The return of the Golden years

The team of MKG Group sends its best wishes for a prosperous 2007 full of new developments.

The return of the Golden Years

Taking into consideration the great success of the 10th edition of its Hotel Maker’s Forum and responding to the demand expressed by hotel investors and operators, MKG Worldwide has decided to take a new step forward. By launching the Global Lodging Forum, MKG creates the arena to bring together and connect two sectors that are increasingly linked.

How to achieve the highest benefit from a favourable hotel cycle? What are the most appropriate development tools for the actual context? How do the relations evolve between the major players in hotel development?  These are some questions among many others that will be debated during the Global Lodging Forum.

Organized around an in depth presentation of the different segments of the hotel industry, the three half-day Forum, will respectively discuss the Economy, Mid & Upscale and Deluxe hotels. 

The analysis of activity of these sectors in 2006 through different data available at MKG Consulting will be followed by strategic workshops on hotel brands, products, countries and round tables between investors and operators.

The numerous coffee breaks and the working lunch with Hervé Gaymard, former Minister of Economic Affairs, are planed to encourage fruitful contacts between all the participants.

For up-to-date information on the programme, online registration and full program details on the Global Lodging Forum go to: www.globallodgingforum.com

7th Hospitality Awards… and the winners are …

In the presence of Mr. Léon Bertrand, French Minister for Tourism, surrounded by over 600 managers and partners of the hotel industry, the award ceremony of the 2006 Hospitality Awards took place on November 9th, at the Hilton Paris Arc de Triomphe. It was chaired by Roeland Vos, President Europe, Middle East and Africa of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The Hospitality Awards are celebrating their seventh edition. They were created by MKG Group, founded and managed by Georges Panayotis, the European leader in hospitality, restaurant and tourism consulting, to distinguish the exemplary and innovative actions in the worldwide hotel industry. The Advisory Board, which set the rules of the game, was presided over by Wolfgang Neumann, president Europe and Africa of Hilton Hotels.

This major event in the calendar of the international hotel profession is the occasion to call attention to the most pioneering initiatives and the most successful projects of large hotel chains down to the most creative individual hotels. Within a context of general recovery of the world economy, the Hospitality Awards are more than just a mere competition, they serve to reveal new ideas and talent to pursue innovation so much needed to benefit from a favourable environment. They demonstrate the reactivity of a sector that is highly sensitive to the economic situation, though has a high degree of flexibility.

For up-to-date information on the programme and Awards, please see: http://www.hospitalityawards.com
press release : click here

• MKG Consulting presents results from the program that tracks daily hotel results – Hotelcompset® – for November 2006 confirming that business is picking up speed in the hotel industry with a RevPAR up by 7.9%* across all categories.
• On the first eleven months of the year the revenue per available room built is up by 6.5%*, in line with the forecast made by MKG Consulting at the Decision Makers Forum last March which was then revised in September (5% to 7% for the entire year 2006). Growth was up year round and the business year 2006 should close with the strongest growth in the RevPAR since 2000.
• Pursuant to MKG Consulting’s expectations, the positive hotel cycle, that began 2 years ago and continues, is characterized in 2006 by stronger growth of average daily rates throughout all categories. The 4* segment, moreover, benefits from strong growth in occupancy rates.

For the full article, please click here

• Thanks to the Paris Motor show, the first two weeks of October have been excellent for the hotel industry: in this period, the RevPAR rose by 13.8% over the same period in 2005.
• The highest level of occupancy was registered Wednesday, September 27th, i.e. the day before the press conferences, and Wednesday, October 4th, when the Parisian hotels were almost full (occupancy rate at 99.6%).
• The first weekend of October was also excellent for the Parisian hotel market because of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barrière at the Longchamp Racecourse.

For the full article, please click here

The union of hotels and restaurants has not always been a happy one. The demands of both trades are sometimes contradictory, but their destiny is linked so that hotels may provide guests with full service, to establish an image and reputation and to contribute to profitability. A new breeze is blowing over F&B at hotels as new experimental concepts multiply. The Deluxe hotels have chosen to associate their image to “celebrity Chefs” All around the world, in their kitchen or associated with food & beverage managers, they accompany and launch the new trends in gastronomy. Fusion food, regional fare, ethnic, street food, snacking, finger food, bio or organic… the concepts multiply and reach all categories of the hotel industry.

Also, in HTR Magazine, an interview with Karl-Anton Schattmaier, Steigenberger Hotels, a report on breakfast, a survey on dynamic pricing… and more .