The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C., Tourism Column

By Kyle Stock, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 17–The five North American properties that are part of Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., a group that includes Charleston Place, had a flat first quarter, according to just-released financial statements.

The properties posted a 1.1 percent boost in revenue (about $219,000) and the average daily rate for the hotels inched up a buck to $379, but the company sold 2.9 percent fewer rooms. Revenue per available room dropped 6.5 percent to $243.

William Galvin III, who handles investor relations for the company, said Charleston Place did “very well” relative to its sister properties in the U.S.

Orient-Express hotels in Europe fared worse, but the company’s properties around the rest of the world buoyed results.

Overall, the company widened its loss to $4.6 million, despite an aggregate 5.7 percent, or $3.43 million, increase in revenue.

Orient-Express has posted big increases in revenue the past three years, but it has been spending even faster. In 2003, the company garnered 13.9 percent more revenue ($40.17 million), but expenses jumped 18 percent. Consequently, it posted $23.6 million in net earnings last year, 6.7 percent less than its 2002 tally.

LANDMARK MARKETING: Hilton Hotels Corp. has a novel concept to boost business at its 1,200 Hampton Inns: using nearby landmarks to sell rooms.

The company recently launched www.hamptonlandmarks.com, an online directory of “the exact locations of both obscure and infamous American moments.” Would-be travelers can search for celebrated or notorious sites by state, region or category.

The company said it developed the angle after reading a Travel Industry Association of America study that showed 81 percent of American travelers are interested in cultural and historical activities.

There are nine Hamptons in the area, but Fort Sumter is the only area landmark listed on the Web site. Mars Bluff near Florence is the only other South Carolina spot on the site. It made the list because an Air Force plane inadvertently dropped a (inactivated) nuclear bomb on the town in 1958.

FAMOUS FOOD: Peninsula Grill, one of Hank Holliday’s holdings in town, will put another feather in its cap Sunday when it is inducted into the Nation’s Restaurant News fine dining hall of fame. It will be the only Charleston restaurant on the roster. Peninsula’s executive chef, Robert Carter, will accept the honor at Chicago’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.

There are currently 74 restaurants in the hall of fame, which is dominated by New York and San Francisco eateries. Atlanta’s Seeger’s, Bacchanalia and Brasserie Le Coze are among the few Southeast properties that made the list.

—–To see more of The Post and Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charleston.net