Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas today said it launched a program called Total Experiences to boost sales in the small group travel segment, a market of increasing importance to the hotel industry.

Saying people are more interested than ever in reconnecting with family and friends, and seeing growing guest demand for help with group trip planning, Harrah’s said the complimentary program “eases the stress of planning group getaways by offering high-touch service every step of the way.”

Each group will be connected with a Total Experiences specialist who will handle all details of the group’s itinerary both before and during the stay.

Services include a custom itinerary based on the group’s interests and budget, upgrades and perks based on group spending, booking all reservations, offering insider recommendations and arranging VIP privileges that Harrah’s said were never before available to leisure guests.

Total Experiences is available to groups of six or more that book at any U.S. Harrah’s resort in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and elsewhere.

Benefits and upgrades include VIP check-in, access to private lounges, VIP club entry, celebrity meet-and-greets, private gaming lessons and behind the scenes tours, Harrah’s said.

Hospitality giant Marriott International is launching a new brand called the Autograph Collection, aimed at tapping customers who prefer independent, high-end hotels over brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Four Seasons.

Hotel giant InterContinental Hotels Group is cutting costs after seeing revenues and profits fall 19% and 33%, respectively, in the third quarter of trading.

Chief executive Andrew Cosslett said current trading is difficult but added that there are signs of hotel occupancy stabilising.

However, the group warned today that there is still scarcity of finance for hotel developments.

And while the relaunch of the core Holiday Inn brand continues, with 1,378 hotels now operating under the new standards, the group says cost controls are still vital.

San Clemente-based hotel investment company Sunstone may surrender 11 distressed properties to its lender, according to a third-quarter financial report. If it does, it could bring its total number of forfeited hotels to 14.

Sunstone recently dumped San Diego’s W Hotel and the Marriott Ontario Airport Hotel because its lenders wouldn’t renegotiate loans.

Sunstone, which has about 40 hotel holdings nationwide, including the Fairmont Newport Beach, recently defaulted on its mortgage for the Renaissance Westchester in White Plains, N.Y., and is trying to modify that loan, according to the earnings report. It is currently finishing loan amendments to its Renaissance Baltimore property.

In its last earnings report before the company opens its $8.5 billion CityCenter complex next month, MGM Mirage on Thursday projected an improvement in business next year.

It based that prediction on having more rooms booked for convention groups and the expectation that CityCenter will boost Strip tourism.

Part of this optimism is based on a new sales strategy for filling its hotels.

Until recently, each of the company’s empire of iconic resorts along the Strip was operated like a self-contained kingdom, with a sales staff trained to sell the virtues of a single property over its neighbors. That policy continued when MGM Mirage acquired Mandalay Resort Group in 2005, creating the Strip’s largest casino operator, the largest operator of high-end properties and Nevada’s largest private employer. Forcing the company’s properties to compete against one another for business kept employees on their toes and better positioned the company against outsiders — or so the thinking went.

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