NAIROBI—Delegates at the recent Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) in Nairobi declared poaching to be the greatest threat to Africa’s tourism industry and branded poachers as Africa’s Public Enemy No.1.Lazaro Nyalandu, Deputy Minister for Natural Resources & Tourism, Tanzania said in an address to the whole conference: “Poaching is a global problem needing a global solution. It is estimated that Tanzania has an elephant population of 100,000 today but this is cut by 30 a day by poachers. They are so sophisticated that we need a military response. If their activities are not stamped out, we will have lost...

WINTER PARK, FLA.—Ask Executive Chef J. Christopher Windus of Hamilton’s Kitchen at The Alfond Inn to define his culinary style and he’ll use the phrase “refined rustic.”What that means, clarifies Chef Windus, is that, “I'm taking comfort food and trying to refine it a little bit. The dishes may seem simple but there are a lot of things going on to layer the flavors.”His efforts in the kitchen of the three-month-old restaurant have quickly earned him the title of “Best New Chef” in the Silver Spoon Awards from Orlando Magazine. At Hamilton’s Kitchen, Chef Windus works against a dining...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Lexington by Vantage, a collection of inns, hotels and suites, has introduced a 100-room inn prototype that is specifically designed with the guest and owner/operator in mind. The announcement was made by Lexington Group President Bill Hanley at Vantage Hospitality Group’s annual Conference & Trade Show in Las Vegas.The Lexington prototype is designed to adapt to individual sites, and offers the flexibility to build more or less rooms depending on the market. Its cost-efficient, three-diamond design will enable owners to increase quality while saving as much as 25 percent on construction costs, and enjoy a very solid return...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—When light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were first introduced in the mid-2000s for general space lighting, they were considered a disappointment. Almost too dim to be useful, they were expensive and no more efficient than traditional fluorescent technology. Today, LED-based lighting products can successfully compete with rival technologies on the basis of light quality, efficiency, dimmability, and almost any other important metric except for price—which is falling rapidly. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, revenues from LED lighting products (including lamps and luminaires) in commercial building markets will grow from $2.7 billion in 2013 to more than $25...

LAS VEGAS—Employees of MGM Resorts International more than doubled the amount of food donated to Three Square Food Bank in the largest-ever employee-donated canned food drive in Nevada.Three Square reported that 922,161 pounds—more than 461 tons—of food was donated during a campaign in October across MGM’s Nevada resorts and corporate operations. This is the fourth consecutive year the company’s food drive has set a new donation record, which will provide 768,468 meals to the nearly 100,000 individuals Three Square serves monthly through its 600 Program Partners.“We are so thrilled at the outcome of this year’s food drive, which totals...

NATIONAL REPORT—Not so long ago, the solution for dealing with a hotel pest infestation was to “call the exterminator,” conjuring up cartoony images of a man with a poison-pump, misting unknown chemicals into the air of the business, chasing out customers and pests with the plume. For hotels in New York, where daily business activity is critical for the financial health of the business, this kind of thing could be devastating, but we live in a different world today. Now, safety and health are first and foremost in the mind of any pest control professional. Modern pest control methods...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Association (NRA) each year prepares its What’s Hot culinary forecast of menu trends for the coming year. The NRA surveyed nearly 1,300 professional chefs—members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF)—to find which food and beverage items will be hot trends on restaurant menus in 2014. The top 10 food trends for 2014: 1. Locally sourced meats and seafood; 2. Locally grown produce; 3. Environmental sustainability; 4. Healthful kids’ meals; 5. Gluten-free cuisine; 6. Hyper-local sourcing (e.g. restaurant gardens); 7. Children's nutrition; 8. Non-wheat noodles/pasta (e.g. quinoa, rice, buckwheat); 9. Sustainable seafood; and 10. Farm/estate branded...

SAN FRANCISCO—Cavallo Point Lodge has received the internationally acclaimed 2013 Travel + Leisure Global-Vision Award in the category of Sustainability. The award winners are recognized in five categories: Culture, Conservation, Community, Leadership, and Sustainability and Cavallo Point was chosen from a pool of 200 international entries. Also recently ranked among the “Top 5 Resorts in the U.S” by Travel + Leisure, the lodge garnered this award for its exemplary commitment to the environment, the community and establishing responsible travel practices. Since opening in 2008, Cavallo Point has earned several top environmental accolades, including LEED Gold certification and America’s top...

PHILADELPHIA—Hersha Hospitality Trust announced that the company was selected to receive NAREIT’s 2013 Lodging & Resorts Leader in the Light Award; the highest achievement for lodging and resort REITs in the 2013 award competition. This national award, presented annually by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), recognizes Hersha and its EarthView program for superior and sustainable portfolio-wide energy use practices and sustainability initiatives.Steven A. Wechsler, NAREIT’s president & CEO, recognized Hersha’s industry leadership in sustainability and presented Jay H. Shah, CEO of Hersha Hospitality Trust, with the Leader in the Light award at REITWorld 2013: NAREIT’s...

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.—In Los Angeles County, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing is available to commercial, industrial and multi-family property owners to pay for building improvements that save energy or create renewable energy on-site. The Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City took advantage of this fixed rate, 100 percent financing to fund $7 million worth of sustainable upgrades. The Hilton project is the largest commercial PACE project in the United States, more than twice the size of two projects completed this past year at just more than $3 million each.The Hilton project will result in an annual energy savings of $800,000 and...