Marriott CEO: Expect ax to fall at Starwood
Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson suggested the company will primarily achieve $200 million in annual cost savings from the pending Starwood acquisition by terminating Starwood executives. Sorenson, speaking on Fox Business News, said much of Starwood's $450 million overhead is at the corporate level. He forecasted "maybe zero" job reductions at the hotel level. "The closer you get to the executive suite and their headquarters, or in the two companies' headquarters, the more you see a head-to-head overlap," he said. "So, I think we'll find the biggest cost savings disproportionately at the higher end of the overhead structure."
10-story water slide to debut on HarmonyA 10-story slide called the Ultimate Abyss will make its debut on Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas, the Oasis-class ship that will be delivered in June. The dual slides will be located aft, connecting Deck 16 (where the FlowRider surfing machines are located) with Deck 5. The ship, the first in the fleet with water slides, also will feature a trio of three-story slides dubbed the Perfect Storm.
MSC opens bookings for Miami-based ship
MSC Cruises said it has begun accepting bookings from repeat customers for the MSC Seaside, a new ship that will be based in Miami. MSC's Voyager Club members will get their standard 5% discount, plus a bonus Classic drinks package applicable to first and second guests in a stateroom. Bookings for the general public open Dec. 29 with the same drinks package offer. The 4,100-passenger ship is expected to sail weeklong Caribbean cruises starting on Dec. 21, 2017.
Fla. Gov., Seminoles reach deal on casinos
A deal reached between Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe would guarantee that the Seminoles retain their exclusive right to offer blackjack in the state for the next 20 years. In addition, the Seminoles would be allowed for the first time to offer craps and roulette at their seven Florida casinos. As with blackjack, that privilege would be exclusive to the tribe. In exchange for the exclusive rights, the Seminoles would pay Florida $3.1 billion over the next seven years. The deal must be approved by the Florida legislature during its spring session.
Costa, Aida adding robots to their crews
Cruise lines Costa and Aida will have robots that interact with guests on its ships starting in the spring. Costa Crociere said it signed an exclusive contract worth more than $1.1 million to use the Pepper robots developed by Aldebaran, a subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank Group. The robots will guide guests when they embark and while onboard as well as provide recommendations and tips on restaurants, events and excursions, Costa said.
Paris drops out of Travel Leaders' Top 10
Paris dropped out of the top 10 international destinations that Travel Leaders Group advisers are booking for 2016, dropping to 11th place. The city was seventh on the list last year. This year was the first since 2011 that Paris has not made the top 10. Agents were asked if clients have canceled or delayed travel to France since the November terrorist attacks in Paris. Ten percent said that a small percentage of clients had delayed their trips, and 8.6% said a few or some clients had canceled.
Friends & Colleagues
Starwood Hotels & Resorts interim CEO Adam Aron will step down at the end of the year to become CEO of theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings, and Starwood CFO Thomas Mangas will succeed him. Starwood in February named Aron, a company boardmember, interim CEO after CEO Frits van Paasschen stepped down. He previously held the CEO post at Vail Resorts and Norwegian Cruise Line. Mangas, a longtime Procter & Gamble executive, was CEO of Armstrong Floor Products before joining Starwood last year. • • • Travelport has named Bernard Bot its executive vice president and CFO, effective Jan. 1. Bot was most recently Aer Lingus' CFO. Before that, he was the CFO of TNT Express, an international courier company. He replaces Philip Emery, who is taking a break in his career to spend time with his family, Travelport said. Emery will remain a board member of Travelport subsidiaries eNett and Locomote until he leaves the company next year. • • • Richard Morse has been named senior vice president of hotel operations at Carnival Cruise Line. Morse spent 36 years at Marriott International, most recently as general manager of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at the National Harbor in Maryland. He starts Jan. 11. • • • Un-Cruise Adventures hired Richard G. Edwards as vice president of sales and marketing. Edwards takes over the role from Tim Jacox, who became president and COO. Most recently, Edwards had been a partner at Tartan Destinations, which provides boutique marketing strategies and other services to destinations and travel and tourism entities. • • • Alaska Airlines has promoted Greg Mays to vice president of labor relations, effective Jan. 15. Mays currently serves as Alaska's vice president of maintenance and engineering. Prior to joining Alaska, he spent 13 years in operations at Delta Airlines.