Expedia fined for lying to clients

Internet holiday site Expedia has been ordered to pay €427,000 to French hoteliers after being found guilty of a series of 'false price reductions', 'false prices for hotels' and 'false information on hotel availability'.

The world's No1 internet travel agency - which also includes travel advice site Tripadvisor.fr and hotel booking site hotels.com - was condemned by the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris for misleading customers and ordered to pay the money as damages.

It must pay €305,000 to the hoteliers federation Synhorcat and the rest to two hotels which sparked the initial complaint: €79,000 to the Hôtel de la Place du Louvre in Paris and €43,000 to the Château Guilguiffin, in Landudec, Finistère.

Expedia was investigated by the anti-fraud agency DGCCRF who found that internet bargain-hunters had been misled by the American-based sites. Buyers were given information that certain hotels were full and were directed towards other hotels with whom Expedia and Hotels.com had commercial links.

Hotel Franchisee wins 25million lawsuit

InterContinental Hotels Group, owners of Holiday Inn Worldwide, has been ordered by a court to pay $25 million in damages to an Arkansas franchisee for fraud involving a hotel in Texas.
J.O. "Buddy" House of West Memphis, owner of Hotel Associates, claimed in a lawsuit that InterContinental Hotels Group breached its contract and fiduciary duty with his company over a Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Wichita Falls, Texas.
House claimed he lost millions of dollars in renovation costs and loss of value during various changes in ownership and personnel at the world's largest hotel franchiser.
All 12 members of a Crittenden County jury agreed that Hotel Associates was the victim of "deceit," while 10 jurors agreed that House proved he suffered from promissory estoppel, meaning the hotelier lost money after relying on a broken promise from InterContinental Hotels Group, according to verdict forms filed Friday.

IHG to launch new brand in China

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Wednesday said it will launch a new upscale hotel chain in China in the next six months and eventually export the brand across the booming economies of Asia Pacific as it strives to become the operator of choice for increasingly wealthy Chinese travellers at home and abroad.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Jan Smits, chief executive of the Asia, Middle East & Africa operations, also said the outlook for the hotel industry in his region continues to show positive growth indicators, even as economists and investors are concerned that macro-economic weakness in key Western markets, including the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe, will spill over into emerging countries of the East. Will wait to see what the new brand name will be.

Why is the Indian Rupee losing its value

the rupee has crashed 18.3% this year. But the fact is that India is the only country in the region with such a huge current account deficit, where imports far outstrip exports, a number that is dodgy. The trade deficit and fiscal deficit numbers cannot change overnight, and they did not deteriorate overnight either. Which makes this topic extremely debatable, to why the Indian Rupee is losing value at an torrid pace.

Dubai - a hot hub of luxury resorts

Millennium & Copthorne has revealed it will be moving into the deluxe serviced apartments sector when it opens a modern and stylish property in the popular Dubai Marina area in the coming six months.
The brand is already one of the world’s largest owned-and-managed hotel companies, with more than 120 hotels across 20 countries.
Once open, this Marina Promenade property will boast 151 spacious and contemporary serviced apartments, comprising 91 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, 13 three-bedroom units, two penthouse apartments and eight villas.
Bringing together excellence in service, value and location, I foresee a good level of demand from the start.

Dunkin Donuts opens 10,000th store

Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, today opened its 10,000th restaurant. The landmark 10,000th new restaurant is located in Xi’An, China. Several other Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants, which opened throughout the world over the past few days, vied for the honor of being the 10,000th location. These include three new locations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as new restaurants in Bogota, Colombia and Kingsland, Ga.
“We are proud to have opened the world’s 10,000th Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant in China, a country which we believe offers tremendous opportunity to both our Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands,” said Nigel Travis, CEO of Dunkin’ Brands and President of Dunkin’ Donuts. “From its beginnings as a single restaurant in Quincy, Mass., Dunkin’ Donuts is today a global brand located in 32 countries around the world. Our geographic diversity is truly a testimony to the fact that customers everywhere, from China to Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Georgia, appreciate what Dunkin’ Donuts offers - high quality food and beverages served in a friendly, fast environment at a great value.”

75% of New York City Visitors Happy With Their Hotel

Almost three-quarters of New York City visitors are happy with their hotel stays according to a recent survey compiled by NewYorkHotels.org. A leading hotel booking site for New York City, NewYorkHotels.org specifically looked at NYC travelers' evaluations of their accommodations over the past 12 months.
Indeed, despite headlines like the one run late last year by the Associated Press, "Bedbugs Scaring Off New York City Tourists," only 13% of NYC guests awarded their hotels a negative rating. A full 73% were satisfied with their accommodations, with the remaining respondents attributing a neutral evaluation to their hotels.
When looking at the various areas inside Manhattan, the Downtown area performed a bit better than Midtown and Uptown, but the differences among the three regions were too small to be considered significant. Therefore, travelers should not be concerned about hotel rooms when they go to NYC. Of course, with the price these hotels charge, the product better be good. The Average ADR in NYC is the highest in USA.