Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences announced that Hacienda Tres Rios Resort, Spa & Nature Park was awarded a Green Globe High Achievement Award for its environmental conservation commitments. This award was given to only six hotels in the world.

During the traditional Three Kings breakfast held for the media in Cancun and the Riviera Maya, the tourism group announced the acquisition of this coveted award by the Riviera Maya ecotourism resort. In addition, a 2012 schedule of important cultural, environmental and sports events in order to boost tourism in the Mexican Caribbean was presented.

The Brand Director of Sunset World Group Annie Arroyo reported that Green Globe presented the High Achievement to Hacienda Tres Rios for achieving the highest score in the 320 indicators in environmental, social and cultural sustainability in the region of Mexico and Latin America.

The sustainability certification system developed exclusively for the travel and tourism industry also granted this recognition to; Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa, Bali (Asia / Pacific), Club Med Djerba La Douce, Tunisia (Africa), Hotel Concorde Berlin , Germany (Europe), Mövenpick Dead Sea, Jordan (Middle East) and Bucuti Beach Resort, Aruba (Caribbean).

Last year Hacienda Tres Rios reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability when they received their third consecutive Green Globe Certification for excellent environmental performance. The property, designed and operated by Sunset World, met 96 percent of the 320 indicators examined by the certification company, represented in over 90 countries, which was the highest percentage worldwide.

Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences also announced events scheduled for 2012 promoting sports, culture and greater awareness for the care of the environment.

It was reported that the tour group will participate in the Bilin Bilin Cup this year in May 2011, hosted by the Sunset Ocean Spa Hotel, with the participation of 16 teams from Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala and Venezuela. It will be the sixth year for the competition and it is expected to generate more sports tourism.

The 2nd Sprint Triathlon Riviera Maya is another event scheduled to take place at Hacienda Tres Rios. Last March approximately 300 athletes participated and the event was covered by Televisa and TVC Sports.

Sunset World announced that once again they will participate in the celebration of World Wetlands Day, which falls in the month of February. Activities include the reforestation of mangroves and promoting awareness with students about the importance of these ecosystems. In the past four years, the Tres Ríos Nature Park nursery has produced and reforested more than 90 thousand mangrove trees.

For the third consecutive year the hotels and tourist properties will participate in the Earth Hour initiative by turning off their lights for one hour as a tangible commitment to raising awareness of the importance of preserving the planet earth.

Other events scheduled for 2012 will be the second edition of the Environmental Expressions Forum, which last year brought civil society groups together to exchange experiences in environmental preservation. In addition the details are being finalized for a 2nd bicultural meeting, which in 2011 joined representatives of the Mayan and Tibetan cultures in an unprecedented meeting full of magic and mysticism.

Finally, among the social and human development activities, the 3rd annual Stars by Nature Contest conducted in coordination with the Golden Years Club will take place in December to encourage the elderly to practice healthy living and arts and cultural activities.

Sunset World Operations strengthened with new appointments:

Sunset World Resorts & Vacation Experiences announced the appointment of German Fayyad Sierra as the new General Director and announced the appointment of new directors as part of its plans for growth and consolidation as the best Mexican Caribbean vacation experience for 2012. The tour group named Luis Alfonso Oñate Hernandez as Director of Operations and Oscar Quiroz Orbe as Executive Corporate Chef, a newly created position in the group.
Another change in the area of ​​food and beverages is the hiring of Jaime Gonzalez Izazaga as Food and Beverage Manager of Hacienda Tres Rios Resort, Spa & Nature Park and Sunset Fishermen. In addition Paola Flores joins the Vacation Club group as Manager of Sales and Promotion for RCI.

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL), one of the leading players in the leisure hospitality industry, today announced the launch of its new acquisition in Goa, the Club Mahindra Emerald Palms. With this acquisition, MHRIL has added another 106 rooms in Goa.

Club Mahindra now has the largest resort operations in South Goa taking its tally to 336 rooms with this acquisition. With the changes in the urban lifestyle reflecting in the increased holiday pattern of families, Club Mahindra also plans to keep up with this upward trend in India’s holidaying habits. This is the first of a series of launches that Club Mahindra will have in the next six months, whereby several new destinations will be added along with a significant increase in its room count.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Sawhney, Managing Director said, “While discovering new destinations and placing them on the holidayer’s map has been a strong tradition at Mahindra Holidays, we always aim to ensure that our members can holiday where they want. This launch will significantly augment our capacity in Goa which is one of our most preferred destinations.”  

