The Cavo Sidero resort in Crete development March 27, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Architecture Infrastructure, Hotels Greece, Tourism.Tags: Architecture Greece, Crete, Greece, Hotels, Infrastructure, Tourism
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Tourism investment of Cavo Sidero in Crete proceeds with planning of first holiday villages
The development of Cavo Sidero in eastern Crete, one of the biggest investment projects in Greek tourism, has entered the final stretch following 14 years of bureaucratic and other obstacles.
Minoan Group’s Chairman and CEO Christopher Egleton confirmed yesterday the progress achieved and announced that the architectural firms of Alexandros Tombazis and Baldrich & Tobal have begun planning for the first village in the project, to be called “Grandes Bay.”
The group has spent 40 million euros on the drafting of the business plan, while the total investment will amount to some 1.2 billion. It involves the creation of 7,000 beds in six tourist villages that will cover less than 1 percent of the overall 25 square kilometers. The project will create an estimated 3,500 jobs.
The company’s main stakeholders are Henderson Global Investors, the founder and CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management, Martin Gilbert, the President of American Express Global Network Services, Peter Godfrey, and Board Member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Colin Buchan, along with several British constructors.
Separately, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc announced yesterday the signing of a long-term cooperation agreement with TEMES SA for the operation of two new luxury resort hotels in Messinia, southwestern Peloponnese: The “Romanos Navarino Dunes Resort – The Luxury Collection” and the “Westin Navarino Dunes Resort.” They are located some 30 minutes from Kalamata airport.
The Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers (POX) has expressed its concern about the impacts on Greek tourism this and next season from the prevailing global economic uncertainty. The Federation referred in a statement to the considerable losses in world markets since the start of the year, along with oil price hikes and the euro’s appreciation against the dollar, which are negative factors for the country’s tourism.
POX calls for immediate measures to improve the competitiveness of tourism that is expected to absorb most of the impact of the euro’s appreciation. It is also calling for more intensive promotion of Greece, particularly in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, and a fair solution to the issue of the operating framework for accommodation facilities.
Related Links > http://www.minoangroup.com/index.htm
A new stake partner in Greece’s Lampsa Hotel Company March 14, 2008
Posted by grhomeboy in Business & Economy, Hotels Greece.Tags: Athens, Business, Greece, Hotels
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Venture Ability has gained majority control of the Lampsa Hotel Company, the owner of Athens’s historic Grande Bretagne Hotel in Syntagma Square, after a public offer that ended March 11.
The Grande Bretagne
Venture, acting with Homeric Department Stores in the offer, bought 3.45 million Lampsa shares for 17.18 euros each, according to a statement late Wednesday to the Athens bourse. Together, Venture and Homeric now own 65.8 percent of Lampsa. Prior to the offer, they held 49.5 percent.
The offer valued Lampsa Hotels at 367 million euros, or about 3.4 percent more than the market value of the company the day the offer was announced on January 16. Lampsa, which has said it is seeking to expand into cities such as Istanbul, Sofia and Bucharest, also has a controlling stake in Belgrade’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.
More visitors in Athens October 11, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Tourism.Tags: Athens, Destinations, Greece, Hotels, Tourism, Travel
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Five-star hotel occupancy rates in Attica were up 11.5 percent in August, year-on-year, while two-star hotel rates rose 5.5 percent, according to the Attica Hotel Association.
For the summer as a whole, there was a 6.4 percent rise in occupancy, against a decline for London, Rome and Amsterdam.
The Londa voted Cyprus’ leading hotel October 11, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Hotels Cyprus.Tags: Cyprus, Destinations, Hotels, Limassol, Travel
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The Londa, the new upscale contemporary boutique hotel in Cyprus on the shores of the Mediterranean has been recognised by the World Travel Awards, winning the award for Cyprus’ Leading Hotel.
World Travel Awards (WTA) aims to promote excellence in the travel and tourism industry. The Londa will receive the award at the European ceremony in Newcastle this October in the north east of England. The Londa, along with other winners from the four regional awards, will be put forward for their respective global categories, to be announced towards the end of this year. The final event will take place on the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“We are delighted that the Londa Hotel has been recognised by the WTA”, comments General Manager Mr Jochen Niemann. “The Londa is independently owned and recently benefited from a multi-million pound refurbishment, re-opening in the summer of 2005. This is an acknowledgement of the efforts of all the team here in Cyprus over the past two years. We have built a regular clientele who enjoy our unique mixture of contemporary design, Mediterranean atmosphere and sincere service. The response from both Cyprus and international guests has been exceptional.”
Designed by Italian design team Caruzzo Rancati from Milan, the Londa is a modern and elegant hotel where sleek white marble has been used throughout the entrance and lobby, accented with black wood pathways leading down to the sea. The highly unique style of the Londa shows influences from the heritage of the island and from the Mediterranean including Cypriot lace, antique filigree silver and local wood. The mix of styles and lighting in the lobby are all designed to highlight the view, emphasised by the huge glass panels that maximise light into the building.
This discreet and refined designer hotel is quietly setting a new fashionable standard for Limassol. In the past dismissed as just an expanded bustling fishing port, the changing face of Cyprus’s second city with its exclusive shopping, vibrant nightlife and wealth of culture in an agreeable climate is now attracting tourists from all over Europe and the Middle East.
The Londa is described as a ‘couture’ property to reflect the exceptional design qualities and illustrates a level of service offered at the hotel, meaning bespoke or tailored. The service and experience is customised to each individual, not ‘off the peg’.
The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in the world’s travel and tourism industry. With thousands of votes cast by travel professionals from 160,000 travel agencies in over 200 countries across the globe, winning a World Travel Award has become a very desirable endorsement of the success of a travel brand. The Londa is a member of Great Hotels of the World.
For more information, visit www.londahotel.com
RREEF in Cyprus property deal September 21, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Business & Economy, Cyprus News, Hotels Cyprus.Tags: Business, Cyprus, Economy, Hotels, News
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RREEF, the property investment arm of Deutsche Bank, said yesterday it had bought Lanitis Development Public Ltd in a debut Cypriot deal which valued the firm at 126 million euros.
RREEF also announced its first foray into the regional UK hotel sector with the acquisition of privately owned Four Pillars Hotel Group, owner of five hotels in central and western England. A source familiar with the matter said RREEF had paid around 120 million pounds for Four Pillars. As well as buying 97.8 percent of the shares in Lanitis Development, whose main asset was the Aphrodite Hills resort, RREEF said it had bought 1.1 million square meters (11.84 million sq ft) of land in Cyprus from the Lanitis Group.
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