News Briefs Week of July 22 2013

Norwegian orders 2nd Breakaway Plus
Norwegian Cruise Line decided to exercise an option for a second “Breakaway Plus” vessel to be delivered by Germany’s Meyer Werft in the spring of 2017. The first Breakaway Plus is due for delivery in 2015. The 4,200-passenger ships will have one more deck than the Norwegian Breakaway and will be the largest in the line’s fleet, at 163,000 gross tons. Norwegian put the combined cost at 1.4 billion euros, or about $1.85 billion.

Cuba operators renew licenses
Insight Cuba and Tauck Tours received two-year license renewals from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to operate their people-to-people programs to Cuba. Both operators will run their Cuba itineraries through mid-2015. Insight Cuba, in partnership with General Tours World Traveler, has published departures and rates through June. Dates and prices for 2015 will be announced shortly. Tauck’s first departure under its renewed license is set for Oct. 6 with more details to follow.

Delayed ferry set to serve Bimini
The new Bimini Superfast ferry linking Miami and Bimini, Bahamas, was slated to begin operations July 20 after a two-week drydock in Miami to satisfy Coast Guard requirements. Two daily roundtrips are planned. After deficiencies were corrected, the 1,600-passenger vessel was cleared for commercial service on the two-and-a-half-hour route between Miami and Bimini, home of the Resorts World Bimini Bay Casino, which acquired the vessel and organized the venture.

Grace Bay Resorts rebrands neighbor
Grace Bay Resorts in the Turks and Caicos is taking over management of the West Bay Club, a resort three miles from Grace Bay Club on Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales. The 46-suite resort is being rebranded West Bay Club, a Grace Bay Resort. Plans call for property-wide improvements over the next 18 months.

Hyatt Midtown opens in Atlanta
Hyatt opened the 194-room Hyatt Atlanta Midtown at 10th and Peachtree streets in Atlanta, near the Georgia Tech campus and across the street from the Federal Reserve. The opening followed a complete makeover by Nobel Investment Group of the building that previously housed the Hotel Midtown.

Yotel planning Singapore property
Yotel, operator of high-tech budget hotels in New York and at three European airports, said it plans to enter the Asia market with a 600-unit property in Singapore, opening in 2017. Yotel offers compact, high-tech “cabins” that, in New York, measure 170 square feet.

Sheraton expands in Argentina
Starwood opened the Sheraton Tucuman Hotel in San Miguel de Tucuman in northwestern Argentina. The 124-room property is the ninth Sheraton-branded hotel in Argentina and the 10th hotel under a Starwood brand in the country. Facilities include 29,000 square feet of meetings space and an 8,600-square-foot spa, which is the first in the region.

Friends Colleagues
Susan Black, who had served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Travel Impressions, has left the company, a Travel Impressions representative confirmed last week. Black was named chief marketing officer at Travel Impressions in June 2012, after serving as executive vice president of global e-commerce. She joined Travel Impressions three years ago to help advance the company’s global online expansion and lead its e-commerce division. Black is co-founder and partner of the Black Wright Group, a travel industry strategic advisory firm. Her departure follows the news earlier this month that former Travel Impressions CEO Steve Gorga has transitioned to an advisory position with American Express, a move that corresponded with Apple Leisure Group completing its acquisition of Travel Impressions from American Express on June 30. • • • Longtime Marriott International executive Ed Fuller has been named president and CEO of the Orange County (Calif.) Visitors Association, effective immediately. He currently is president and co-founder of Laguna Strategic Advisors, an Irvine, Calif.-based consortium of independent business executives.

News Briefs Week of July 22 2013