Metro Hotel Ipswich International as Seen on Ozzie Holiday

Metro Hotel Ipswich International as Seen on Ozzie Holiday

Metro Hospitality Group - The Year In Review - Metro Hotels

Our 36th year at Metro Hotels and the wider Metro Hospitality Group has seen us maintain our trading success as most properties continue to trade at high occupancies and robust room rates.

The Company enjoys a strong digital presence which is resulting in increasingly higher online bookings through our own Web site www.metrohotels.com.au, and a large network of social media engagements, and growing GDS (Global Distribution System) activity.

Traditional advertising and other forms of marketing have given way to promotion of our products through emailed newsletters, blogs, sites such as You Tube, Pinterest, and the social media playmakers Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and so on.

Back in 1976 when the Group originated, most business was secured through phone bookings, walk-ins, and travel agents, together with group bookings from tour wholesalers, inbound travel coordinators, local Australian bus companies, government departments, airlines, and sporting organisations.
While much of our group business still comes from the traditional sectors, individual, corporate, and government bookings are largely being made through our own Web site or third-party Web sites such as Wotif.com, Bookings.com,  RatestoGo.com, LastMinute.com.au,  Quick Beds, check-in.com.au, as well as the GDS, and international online booking engines including those operated by the Expedia group.

With a large percentage of business emanating online, room rates have been squeezed during low demand periods while at peak times they move substantially higher. Yield management allows our properties to optimise their rates commensurate with the level of demand in the market.

Metro Hotels was one of the first groups to recognise the importance of the Internet to the travel industry, employing its first IT Manager in the late 1990s. The Company continues to pour significant resources into this field as online reservations within our group, and in the industry at large, have become, or are fast becoming, the core facilitator of business.

During the year the Metro Hotel Sydney Central, one of two hotels we operate in Pitt Street, Sydney, has undergone an extensive refurbishment over several floors. Refurbishment of the balance of the hotel will commence in early 2013. A re-make of the Metro Hotel on Pitt is also planned while lesser-scale refurbishments have been carried out at Metro Hotel & Apartments  Gladstone (Queensland), Metro Hotel Perth, Metro Hotel Apartments Darling Harbour, and Metro Hotel Bank Place. An additional floor of rooms was added to the Metro Inn Miranda which has since been re-branded a Metro Hotel.

During the year the Company’s association with the Abood family, owners of Metro Inn Ryde came to an end when the family sold the property to an owner-operator. The association the Company had with the Abood family spanned 35 years, with the Metro Inn Ryde being the Company’s second hotel.
Despite the change of ownership, the property will continue to be known as Metro Inn Ryde as a result of a licensing agreement with the new owner. Work is proceeding on preparations for the redevelopment of Metro Hotel Perth which will involve in the first instance a new wing comprising 45 rooms.  It is hopeful construction will be underway in early 2013.

NSW Smoking Ban Smokers Like It

YESTERDAY’S introduction of strict outdoor smoking bans in NSW drew few objections on the Border; even smokers believe the tougher laws are a good idea.

It is now illegal to smoke in many outdoor public areas, including train stations, bus stops and sporting facilities.

Those who ignore the bans risk a $550 fine.

A smoker for more than 15 years, Duncan Cooper, of Albury was concerned about the harm passive smoke could do to children.

“I get passive smoke from my own cigarette when I’m not smoking it,” he said.
“For people’s health it will be a good thing.”

But he didn’t agree with the amount of the fine.

“Who has that amount of money these days?” he said.

Shane Vale said smoking away from people was common courtesy, NSW now made it law.
“It’s fair enough,” he said.

“I can understand that non-smokers don’t like to smell cigarette smoke, especially with kids around, but it’s not an illegal product ... it is a bit frustrating.”

The new laws are designed to protect people, particularly children, from passive smoke.
Eight-year-old Lily Ryan-McCormack is glad.

“Sometimes the smoke makes me have a bit of a headache,” she said.

“I smell it, and it smells really gross.”

The Asthma Foundation NSW yesterday applauded the NSW government’s decision, which will also see smoking banned from outdoor areas at venues where food is consumed from 2015.

“According to the most recent NSW government statistics, smoking-related illness accounts for about 5200 deaths and 44,000 hospitalisations per year in NSW and costs about $8 billion annually,”
Asthma Foundation NSW chief executive Michele Goldman said.

