JustCo champions Small and Medium-sized Enterprise pivot to hybrid work
The villa built on the site that inspired "The Little Mermaid" by Andersen is for sale | Lionard S.p.A.
Venture-Backed Home Buying Offer Platform, Doorsey, Enters Nashville
New Chicago Office Space Signals VTS’ Expanded Footprint in the Midwest
VTS Selected as a 2021 Real Estate Tech Awards (RETAS) Winner
University of York signs the Guildhall lease
Ag Economy Barometer declines sharply; producers remain bullish on farmland values
Castle Mills scheme progresses as contractor selected
CROSSROADS is Officially Launched in the Maldives, the Highly Anticipated Megaproject
KT & KT Estate GiGA Genie AI Hotel Service Launching Press Conference
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The prestigious and historical “Villa Bibbiani”, a Tuscan estate owned by the noble Frescobaldi family since the 16th century, has been sold
A prestigious historical estate in Tuscany, in the countryside around Florence, Villa Bibbiani has been sold by Lionard Luxury Real Estate to an American tycoon who will invest over 20 million euros which will be used for purchasing, renovation, and the creation of new businesses. Owned by the Frescobaldis, one of the most powerful noble families in Florence, from the 16th to the 19th century, the majestic Villa Bibbiani (http://www.lionard.com/stunning-villa-for-sale-in-tuscany.html) in the town of Capraia e Limite has been sold for approximately 10 million euros. 380 hectares of grounds, a spectacular villa with two towers, a farm with houses, cellars and stables (the total internal surface measures 9,800 m2), a 20-hectare, 19th-century botanical garden with exotic oriental plants and a romantic 19th-century park: this is what constitutes the Bibbiani property. Mentioned for the first time in 1546 as a “property of the Frescobaldi family”, - who then became powerful bankers in Florence at that time, even earning the title of treasurers of the English crown- the property remained in the hands of this noble Florentine family until the death of Anastasia Frescobaldi in 1809, when it was inherited by her son, Cosimo Ridolfi (1794-1865). He was a very important character in the cultural life of that period, being also president of the Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence, and also realised the botanical garden and the magnificent romantic park in front of the villa, which featured 195 species of camellias. “If we look at the luxury real estate market of the last few years, we can see that Americans have resumed buying in Italy,” Dimitri Corti, founder of Lionard Luxury Real Estate explains. “Not only in Tuscany, which is still one of the most popular areas, but also in other regions, like Piedmont for example; in refined areas like Monferrato, where we have sold the Camino Castle, one of the most famous in this region (http://www.lionard.com/luxury-real-estate-exclusive-homes.html).” These buyers will not only renovate estates of great historical and cultural value to make them their homes, thus safeguarding part of Italy’s heritage and identity, but also invest big sums in businesses, reactivating the economy and creating new jobs.
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Press Conference on 30th Anniversary of Ambassador Hotel Group – Accor Hotels Joint Venture
The Ambassador Hotel Group held a press conference on November 1, 2017 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the joint venture with Accor Hotels. At the press conference, attended by Ambassador Hotel Group CEO Seo Jung-ho and Accor Hotels CEO Sébastien Bazin, the two companies announced their accomplishments over the past 30 years and future growth plans. The joint venture of Ambassador, a 62-year-old hotel company, and Accor Hotels, a global hotel operator, began in 1987. At the time that US hotel brands were introduced to Korea ahead of the 1988 Summer Olympics, Ambassador made a brand differentiation by establishing partnership with AccorHotels, the French multinational hotel group. Since then, it has been leading the domestic hotel market with various brand portfolio strategies ranging from luxury to economy. The Novotel Ambassador Seoul Gangnam, which opened in 1993, has established an unprecedented record of maintaining 90% occupancy of the room for 10 years. In 1997, the Novotel Ambassador Seoul Doksan opened as the first luxury hotel in the Southwest Seoul. In particular, Ibis Ambassador Seoul Gangnam (currently Ibis Style Ambassador Seoul Gangnam), which was opened in 2003, has been recognized as a beginning of domestic business hotel service. Ambassador and Accor Hotels, which caused the boom in domestic business hotels because of the success of Ibis, launched a business hotel with new concepts such as 'Ibis Budget Ambassador' in 2014 and 'Ibis Style Ambassador' in 2015, and subdivided the domestic business hotel market. In 2006, AAK was established as a joint venture company by further progressing