InterContinental Hotels Group PLC announced Jim Abrahamson has resigned as president and executive director of IHG’s Americas region to become president and chief operating officer at Interstate Hotels & Resorts. Abrahamson will be succeeded by Kirk Kinsell, who is currently president of the Europe Middle East & Africa region.
Richard Solomons, incoming CEO and CFO and Head of Commercial Development of IHG (www.ihgplc.com), said: “We thank Jim for his substantial contribution since joining IHG and wish him every success with his future career. It is testament to our strong management capability and succession planning that we are able to appoint a highly respected executive to succeed him. Having held a number of senior leadership roles in the Americas region before taking up his current position in EMEA, Kirk knows the region, the team, the owner community and the business inside out. He has done an outstanding job leading our EMEA region and I look forward to him continuing this success in the Americas.”
Hotel workouts and restructurings are the road to opportunity for investors looking to expand their portfolios during the recovery, according to Features Editor Patrick Mayock, who reported last week from the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference.
During a breakout session, a panel of opportunistic buyers and brokers indentified such prospects, including distressed debt, bankruptcy, pre-PIP sellers and note-selling banks.
Many markets have improved enough that lenders now can realize 100% return on investment, said Neil Shah of Hersha Hospitality Trust. The aggressive loans of yesteryear are worth as much as the debt, and rational lenders are willing to tell borrowers, “It’s time to pay up.” That means more assets are being pushed to market and more opportunities for potential buyers.
In February, HotelNewsNow.com columnist Jane Larkin provided an assessment of what hoteliers could expect in hotel finance this year. Now that we’ve reached 2011’s halfway point, she’s offering something that many prognosticators tend to avoid: a follow up.
In her new column, Larkin reviews her past predictions and offers an updated prospectus. A few highlights:
- Increasing debt availability—The availability of lending is expanding to a broader range of borrowers.
- Focus on refinance and acquisition remains—More than 80% of commercial real-estate loan closings this year have been for the refinance or acquisition of a property, and most industry analysts don’t expect debt for development to return in earnest for another two to three years.
- Growth in non-recourse and fixed rates—Non-recourse lending and fixed rate financing are growing in tandem with the re-emergence of commercial mortgage-backed securities loans.
While new development remains stagnant in the United States, all eyes continue to look toward emerging countries for growth. Two of these markets in particular—China and Brazil—were the topic of conversation during an international development panel at the NYU Investment conference, according to HotelNewsNow.com’s Stacey Mieyal Higgins.
The road to development in Brazil is often through shared-ownership agreements where a group of wealthier individuals own a portfolio of rooms, according to Christian Karaoglanian, chief development officer of Accor SA.
Brands are willing to throw some skin into this arrangement as well, said Arthur de Haast, global CEO, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
In China, however, ownership is almost out of the question, as most properties are developed with a leasehold.
Marriott International isn’t waiting for the best new talent to come to it. In an effort to boost recruiting, the hotel giant is going to where the youngin’s are—namely, Facebook. The company is hoping to drum up interest in hospitality with the launch of a Facebook game that simulates the complexity and bustle of keeping a hotel in business, according to an article in The Washington Post.
The first version of My Marriott Hotel takes place in the hotel kitchen where players must shop for ingredients, purchase cookware, field food orders, and hire and train chefs on a fixed budget. Other tasks, such as housekeeping and room service, are forthcoming, the paper reports.
“It gives people a realistic view for the kind of decisions that have to be made and the pace of the work,” said David Rodriguez, executive vice president of global human resources. A link in the game to “Do It For Real” takes you to the company’s career page.
Compiled by Patrick Mayock.
