Luxe Worldwide Hotels recently announced the expansion of its presence in the Asian Pacific market with the opening of two new offices. The regional offices in Singapore and Hong Kong will increase the number of Luxe offices in the Asia Pacific region to four, joining those in Tokyo and Sydney. There are now a total of 13 Luxe regional offices worldwide. Two veteran hospitality industry executives have been appointed to oversee the Asia Pacific region. Lucas Peng will serve as Managing Director-Asia and Christine Toguchi as Executive Director- Asia. Currently, both executives are based in Luxe's new Singapore office. Our Asian operations will be solidly upgraded by Lucas Peng, who brings 21 years of experience in hotel marketing, central reservation systems technology, and call center services to our organization. Christine Toguchi's extensive background in marketing, training and consulting for the travel and hospitality industries will greatly enhance our global management team resources.

Luxe Worldwide Hotels will partner with members to bring you cost-saving advertising opportunities. As an example, we recently sent notice to hotels with meeting space for special co-op ads we would like to place in national meeting publications. By grouping two or three (or even more) hotels together with Luxe, the cost is easily shared for significant savings per advertiser. Some ads have cash or barter options. You won't ever want to advertise on your own again! Take advantage of this exciting savings opportunity. Before you set your ad budget, give us a call to see what options are available to extend your budget beyond belief! Contact: Anna Gargioni (anna@luxehotels.com)

The July Sales Mission to Dallas featured productive sales calls to Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Alcon Pharmaceuticals, Time Warner Telecon, Radio Shack, Freeman Companies (American Express One), Rudi Steele Travel, Carreker, Centex, and Alcatel. The team, comprised of Efrem Harkham, Luxe President and CEO; Roselyn Cosentino, Luxe Worldwide Hotels Vice President Sales; Valerie Mortimer from the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas; and Jocelyn Pajarito from Hotel La Jolla at the Shores, La Jolla, CA, met with approximately 800 agents during that one week in Dallas!

Luxe Worldwide Hotels sales visits were made during June in New York to Disney ABC/Travel Dept., NBC/Universal, Bear Stearns, Sony, ProTravel- Virtuoso, among others. The team was very well received and had extremely productive visits with these outstanding corporate and leisure travel accounts.

Upcoming Sales Missions and trade shows include:

Member hotels can use the Luxe internet booking engine on their individual website to capture bookings online. If you haven't already signed up for this FREE service, give us a call today. It's easy. And, the link is FREE of charge. This terrific service provides convenience for our member hotels to update the system for GDS, Voice, and the Internet - only ONE system to maintain all distribution channels! The only cost is if a consumer reserves the room online and stays at your hotel! Call today to learn more about how you can take advantage of this essential member benefit. Contact Eve LeGrand (eve@luxehotels.com)

Luxe is constantly sending out press releases that include newsworthy items about Luxe hotels and new member announcements. For instance, if your property is undergoing a renovation or anything else of interest, please send the information to Anna Gargioni, Director of Marketing. She will make every effort to include it with Luxe releases. Contact: Anna Gargioni (anna@luxehotels.com)

The most recent upgrades to our Luxe Worldwide Hotels website include:

The recent list of finalists for the 2004 HM - Hotel & Accommodation Management - Awards included four Luxe hotel members. The nominations were open to hotels and staff at properties across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Over 400 nominations were received. Congratulations to The Adelphi (Melbourne), Establishment (Sydney), Medusa (Sydney), and The Prince (St. Kilda).

Congratulations to the Buckingham on being selected as the official site for the 2004 JVC Jazz Festival!

With the rapid growth of Luxe Worldwide Hotels and significant expansion plans in place, we have added the important corporate function of Membership Services to ensure future initiatives efficiently support our organizational goals. The Membership Services Department will be your consortia/negotiated rate programs liaison and program developer.

We are delighted to welcome Anja C. Eller to the position of Director of Membership Services. Ms. Eller comes to us most recently as a GDS consultant for Sercotel Hoteles and many years with SRS World Hotels/Trust International where she held positions as Manager of Reservation Services, Director of Business Development, and Director of Membership Relations. Anja will coordinate with reservations, revenue services, sales, marketing, account management, and operations personnel. She will be working from our New Orleans Office and can be reached at (504) 596-2225, or e-mail her: anja@luxehotels.com

A new office has been opened in New Orleans, Louisiana. The office will focus on the Midwest USA region. Luxe appointed Stacey Messina as the Vice President of Business Development, Midwestern USA. Stacey's experience in travel industry sales, electronic distribution and communications will enhance Luxe's brand and its regional and international sales and marketing efforts. Previously Stacey was with the Fairmont New Orleans, SRS Worldhotels in NY and Frankfurt, Germany, and Sercotel Hoteles Independientes in Barcelona, Spain. A very warm welcome to Stacey Messina.

Mark your calendars now for the November 16-17, 2004 International Members Conference, to be held at the Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. The theme, "Partners & Profits", reinforces the benefit of being an LWH member, and focuses on how this partnership can increase revenues for your hotel.

The conference will be valuable for all general managers, owners and/or sales and marketing directors. You can come a few days early or stay a few days longer and take part in pre-arranged sales calls with Luxe staff members. The Conference package includes three nights room accommodations (Nov. 15-17), organized meals, and activities described on the attached Preliminary Conference Agenda. Conference Package rates are $515 USD single, $665 USD double; $925 USD triple occupancy. Additional nights are available at a very special room rate of $78 plus tax.

Spouses are welcome, and transportation will be arranged to various tourist sites in the Los Angeles area.

The Conference Sessions have been developed to deliver valuable information about Luxe Worldwide Hotels services, offer a critical look at travel distribution channels and key market segments (groups, business, and leisure), and provide an interactive exchange of ideas and information among all LWH members and partners. You will hear how LWH plans to continue to raise room revenues for 2005 through special programs, marketing campaigns, strategic partnerships and technology, all geared to help you increase your profits!

Please let us hear from you informally as to whether you (or anyone from your hotel) will be able to attend as soon as you can put the date on your calendar! We will send the final registration materials in September. Contact:Agnes Kuroki (agnes@luxehotels.com)

Click here for the agenda