the relationship between the two companies. AAK is a hotel management company that provides optimal hotel development and management solutions that combine the global standards of Accor Hotels and the local operating know-how of Ambassador Hotel Group. It also supports global hotel reservation system, sales marketing and promotion, and provides management systems such as global personnel, education and asset management know-how to optimize service quality and hotel asset value. Among the global hotel companies that have entered Korea, Accor Hotels is the only one that has established joint venture companies such as AAK with domestic companies. It was possible because trust was established between the two companies. ▲ Ambassador Hotel Group CEO Seo Jung-ho ▲ Accor Hotels CEO Sébastien Bazin The key to the long-term partnership between Ambassador and Accor hotels is mentioned to be trust and consideration. Based on trust, they have sought ways to grow together rather than the profits of each company and have been listening to each other's opinions. The two companies plan to prepare for another successful future based on the success of the last 30 years. 23 hotel networks in 2017 will be expanded to 32 by 2021 and the brand portfolio will also be expanded. In particular, they will expand into the luxury brand market, starting with Fairmont Hotel, which is scheduled to be opened in Yeouido in 2020. At the conference, Ambassador Hotel Group CEO Seo Jung-ho said, "We were able to enhance our competitiveness with our own hotel management culture, which was created through the combination of Ambassador's Korean hotel management system and Accor Hotels' advanced hotel management system." Also, he said, "Ambassador and Accor Hotels will continue to cooperate and lead advanced hotel culture in Korea."
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Kafnu Launches its Flagship Lifestyle Space for Creative Minds in Taipei
Kafnu launches its full-service lifestyle space designed for creators in the heart of Taipei, Taiwan. Blending a physical social network with diverse facilities and services, Kafnu Taipei comprehensively fulfills the living, working, playing, learning, and resting needs of creators, enabling a new generation of entrepreneurs, artists, start-ups and companies to come together in a place and mutually benefit and contribute to a new creative ecosystem. Morris Sim, Chief Executive Officer for Kafnu said, “While creators today are more digitally-connected than ever, they often work alone which can be isolating. Our belief is ‘together, we go faster,’ hence Kafnu facilitates this belief in a vertical village and provides the spaces, tools, and services to develop creators’ potentials. Taiwan has a vibrant creative class that has already delivered world-class innovations in technology, media, and design. We are proud to launch our first flagship here in Taipei to accelerate the achievements of the yet-to-be-discovered stars and introduce them and their products to the world.” Lien Chu, Kafnu North Asia General Manager said, “Our mission is to help people who feel like they have something new to contribute to the world, but are missing some pieces to go further in their journey. Kafnu Taipei occupies an entire 12-story building, and along with our community managers and partners, offer these creators the help they need to fill the gaps, including access to the international market via our spoke in Hong Kong and future Kafnu in the rest of Asia-Pacific.“ - Human capital and talent development Community managers are the people pillars of Kafnu, curating its experiences and building the creator network. In June 2017, Kafnu held auditions to recruit community managers from across Taiwan. The team of 12, culled from over 500 participants, is comprised of people of diverse backgrounds, interests, and perspectives. United by the belief that ‘Together, we go faster,’ each community manager has been individually mentored and coached by senior management to develop their own talent, as well as how to add value to members beyond traditional hospitality services. Kafnu Community Manager, Mimo Lee, said, “Before I joined Kafnu, I planned to work as a marketing or PR consultant, but instead I’ve gained invaluable experiences in both. In the last three months, I’ve been given a budget to run ad campaigns, I’ve conducted media calls, I’ve also run large-scale events to introduce Kafnu. Last week, I hosted 2 episodes of a talk show that were livestreamed on Facebook and viewed more than 150K times in less than a week. I've learned more in three months from these opportunities and from my mentors than I did in the previous three years combined. Now, I want to share what I learned and help our members.” - 12 floors of integrated space combines diverse zones of live, work, play, learn, and rest Kafnu Taipei is designed as a 12-floor vertical village with diverse zones catering to a creator’s needs. In the work zones, there