Biz Buzz

The 80-room Comfort Suites is slated to open on North Gloster this fall. Click here for previous coverage.

Click on the picture for a bigger version.

Construction has finally started on the addition at the Hilton Garden Inn in Tupelo’s Fairpark District. The additional tower will house 48 rooms (40 rooms will have two queen beds and eight will be two-room suites). The expansion is west of the 110-room hotel, between the Hilton Garden Inn and the Fairpark Grill. Last we heard, the hotel management was shooting to open up the the new rooms late this year or early next year.

Click on the picture for a bigger image.

Bruce Patel’s Comfort Suites hotel that is going up on North Gloster across the street from Outback Steakhouse (where I took the picture). Click on the picture for a bigger version.

The Tupelo-based American Family Association and other conservative groups have asked Marriott International to end its availability of adult-oriented movies, which hotel guests can see through pay-per-view ordering.

The AFA said Wednesday that 47 “pro-family leaders” have signed a letter asking Marriott’s CEO to meet with them to talk about their concerns.

From the Associated Press:

AFA said in a news release that Marriott was told that stopping “porn movies” would be in keeping with the corporation’s position of “promoting the well-being of children and families.”
Among those participating in the call for action, according to AFA, are James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family; Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council; Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Bishop Harry Jackson, chairman of High Impact Leadership Council; and Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media.

The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, AFA chairman, said Wednesday that Marriott had not responded to the letter sent last week.
However, Roger Conner, vice president of communications for Marriott International, said Thursday that the company had just tracked down the letter because it was sent to John W. Marriott III, the son of CEO J.W. Marriott Jr. and not a company employee.
Conner said the company would review the group’s letter and the request for a meeting.

Conner said Marriott and most hotel chains offer in-room entertainment that includes a wide range of films and “just one of those is adult offerings.”
“Every guest can quickly and easily block out just the adult movie offering by either calling the front desk or using their (TV) remote pad in the room,” Conner said. “It does not appear at all if the guest does not want the offering.”

The Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau had its monthly board today. Here are the highlights:

• The construction of the building is on schedule. It’s supposed to be done in October. Until then, the CVB staff is in a temporary building on Commerce Street.

• The CVB had total revenues of $263,058 for March. To date, the CVB has total assets of $2,343,646.

• Compared with last year, sales tax revenues were down 1.9 percent in January, the most recent reporting period. Tupelo’s chief financial officer Daphne Holcombe, who does the CVB’s financial reports, attributed the fall to the rescheduling of the Tupelo Furniture Market. In 2007, the market was held in January, but it was held in February this year.

• Pat Rasberry said the 110 films entered for the 5th Annual Tupelo Film Festival have been narrowed down to 39 films to screen. While the actual festival is May 15 - 17, Rasberry said events will be held May 13 and 14, as well.

• Several conventions have booked meetings in Tupelo this fall, including the Mississippi Toastmasters, the Mississippi Region of Narcotics Anonymous, Phi Beta Lambda and Mississippi Natural Gas Association.

• Visits to Tupelo’s tourist attractions were generally up in March. The birthplace had 3,577 visitors and the auto museum had 2,052. However, visitors at the buffalo park were down to 2,670 compared to the 3,630 visitors last year.

Monroe County is making news today. As previously reported in the Journal, Amory is getting a new hotel. The groundbreaking for Heritage Inn & Suites is set for 1:30 p.m. today near the River Birch Golf Course.

And, this morning Aberdeen had the groundbreaking for a new shopping plaza near Curries Family Care Pharmacy on Highway 145. We have the sleuths at the Aberdeen Examiner hunting down information about potential tenants.

Community leaders in Fulton announced plans this morning for a Holiday Inn Express. The hotel will be the third in the city and will double the amount of rooms currently available.

It’s going up on South Adams next to the Days Inn. Construction is expected to start within 6 months. Read tomorrow’s paper for more info.