HNA Tourism Group to Acquire Carlson Hotels

Beijing-based HNA Tourism Group, a division of HNA Group Co. Ltd., which has operations in aviation, tourism, hospitality, finance and online services, has entered in an agreement with Carlson Hospitality Group to acquire all hotels in its global portfolio for an undisclosed sum. Through this deal, HNA Tourism Group will also attain 51.3% majority stake in Rezidor Hotel Group AB, Carlson Hotel's master licensee based in Brussels. Due to the indirect change of control in Rezidor, HNA Tourism Group still need to clear some regulatory procedures before completing the transaction.
The deal is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the second half of 2016. The current CEO of Carlson Hospitality Group, David P. Berg, will continue to be the CEO of the new organization and Carlson Hotels will remain headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Carlson Wagonlit Travel is not impacted by this sale.

Hotel Openings in India This Week

lebua Hotels & Resorts opened a new property in Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The lebua Lucknow, marks the brand’s third hotel in the country after the lebua Resort, Jaipur, and the lebua Lodge at Amer, Jaipur. The hotel features 41 rooms, three restaurants, a lounge bar and a ballroom with a capacity of 225 guests. The property is located 14 km northeast of the Lucknow airport; the city itself being an hour’s flight from New Delhi.

AccorHotels opened the Mercure Hyderabad KCP in Hyderabad – the brand’s fourth property in the city. Located 32 km north of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, the hotel features 128 guest rooms, three food and beverage outlets and five meeting and banquet spaces.

Singapore Tourism Announces S$700 Million Tourism Development Fund

For the past two years, Singapore’s tourism sector has been witness to greater challenges due to fluctuations in the global economy and in key source markets. Singapore also faces strong competition as neighbouring countries aggressively develop and promote tourism. The annual Tourism Industry Conference 2016 that took place earlier this week, highlighted that Singapore’s tourism sector will require both strategies that will allow Singapore to best benefit from long term growth opportunities and tactical measures to deal with volatility and challenges in the short term. The Minister for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran, announced at the event that the tourism sector will get another S$700 million boost over the next five years to improve innovation and growth. This third tranche of Tourism Development Fund money will broadly support three key areas, namely, the developing of products to keep Singapore a destination of choice, leveraging technology to increase productivity and improving manpower skills. Among other things, investments will be channelled towards niche sectors with potential for growth - the cruise industry, for example - as well as supporting the adoption of technology, such as robotics, data analytics or retrofitting of hotel premises. Over this period of five years, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will continuously strengthen trade engagements and marketing efforts to Singapore’s top five source markets and other fast-developing secondary markets. 

Vivanta by Taj - Connemara, Chennai, to Shut for Renovation

The Vivanta by Taj - Connemara, one of Chennai’s landmark properties, is scheduled to shut for extensive renovation on May 10, 2016. The 150-room hotel, operated by the Taj Group of Hotels and leased from the Spencer Group, is expected to take over a year for the renovations to be completed. According to a spokesperson for the group, guests would be moved to other Taj hotels in Chennai during this period. Taj has not yet disclosed the amount that the hotel chain would invest in the renovation. Taj Group currently operates four other properties in Chennai – Taj Coromandel, Vivanta by Taj - Fisherman's Cove, Taj Club House and the Gateway Hotel IT Expressway.

Absolute Share Price Performance, as on 28 April 2016