While extended-stay hotels have taken a hit during the economic downturn, they continued to see demand growth in the closing months of 2008 even as the rest of the lodging industry saw demand declines, according to a research article published this month by Smith Travel Research. U.S. extended-stay hotel year-over-year demand growth dropped steadily as the year closed, with growth at 3.8 percent in September, 2.6 percent in October and 0.6 percent in November. Upscale extended-stay brands drove most of the segment's demand growth, the firm reported. The U.S. lodging industry overall, however, saw demand decline by 3.2 percent in September, 3.8 percent in October and 7.8 percent in November. The extended-stay tiers also are outpacing the industry as a whole in supply growth, according to STR. Extended-stay property supply grew by 9.2 percent from January through November of 2008, while the U.S. hotel industry had a 2.6 percent growth rate. "Most major hotel companies offer at least one extended-stay brand, and if year-to-date 2008 room-supply growth is any indication, many hotel developers feel that the segment has a promising future," STR industry research manager Chad Church wrote in the article.
Starwood To Give Clear Access To Loyalty ProgramStarwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide struck a deal to offer its Preferred Guest Platinum members a free annual membership in the Clear Registered Traveler program, and Gold and Preferred members a complimentary three-month trial, the companies announced last month. The companies would not disclose terms of the deal, but a Clear spokesperson said the agreement amounts to a bulk buy that will offer either one-year or three-month memberships to "millions" of Starwood Preferred Guest members. Preferred Guests must register in the program by Feb. 28. The agreement echoes a deal between Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Clear established in 2006 to offer Gold Passport Diamond tier members free memberships
(BTNonline, March 6, 2006).New Res System Centralizes Omni Guest DatabaseOmni Hotels this month announced the deployment of a brandwide reservation system that the company said will allow for expanded offerings to its guests, corporate partners an travel agencies. The system, powered by Micros Systems' Opera Enterprise Solution, integrates reservations and customer data across all of Omni's 43 properties across North America, enabling Omni to manage guest profiles and preferences from a single image database. As a result, Omni properties will have better access to guest information to improve the personalization of their stays, according to the company.
IHG To Boost Holiday Inn Presence In GermanyInterContinental Hotels Group this month announced a franchise agreement with Foremost Hospitality GmbH to add 20 new Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties in key German cities—including seven already signed and under development in Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg and Stuttgart—by 2016. IHG has 55 Holiday Inn properties in Germany, the company's sixth-biggest market in number of rooms and seventh in number of hotels. Foremost already operates two Holiday Inn properties in Germany and one in the United Kingdom.