Month: July 2012

US hotel group Starwood Capital is to sell four key French properties, including the Martinez in Cannes, the Concorde Lafayette and Hotel du Louvre in Paris and the Palais de la Mediterranee in Nice, to a Qatari investor. A source close to the sale said the buyer was Katara Hospitality, formerly known as Qatar National Hotels Co., which is looking to extend its luxury hotel portfolio.  Katara Hospitality notably owns Paris’s luxury Peninsula hotel that is to open next year.

Austria has just celebrtaed its100-year-old Law on Islam, seen as a symbol of toleranc for Muslims across Europe.

The law gives Muslims the same rights as other officially recognised religions in Austria, such as Catholicism, Lutheranism, Judaism and Buddhism. At the weekend senior members of the Austrian government and the country’s Islamic Community attended ceremonies to mark the centenary. Islam has been an officially recognised religion in Austria for 100 years.

The Law on Islam, described as unique in Europe by members of the Austrian Islamic Community, guarantees Muslims in the country wide-ranging rights including religious education in state schools, administration of internal affairs and public worship.

In a speech at Vienna’s neo-Gothic town hall, the head of Austria’s Islamic Community, Fuat Sanac, described the law as an example for the rest of Europe. Islam in Austria, he said, was seen by most people as an enrichment, not as a danger.

Austria’s President Heinz Fischer, speaking at the same ceremony, called for peaceful and respectful relations. He stressed that Austria’s official religions, because of their legal status, were obliged to “respect and accept the laws of the state”.

Emirates airline will start operating its new route on July 9, with daily links between the Portuguese capital and Dubai, representing an increase of 150,000 passengers a year at Lisbon airport. This new route consolidates the position of the Portuguese capital’s airport as a European hub, taking advantage of its location.  The flight between Lisbon and Dubai takes eight hours and allows connections to multiple destinations, including many countries where Portuguese is spoken and feature on the Emirates network, such as India, Angola, South Africa and Brazil.

According to the European Cities Monitor published by property agents Cushman & Wakefield, Barcelona is the sixth best European city for business. The report, based on a survey of 500 executives from European companies, shows that Barcelona is considered the top city in Europe for employee quality of life, a position it has held for the last 14 years in this benchmark survey.

One of these new openings is the Taj Palace set to open in September 2012 and located in the Palmeraie and Bab Atlas area. This hotel was used as the film set for the movie Sex in the City. 

The iconic New York Marriott Marquis has recently completed a $39 million dollar renovation to further enhance their reputation of providing award-winning hospitality and world-class amenities. Enhancements include a reinvented lobby with two restaurants and lounges, newly renovated guest rooms, Broadway Lounge featuring panoramic views of Times Square and a state-of-the-art 29,000 sq ft Broadway Ballroom.

The number of hotel openings in Marrakech almost tripled between 2002 and 2011. With the opening of ten properties in 2010 and 2011 alone, the total number of rooms available stands at around 32,000. Some 19 new hotels are expected to open by the end of 2012.

More than 45 tall ships, with a total of three thousand crew members meet in Lisbon from July 19 to 22 for another of The Tall Ships Races.

 

Highlights include the Portuguese ships Sagres, Creoula, Santa Maria Manuela and Vera Cruz, the MIR, a Russian ship and Lord Nelson is a sailing boat adapted for people with reduced mobility.  The Tall Ships Races are organized annually by Sailing Training International with the aim of promoting education and training at sea, as well as intercultural coexistence, with people from all over the world.

 

Entrance to the enclosure is free and the public has the opportunity to visit the tall ships, attend concerts and a variety of shows, as well as participate in conferences and workshops about the sea and the city of Lisbon.

 

On July 20, all crews will participate in a grand parade along Rua Augusta and on July 22, the tall ships will sail together in a parade along the Tagus River.

 

During 2011 Barcelona hosted 2,283 meetings (with more than 40 attendees) and the overall total number of participants rose to 647,693, generating 2,523,937 overnights and an economic impact of 1,428.93 million euro. Importantly, 81% of all meetings participants were foreigners, showing just how strong Barcelona’s brand is in the world’s meetings sector.