financial management text providing coverage for hotels, restaurants and casinos. Click the button at left of this page labeled Managerial Acctg Text.   This newsletter is distributed only to educators. Your email address is treated highly confidential and is not harvested, sold, or transferred in any manner to any other institution or individual. The main purpose of this newsletter is to provide hospitality news and research. The author of this letter does have a commercial interest in the sale of his texts, which may be displayed or described therein. Notice for canceling further receipt of this newsletter.  Upon notice from you, you may opt out of receiving this newsletter. Please mention "Opt Out" in the subject portion of your email. Immediate removal from my files will follow. Sources of Information: Some of the information for this newsletter may be assembled, summarized, and re-tailored from many sources. For example, the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the Wall Street Journal, The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association, Internal Revenue Service, QSR Magazine, Chain Leader, Hotel News Resource, Google, and numerous other professional sites.