Sabre's SynXis Boosts Asia/Pac Presence With JAL JAL Hotels in September announced that it has signed with Sabre Hospitality Solutions' SynXis distribution tool to handle its connectivity to global distribution systems, Internet distribution systems and bookings from JAL's own Web site. JAL, which has a portfolio of 58 hotels in Japan, China, Mexico and Germany, will use the SynXis booking engine to assist travelers in multiple languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. JAL also will use SynXis voice services' Arabic language capabilities to assist with expansion plans in the Middle East. SynXis aims to increase its presence in the Asia/Pacific region and already has deals in place with such hotel companies as Peninsula Hotels & Resorts and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts. "JAL Hotels is a strategic partner in the region for SynXis and will be the cornerstone of our expansion into the Japanese marketplace," said SynXis Asia/Pacific managing director Patrick Andres.
Utell Adapts Membership Rules For CollectionsUtell Hotels & Resorts, a unit of Pegasus Solutions, on Sept. 22 announced a relaunch of its Utell Collections, a segmentation strategy started about two years ago
(BTNonline, April 23, 2007). Utell Collections segments its independent member hotels in a number of categories, including boutique, business, luxury, golf and spa. Previously, hotels had to pay a fee to be included in the collections, and hotels could have membership only within one collection. Now, Utell has set strict criteria for each collection and allows hotels to enter the collections by invitation only. The new strategy has boosted the number of hotels in the collections by more than 1,000 to a total of more than 1,600. "By developing the program in this way, we are not only ensuring that each property meets our stringent criteria, but also that more of our hotel properties can take advantage of and benefit from the extensive marketing opportunities available to them," Utell president Ric Leutwyler said in a statement.
Accor Sells Budget HotelF1 Properties In FranceAccor in September announced the sale of 158 budget HotelF1 properties in France, with a total of 12,300 rooms, to a consortium of French institutional investors for €272 million. Under the terms of the sale, Accor has a 12-year business lease on the properties, renewable six times at Accor's option, and still will operate the hotels under the HotelF1 brand and maintain control of pricing and product innovation, according to the company. Accor created the Formule 1 brand, a pioneer of the budget hotel concept for France, in 1984 and renamed it HotelF1 in 2007. More recently, Accor said it has has renovated about 100 HotelF1 properties as part of a vast refurbishment program that included the creation of a new room concept featuring two twin beds.
Fairmont Expands Green Auditing To U.S. HotelsFairmont Hotels & Resorts will subject its U.S. hotel portfolio to an environmental audit program in place at its Canadian hotels, the chain said last month. U.S. properties will use the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, a 140-question audit self-administered by hotel staffs. The evaluation ranks a property's sustainability level on a 1-to-5 scale and recommends best practices and property improvements. Green Key also conducts random onsite audits to prevent properties from inflating scores. Buyers can view property performance on Green Key's Web site.