Ritz Carlton to expand... and other International news

Ritz Carlton to expand
The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company is extending its global portfolio with the opening of 26 hotels, including 20 Ritz-Carlton Residences, six Ritz-Carlton Clubs, and two serviced apartment developments by 2009. New hotels include properties in Beijing, Denver, Toronto and Moscow as well as island resorts in the Caribbean. The company is also planning to invest in multimillion-dollar renovations of existing properties. Among the properties undergoing refurbishment are Ritz-Carlton hotels in San Francisco, Barcelona and Shanghai.

Wyndham rebrands its Timeshare
The Wyndham Worldwide Corporation is to rebrand its time-share properties, Fairfield Resorts, Trendwest South Pacific and Trendwest North America under the Wyndham brand name. The rebranding process will take immediate effect with the Fairfield Resorts’ transition to Wyndham Vacation Resorts, followed by Trendwest South Pacific turning into Wyndham Vacation Resorts South Pacific later this year, and Trendwest North America changing its WorldMark by Trendwest brand into WorldMark by Wyndham early next year.

Golden Tulip in bed with Opodo
Golden Tulip Hospitality Group has entered a global reservations agreement with Opodo, which will see the online travel agent distribute the company’s properties through its websites. Hans Kennedie, president and cheif executive of Golden Tulip Hospitality Group said: “We strongly believe in partnering with reputable internet travel companies to strengthen the brand’s market reach. Through this global partnership, our hotels can extend their web presence, while continuing to streamline reservations and yield policies through their central reservations system Goldres.”

Swissôtel to take over management of Efes hotel in Turkey
The Grand Hotel Efes in Izmir, Turkey, is to undergo a $60m (£32m) refurbishment and is scheduled to open under the Swissôtel Grand Efes name in summer 2007. The 406-room hotel will include two restaurants, a bar and a café as well as conference facilities including a ballroom for up to 1,250 guests. It will also include a large palm garden providing a private event space for up to 2,000 people, as well as spa facilities.

Yum focuses on China
Yum Brands, parent company of fast food chains Pizza Hut and KFC, plans to have at least 20,000 restaurants in China.While the company did not outline a time frame for the expansion, it said it plans to open 14,000 KFC and 2,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in the market. Yum currently owns close to 1,700 KFC and 261 Pizza Huts outlets in China.

By Kerstin Kühn

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