“Tobacco smoke is a key trigger for a potentially fatal asthma attack and is associated with higher rates of asthma.

“Children who live in homes where parents smoke are three times more likely to have asthma than children living in non-smoking homes.”

Bed Tax Would Hurt Tourism, Hoteliers Warn

FORCING tourists to pay a bed tax would cost jobs in tourism industry, hoteliers are warning.

The Accommodation Association of Australia (AAA) has hit out a suggestion by NSW Local Government Minister Don Page that a bed tax would help tourism hubs pay for infrastructure and services strained by the influx of holiday visitors.

"The accommodation industry is strongly opposed to a bed tax in any shape or form," said AAA CEO Richard Munro.

"A bed tax would mean job losses in Australia's accommodation industry; it would be inevitable."
Mr Page made the suggestion after witnessing a surge in summer visitors in his electorate of Byron Bay during the Christmas and New Year period.

More than 1.5 million visitors visit Byron Bay each year, and the town is straining under the pressure.
"The reality is that the infrastructure can't cope and the question is: 'What do we do about it?' A bed tax is definitely an option," Mr Page told ABC radio on Thursday.

But the AAA's 2000 members said they would not support such a tax.

"If any level of government is considering introducing such a tax... it would be met with fierce resistance from operators of accommodation businesses and the broader tourism industry," Mr Munro said in a statement on Friday.

He said hoteliers already paid enough taxes and that government, not the industry, should fund infrastructure.

"Our industry already pays millions of dollars in council rates, state taxes and federal taxes every year, and having to pay more would be a disaster."

View original article from the Herald Sun

Death Adders Spice Up Island Resort Experience

Police had an unusual call-out when they were asked to deal with two death adders found near the kitchen of a Groote Eylandt resort in the Northern Territory.

The officers managed to catch the two snakes but were called back to the resort near Alayangula, off the coast of Arnhem Land, two hours later when staff found another death adder lurking around the same location.

Darwin Watch Commander Greg Pusturla says the officers again corralled the venomous reptile but that still wasn't the end of it.

"When walking back towards the reception area, they located another snake," he said.
"Fortunately, all four snakes were taken into custody.

"They have now been released without charge about five kilometres from town, out in the bush."

Original Source: ABC News

Acccommodation Manager Ricky Risal with Clover Moore

Aspire Hotel Sydney's Acccommodation Manager Ricky Risal (right) at a Sydney Christmas event photographed with Clover Moore (middle), Lord Mayor of Sydney

Aspire Hotel Sydney's Acccommodation Manager Ricky Risal (right) at a Sydney Christmas event photographed with Clover Moore (middle), lord Mayor of Sydney

Angela Thielen - Work Experience at Aspire Hotel Sydney (Metro Hotels)

My name is Angela and I´m from Germany but at the moment I live at Bondi Junction in Sydney, which is a great place to live. I am 25 years old and I´m studying Hotel and Tourism Management.

My College provided me with theoretical as well as practical experiences and qualifications in the fields of hotel and tourism.

According to the college´s needs, I have to complete two periods of full-time practical work experience, each lasting 6 months.

And so I decided to do my first Internship in Australia at the Aspire Hotel Sydney.

I choosed Australia because it´s just an awesome country with many interesting and different cultures and so many different places to see. After almost 3 month now, here in Sydney, I almost feel like home.

Working at the Hotel provides me with a lot of experiences in different departments like, working in the Front Office, Reservations, Accounting, Housekeeping  and Sales & Marketing, which I´m really looking forward too,  in the next weeks.

It is also a very good opportunity to improve my english and communication skills, as well as I feel, that I´m becoming more confident in talking and handling with other people. I really like the teamwork and to have the chance to work with so many different cultures  in one place.

During my stay in Sydney I try to see, as much as I can, in and outside the city.

 I have already been too the Blue Mountains, Port Stephens, Manly and many other places.

It is really so much you can see here. But my favorite place to relax and hang out with friends is Bondi Beach, which is just a stroll away from where I live.

After my Internship I will travel around to see a lot of the other great places that Australia offers.

I would like to see the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns and of course I won´t leave without having seen the Outback.

This whole experience is the best that I have ever had and I´m looking forward to enjoy the upcoming few months.