Sheraton
reflags Cable Beach resort
Starwood
Hotels assumed management of the former Radisson Cable
Beach resort in Nassau and will reopen it as the Sheraton
Resort at Cable Beach next spring, after an $80 million
renovation.
The Sheraton will
be the first of four Starwood brands to debut as part of
Baha Mar Resorts' $1.6 billion Cable Beach
project.
Hilton,
MGM, eye China ventures
Hilton is teaming with Deutsche
Bank's real estate arm and a private equity firm to
develop more than 20 hotels in China, mostly
Hilton Garden Inns, totaling 5,000 rooms. Hilton recently cut a
similar deal to develop 75 properties in India.
Separately,
MGM Mirage is in talks with the State
Guesthouse, the famed hotel complex in Beijing, to form a
venture that would develop nongaming, luxury hotels and resorts
throughout China.
Airbus
jumbo gets safety certification
The
Federal Aviation Administration and the
European Aviation Safety Agency concurrently
certified the safety of the new Airbus A380
aircraft, which now can be legally registered and operated
commercially throughout the U.S., the European Union and
elsewhere.
Allegiant
Air parent floats $90 million
Allegiant
Travel Co., parent of low-cost carrier Allegiant
Air, raised about $90 million from its initial
public offering. The airline serves Las Vegas, Orlando and
Tampa/St. Petersburg and is looking to expand to other "world-class
leisure destinations" in the U.S., Mexico and the
Caribbean.
Celebrity
to boost Expeditions fleet
Celebrity
Cruises will expand its Celebrity
Expeditions fleet to three in October when it acquires
sister company Pullmantur's 710-guest, 30,277-ton Blue Moon and
renames it the Celebrity Quest.
The Expeditions
group of vessels includes the Celebrity Xpedition, which sails in
the Galapagos Islands, and the Celebrity Journey, also recently
acquired from Pullmantur in a swap for the Zenith. The Celebrity
Quest, built in 2000 as the R7, will offer 12- to 14-day
itineraries, centering on the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and
points in Latin America.
For
JetBlue, fewer seats, more bucks
JetBlue
Airways will remove a row of seats from all of its A320
aircraft and reconfigure the cabin for 150 seats with more leg
room, a change that should be completed by March.
JetBlue said it
expected to save $30 million over five years, easily offsetting the
lost revenue, because the aircraft will be about 900 pounds lighter
and burn less fuel and can fly with a smaller cabin
crew.
Costa
orders another ship
Costa
Cruise Lines exercised an option with
Fincantieri for a 92,700-ton ship, to be delivered
in March 2010. The 2,260-passenger vessel, sister to another
92,700-ton ship to enter service in spring 2009, will cost about
$560 million.
Sixty-eight
percent of its 1,130 cabins will have balconies, the highest
percentage in the Costa fleet. With two other ships under
construction at Fincantieri, 112,000-ton sister ships to the Costa
Concordia, Costa said it would have 15 ships by the end of
2010.
Friends
& Colleagues
Marc
Langevin was named general manager of the Ritz-Carlton,
St. Thomas, which reopens this month after a $40 million renovation
and expansion. Langevin was resort manager at the Ritz- Carlton,
Grand Cayman. " " " The Crown
Collection appointed William Kirchoff account
executive for the eastern region. Kirchoff had been a sales and
marketing representative for the Cayman Islands Dept. of Tourism. "
" " Lehi Mills was promoted to chief technology
officer at Travizon, a corporate travel agency based in Woburn,
Mass. Mills has spent 10 years with Travizon, most recently as vice
president of strategic business solutions. " " " Oscar Cruces was named
director general of Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort in
Mexico. Prior to joining Grand Velas, he was general manager of the
Marquis Reforma Hotel in Mexico City. " " " The Puerto Rico
Convention Bureau named Ilecia Williams and
Craig Rice regional sales managers, based in
Washington. Williams will target convention business. Rice will
pursue the association market in Virginia, Delaware and New York. "
" " The Regent South Beach, which opened in Miami Beach earlier
this month, named Helena Blat general manager.
Blat was hotel manager of the Shore Club in Miami Beach. " " " Tracey Holley was
appointed senior sales manager at the Hilton Baltimore, scheduled
to open in 2008. Holley was senior account executive at the
Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor and the Baltimore
Marriott.