are state-of-the-art working and collaboration spaces, as well as comfortable, spacious lounges for members to socialize with others. The live and rest zones, provide co-living, dining, and accommodation facilities for members to lounge, rest, and relax. For members with artistic ambitions, the media zones at Kafnu Taipei offer music recording studios and green screen rooms with professional equipment. In addition to the latest media devices, IT and interactive design technologies, Kafnu has play zones to inspire creativity and to produce more effectively. This includes the in-house restaurant ‘Morsel Taipei’ on the first floor serving avant-garde northern European tapas inspired by Taiwan, as well as the K2 bar on 12th floor for members to take some time out from their busy day, relax and have a drink with friends. An urban fitness center, Oxygen Lab, hosts yoga, Zumba, TRX, and pilates classes for members around the clock. Kafnu’s learn zones inspire fresh thinking and motivation with a two-story event space fitted with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a 300-inch (6 meter high) screen for film viewings, presentations, and workshops. Technology unifies all zones in the space, including a ‘digital gallery’ of connected monitors and surfaces that showcase members’ projects and successes throughout Kafnu. Kafnu also provides a mobile app with a members-only discussion forum, enabling space and room bookings, and listing all upcoming events. The entire space features biophilic design, with six aquascapes designed by an award-winning masters reminding members of the living ecosystem Kafnu creates. - Kafnu’s membership and business partners co-create the creator lifestyle With the cutting-edge spaces, tools and services, Kafnu Taipei brings together diverse groups of people to optimize the power of the physical social network to accelerate the realization of an individual’s or community’s creator potential. To help members achieve their creative vision and focus on what they love to do, Kafnu has signed up 20+ partners with exclusive benefits for members. Current Kafnu Taipei partners include The Affairs, Airpopo, Boxful, Brand Karma, honestbee, KPMG, Microsoft, Lalamove, Simpany, ShutterStock Premier, SurveyCake, Yourator, Uber and Zipcar. Kafnu partners are active members of the community, hosting events, and regularly onsite to meet with members. Kafnu Taipei will operate mainly on a membership system, with four-tiers of memberships available. Member-only services includes discounts from the Morsel Taipei restaurant and K2 bar, professional consultations from international business partners, and a range of services provided by community managers. Five-day passes start at NT$4,000 and monthly plans at NT$10,000.
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Accor Hotels - Ambassador Hotel Group 30th Anniversary of Partnership Press Conference
On November 1, press conference to celebrate the 30th anniversary between the Ambassador Hotel Group, the largest hotel expert company in Korea and the Accor Hotels was held. Both Seo Jung Ho, the chairman of the Ambassador Hotel Group and Sébastien Bazin, the chairman of Accor Hotels attended the press conference announcing their accomplishments over the past 30 years and their future growth plans. The partnership between the Ambassador-with 62 years of history and Accor- a global hotel chain in Europe began in 1987. When Games of the XXIV Olympiad Seoul 1988 was about to begin, number of US hotel brands were introduced in Korea but Ambassador made a distinctive brand in partnership with the French Hotel, the Accor. Since then, they have been leading the hotel markets in Korea with variety brand portfolio strategies ranging from luxury to economy. Novotel Ambassador Seoul Gangnam opened in 1993 has maintained 90% occupancy rate for 10 years which was unprecedented record in Korea and Novotel Ambassador Seoul Doksan was opened as the first luxury hotel in the Southwest area in Korea. Especially, the Ibis Ambassador Seoul Gangnam (now ibis style Ambassador Seoul Gangnam), which was opened in 2003, is recognized as the first business hotel in Korea. The success of IBIS led to a boom of Korean business hotels, and launched new conceptualized business hotels such as ‘Ibis budget ambassador 2014’ and ‘Ibis style Ambassador 2015’. This movement has specified hotel markets once again in Korea. In 2006, two companies have developed their relationship to establish a joint venture called AAK. AAK provides optimal hotel developments and management solutions combining the global standards of AccorHotels and the local managing know-how of the Ambassador Hotel group. Also, it offers global hotel reservation systems, sales marketing, and promotions to the associated hotels as well as global personnel affairs, education, asset management know-how systems to optimize service quality and hotel asset values. The Accor Hotels is the only global hotel company that has