Marriott Sees Business And Leisure Travel Increasing

Hotel room rates have risen in the last year but they are still down 10 percent from before the 2008 economic downturn, Arne Sorenson, president of Marriott International, told CNBC Thursday. Now, however, he sees business and leisure travel increasing at all Marriott’s brands, including its luxury Ritz-Carlton and its Courtyard motels for business travelers. [...]

TLabs Showcase – Hotelmine

TLabs Showcase on travel startups featuring US-based hotel distribution system Hotelmine. Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)? Hotelmine, a Groups International brand, is based in Houston, Texas and is a startup “direct connect” distribution model for the online leisure travel market segment. The company was founded by Tom Costello and Chris Wenz [...]

Hilton Orlando takes hospitality honors

The Hilton Orlando has kicked off the New Year in grand fashion, receiving two highly decorated hospitality industry honors. The Connie Award and the Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking (SALT) award come from Hilton Worldwide and are a testament to the property’s exceptional dedication to customer service. The “Connie” Award, named after Conrad Hilton, founder of [...]

US Travel Association urges government to step up visa and entry policies

Roger Down, president and CEO of the US Travel Association, said extraordinary US Visa wait times and dissatisfaction with entry processes detour overseas visitors, which costs the US valuable tourism dollars. The association suggests that using secure videoconferencing to conduct US visa interviews of prospective travelers in countries such as Brazil, China and India; the [...]

Is This The End Of The Hotel Deals

Hotel owners and management companies are breathing a sigh of relief. After weathering the worst of the economic downturn that sent their occupancies and room rates plummeting, hotels are starting to see more demand as business travel and, to a lesser extent, leisure travel, pick up. Analysts consider occupancy a leading indicator — it climbs [...]