Previous Story
Management deal may prompt renovations at Palms Resort
|
Posted on Jul 23 2008
The Palms Resort could soon see a series of new renovations ahead of a prospective deal with an unnamed international hotel company to manage the hotel on behalf of its current owners.
In an interview Wednesday, president and chief executive officer Hiroyuki Saito said the ongoing talks have lead the United Micronesia Development Association, which owns the hotel, to compile a list of renovations the company’s future partner would require in order to sign an agreement to manage and promote it. Saito stopped short of identifying whether the talks are with Hilton, Marriott or another major hotel chain.
“All hoteliers have their own standards that they require for a hotel before they will put their flags on them,” Saito said, adding that planners are now working to “create a complete list of the renovations we will have to comply with.”
Palms Resort’s new partner, whoever it might be, will manage the hotel under the agreement but UMDA, Saito said, will retain control of it.
The management deal, Saito added, will have a host of benefits for UMDA. Chief among them is the chance to promote Palms Resort through its new partner’s international marketing. UMDA is hopeful, Saito said, that the added promotions will boost the number of visitors the hotel gets.
The pending deal comes as many hotels in the Commonwealth are beginning to see slight jumps in room sales linked to the slow revival of the local tourism market after a steep slump last year.
Statistics released earlier this month by the Hotel Association of the Northern Marianas Islands show that the group’s member hotels sold an estimated 2,500 more rooms in June this year than in June 2007. Moreover, the average price of hotel rooms rose $10 since last year, a change due to recent renovations, according to HANMI chair Lynn Knight.
A key factor in the boost hotels are seeing, Knight said, is the resumption of flights from Asian tourism markets like Japan and Korea. New nighttime airline service to Saipan from Tokyo, she added, will also likely bolster the hotel industry.