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Preferred Residences, a hospitality-branded membership and exchange programme for luxury shared ownership resorts offered by an operating business of Interval Leisure Group (Nasdaq: IILG), has signed an affiliation agreement with the private residence club at Essque Zalu Zanzibar. The eco-friendly property, which also includes a boutique hotel, is on the exotic island of Zanzibar off Africa’s northeast Tanzanian coast.

“We couldn’t be more delighted with the addition of Essque Zalu Zanzibar, the second Preferred Residences location in Africa,” said Darren Ettridge, senior vice president of resort sales and business development for Preferred Residences in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia. “Our members will enjoy the resort’s ideal location and stunning ocean views, along with exceptional service and hospitality.”

Essque Zalu Zanzibar overlooks the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean and its white sandy beaches and coral reefs. The club comprises 40 suites that feature a living room, spacious bedroom and bathroom, and terrace. The nine villas spoil guests with en-suite bedrooms, fully equipped kitchen, dining room, personal massage room plus plunge pool, private gardens, and terrace.

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Baha Mar, the $3.5 billion resort complex marking the dramatic resurgence of a golden stretch of beachfront once called The Bahamian Riviera, announced today it has opened an office in Hong Kong, a strategic move intended to strengthen sales and marketing capabilities within Asia-Pacific. Located in the prestigious International Finance Center overlooking Hong Kong Harbor, Baha Mar’s new offices will be managed by Mabel Chau, the newly appointed Regional Director of Sales & Marketing, Asia-Pacific. Chau boasts more than 25 years of industry experience, and most recently functioned as Director and Founder of Sigma H Consultants, where she provided sales and marketing, project management and business consulting to hotels, law firms, banks and luxury lifestyle products.

“Our expansion into Asia, and particularly into China, is further evidence of our commitment to the region and the strengthening of our unique and valuable relationships with our Chinese partners,” stated Richard English, Senior Vice President for Baha Mar, who was in Hong Kong to finalize details surrounding the office acquisition. “A physical presence in Hong Kong allows us to more efficiently support marketing efforts in the region, promote The Bahamas in general and our project in particular,” English said.

The Chinese partnerships with Baha Mar are unprecedented in the hospitality industry and include the Export-Import Bank of China (Ex Im Bank), lending almost exclusively to governments and financial institutions. Additionally, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), China’s largest construction company, plans to turn into a reality Baha Mar’s vision of establishing a unique, “destination within a destination” featuring stunning structures that complement the authentic beauty of The Bahamas. CSCEC, with total assets of approximately $43 billion, believes Baha Mar will be the pinnacle of its achievements to date, and indicative of its finest work.

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Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world’s largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, today announced it has completed renovations on its 15th resort in Hawaii – Wyndham Vacation Resorts Royal Garden at Waikiki.

The 140-room property was acquired by WVO in late 2007 and was previously named The Royal Garden Hotel and Spa. The property has remained operating while major interior renovations and other redevelopment as a vacation ownership resort occurred, with rentals offered through Extra Holidays by Wyndham, a subsidiary of WVO that specializes in resort condominium rentals. It is anticipated that in the fall the resort will welcome Wyndham’s timeshare owners and vacation ownership interest sales will commence.

“With the addition of our 15th resort in Hawaii we are solidifying our position as the industry’s largest and most successful timeshare developer in Hawaii,” said Franz Hanning, president and chief executive officer, Wyndham Vacation Ownership. “We are very proud to provide yet another world-class property in this highly desirable destination for our more than 800,000 owners and guests.”

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Grand Pacific Resort Management, a privately owned timeshare and vacation ownership management company located in Carlsbad, CA has announced the promotions of two of its key management staff.