established joint venture corporations with Korean Hotels. This was possible because of the trust-based relationship between the two companies. ▲ Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor Hotels ▲ Jungho Suh, Chairman of Ambassador Hotel Group Both companies cite that the essential key to maintain their partnership for such a long time is based on mutual respect and consideration for each other. Not just seeking for profits of their own company but they both have respected each other considering the partner as a companion who grows up together and looking for ways to succeed together. Ambassador and AccorHotels are preparing for another successful future based on the success of the past 30 years of their own. Currently, there are 23 hotel networks launched in Korea expecting expansion to 32 by 2021 as well as the brand portfolio. Especially starting with Fairmont Hotel which is scheduled to open in Yoido in 2020, they will expand into the luxury brand market. At this press conference, Seo Jung-ho, the chairman of Ambassador Hotel Group stated, "We were able to establish and enhance our competitiveness of our own hotel management culture and this was created through a combination of Korean hotel management system of the Ambassador and advanced hotel management system of the Accor Hotel. We will continue to lead the culture of advanced hotels in Korea based on trust and consideration." Meanwhile, Ambassador Hotel Group is holding special promotions for Ambassador Club members until November 30th, in celebration to the 30th anniversary of the joint venture. When a Club member books a room via website(Ambatel.com), a minimum of 3,000 points and a maximum of 300,000 points will be awarded through a lottery. Also newly joined members will receive a room ticket, dinner tickets, 10,000 ambassador points or exhibition tickets to the Alice in Wonderland by lottery. Also depending on your membership level, you will get up to 15% off when you sign up for a paid membership. [Accor- Ambassador Hotel chain status_6 cities, 23 hotels] Grand Ambassador Seoul Associated with Pullman - Dongho-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 5 star-hotel, 413 rooms Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon - Techno park-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 5 star-hotel, 30 rooms Grand Mercure Ambassador Seoul Yongsan - Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, newly opened 202 rooms Novotel Suites Ambassador Seoul Yongsan - Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, newly opened, 286 rooms Novotel Ambassador Seoul Gangnam - Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 5 star-hotel, 332 rooms Novotel Ambassador Seoul Doksan -Siheung-daero, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, 4 star-hotel, 218 rooms Novotel Ambassador Seoul Yongsan - Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, New hotel, 621 rooms Mercure Ambassador Seoul Gangnam - Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 288 guestrooms Ibis style Ambassador Seoul Gangnam - Samseong-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 4 star hotel, 317 rooms Ibis Styles Ambassador Seoul Myung-Dong - Samil-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul, 4 star hotel, 180 rooms Ibis style Ambassador Seoul Yongsan - Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, newly opened, 592 rooms Ibis Ambassador Seoul Myeongdong - Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 3 star-hotel, 280 rooms Ibis Ambassador Seoul Insa-dong - Samil-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 3 star-hotel, 363 rooms Ibis Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun - Dongho-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 3 star-hotel, 242 rooms Ibis Budget Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun - Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 2 star-hotel, 195 rooms Novotel Ambassador Busan - Haeundaehaebyeon-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, 5 star-hotel, 330 rooms Novotel Ambassador Daegu - Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu, 4 star-hotel, 203 rooms Pullman Ambassador Changwon - Woni-daero, Uichang-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 5 star-hotel, 321 rooms Novotel Ambassador Suwon - Deogyeong-daero 777beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 5 star-hotel, 287 rooms Ibis Ambassador Suwon - Gwongwang-ro, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 4 star-hotel, 240 rooms Ibis Ambassador Busan City Center - Jungang-daero, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 3star-hotel, 207 rooms Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae - Haeundaehaebyeon-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, 2 star-hotel, 237 rooms Ibis Budget Ambassador Busan Haeundae - Haeundaehaebyeon-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, 2 star-hotel, 180 rooms
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