Hoteliers In Brazil Upgrade, Expand For Biz Travel Market

<B>Hoteliers In Brazil Upgrade, Expand For Biz Travel Market</B>

By Frank Rosci

Brazil is undergoing widespread expansions, renovations and additions to its existing hospitality infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of business travelers pouring into the country. A number of major airports--particularly in the northeastern part of Brazil, an area dominated by Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo--also are being rejuvenated.

One hotel company that has made a significant commitment to building in Brazil is Spain-based Sol Melia Hotels, which plans to add 22 business hotels in Brazil, mostly in and around Sao Paulo, over the next two years, said Emanuel Schreibmaier, vice president of sales and marketing for Sol Melia Americas division in Miami. "We are working with some very active developers in Brazil to build the Melia Confort concept, a limited-service, high-value-at-a-lower-price brand, which has proven itself a popular trend with Americans," he said.

Based on the fact that business travel to Brazil increased by 10.1 percent in 1999 alone, the future of Sol Melia's massive undertaking looks bright. "During the past six years, Brazil and the United States have been solidifying their business ties in terms of increasing volume in international trade and business investments, with growing numbers of business executives traveling to Brazil," said a spokeswoman for the Brazilian Consulate General in New York.

Additionally, said Rui Olivera, vice president for Sol Melia in South America and general manager of the Gran Melia Sao Paulo Hotel & World Trade Center Convention Center, "Sao Paulo is enormous and business travelers need a wide variety of locations and services in different business districts of the city. There is much opportunity there for our four-star hotels that offer updated services. No other competition matches us in this category."

Sol Melia hotels to open in and near Sao Paulo include the 214-room Melia Confort World Trade Center, the 142-room Melia Confort Itaim and the 136-room Melia Confort Fortaleza in Ceara in northeastern Brazil. The 164-room Melia Confort Tatuape, opening December 2000 is near the city's international airport. Opening November 2000, the 308-room Melia Confort Nova Faria Lima will be part of the International Trade Center complex, a structure that will include the hotel and an office building housing 250 businesses.

Other Sol Melia hotels opening in Sao Paulo in 2001 include the 323-room Melia Confort Jardim Europa, the 252-room Melia Confort Higienopolis and the 160-room Melia Confort Moema. Six more of the chain's hotels will open in the city in 2002, including the 400-room Sol Inn Nacoes Unidas and 396-room Melia Confort Office Park.

In March 2002, Sol Melia will unveil the 338-room Melia Confort Brasilia, part of the Brazil 21st Century Complex, a development to be constructed in the city of Brasilia in south central Brazil during the next five years.

Holiday Inn, meanwhile, also is getting into the Brazilian game. According to a recent article written for an internal company publication, "During this fiscal year, eight new Holiday Inn properties have opened in Latin America. We are conservatively forecasting a quadrupling of the existing portfolio in Latin America over the next five years."

New hotels opened by the chain this year in Brazil include the Holiday Inn Fortaleza; Holiday Inn Porto Alegre, south of Sao Paulo along the Atlantic Coast; and Holiday Inn Taj Mahal Manaus. The Holiday Inn Express Curitiba Airport, between Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre, will open in the near future.

Marriott International is another brand planning to open new hotels in Brazil, beginning Nov. 15 with the 237-room Renaissance Costa do Sauipe Resort (opening rate of $150 per room, per night) in Bahia. There will be meeting space for up 320 people.

The 256-room Costa do Sauipe Marriott Resort & Spa (opening rate of $165 per room, per night), with meeting space for up to 750 people, will open Dec. 1; while the 245-room Rio de Janeiro Marriott (opening rate of $240 per room, per night), with a wide variety of meeting space, will open Feb. 15, 2001.

Sol Melia and the Brazilian company Odebrecht have signed a joint-venture agreement to develop hotels at Brazil's main airports. One of the first fruits of the pact will be the 200-room Melia Confort Galeao at the new Terminal 2 at Rio de Janeiro International Airport. Construction is set to begin in May 2001.

In related Rio airport news, Varig Brazilian Airlines, which has moved into new lounge space at Terminal 2 equipped with computer and Internet-friendly kiosks, will be increasing its U.S. to Brazil fleet by adding two MD11 and five 737 aircraft.

New business travel services from the airline include checkin at Varig's Miami office and three complimentary hours at an airport hotel upon arrival in Brazil. The airline also has embarked on a complete remodel of its inflight first- and business-class product.

At another major airport, Salgado Filho International in Porto Alegre, a new terminal is under construction. When completed, the expansion will give the airport the capacity to accommodate up to 3 million passengers a year.