Jay Anderson

Jay Anderson, recent recipient of General Manager of the Year in the national American Resort Development Association (ARDA) awards program, has been promoted to the position of Regional Director of Operations with Grand Pacific Resort Management.  Jay will continue to be responsible for the day to day operations of all the company’s Northern California resorts (Red Wolf Squaw Valley, Red Wolf Lakeside, RiverPointe at Napa Valley, Mountain Retreat) as well as operational oversight of Grand Pacific Palisades, Carlsbad Seapointe Resort and Coronado Beach Resort. 

“As Area Manager Jay has done an outstanding job leading the Northern California properties while overseeing the day to day operations as General Manager of Grand Pacific Palisades Resort,” said Nigel Lobo, Vice President of Operations for Grand Pacific Resort Management. “In his new role as Regional Director, Jay will also now assist me with the creation of Grand Pacific University.  This will be a formal Mentoring Program, an internal resource to develop and grow future leaders within our organization.”

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Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco reached the significant 200th-sale milestone in March, capping its best month of sales activity since 2007, when the property opened on San Francisco’s historic northern waterfront. Finalizing three sales during the month of March, the Fairmont-branded private residence club built in one of the City’s most iconic landmarks has shown a remarkable recent pace in sales of its unique fractional opportunity.

Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square has become an attractive purchase decision among the second- and vacation-home buying market. Offering 1, 2, and 3 bedroom homes available for sale at 1/10th deeded fractional ownership, Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square provides home buyers with a home away from home to visit family and friends and entertain business clients as a Fairmont President’s Circle member. Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square allows all the benefits of full-home ownership without many of the hassles and costs associated with a traditional full-purchase second home.

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Vacation Storebuilder (VSB), an advanced Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) e-commerce platform for the vacation rental and ownership industry, has announced the launch of a resort-branded website for Cabo Azul Resort in San Jose del Cabo, BCS, Mexico. The Vacation Storebuilder-powered website, www.CaboAzulResortPackages.com, is focused on offering a variety of theme-based vacation packages for rental including romance, spa, family and dinner cruises.

Nestled on more than 12 oceanfront acres, the Cabo Azul Resort is Pacific Monarch’s flagship property. The 142 all-villa-suite resort development offers the ultimate in sophistication with one- two- and three-bedroom luxury accommodations starting at 1,200 square feet, and features world-class amenities and an expansive white-sand beach.

Commented Les Abeyta, Pacific Monarch Resorts’ VP of Corporate Marketing, “We selected Vacation Storebuilder as the platform to launch our new vacation rental packages website for many reasons. VSB provides us with built-in web marketing tools to increase search engine optimization, effectively utilize integrated social media interfaces, and leverage e-mail marketing capabilities. Top that off with a unique and intuitive interface and our new resort-branded website will allow our prospective guests to easily find their preferred vacation packages and book online.”

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The Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group, its joint venture partner in China, have broken ground on the Shanghai Disney Resort following approval from the Chinese central government in Beijing. Both companies marked the start of construction on the first Disney resort in mainland China at a groundbreaking ceremony held earlier today.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the history of The Walt Disney Company,” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Our Shanghai resort will be a world-class family vacation destination that combines classic Disney characters and storytelling with the uniqueness and beauty of China. Working with our Chinese partners, the Shanghai Disney Resort will be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese.”

“We’re incredibly excited to build a Disney resort in Shanghai, one of the world’s most vibrant cities,” said Thomas O. Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “We are hard at work designing Shanghai Disneyland, which when complete will be a special place where guests of all ages will discover a world of imagination, creativity, adventure and thrills.”

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Yucatan Holidays, the Cancun-based travel agency, announced it will be sponsoring the Red Bull New York preseason tour in Mexico from February 4th to February 15th, including the Gol Marketing Cup.

The Gol Marketing Cup will feature the Club Deportivo Guadalajara “Chivas,” Club de Futbol Atlante, and the Red Bull New York. The Gol Cup is organized by Gol Marketing, a scouting and marketing firm. The Red Bulls are set to play in the popular tourist attraction, but dates and opposing team have yet to be confirmed.

The Red Bulls will visit the Yucatan Peninsula the first week of February and will be hosted by Yucatan Holidays in one of the agency’s luxury resorts. Among the player roster is the Mexican National Team standout Rafa Marquez, the French professional Thierry Henry, and England’s John Rooney. Rooney is the younger brother of Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

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