Worldwide briefing

Allegro sale

Spanish group Occidental Hoteles has bought the all-inclusive resort chain Allegro Resorts for $435.2m (£310m). The purchase of Allegro's 22 resorts gives Occidental 85 hotels with a total of 20,390 bedrooms across Europe, north Africa, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Residency reforms

The National Restaurant Association in the USA is calling for reforms that would allow immigrants working in the country to be treated fairly while their residency is being reviewed or processed.

Starwood in Florida

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is to manage a new hotel being built in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 283-bedroom property, set to open in 2002, will be operated under the St Regis flag.

Six for Marriott

Marriott International will open six hotels with a total of 1,300 bedrooms in the Middle East and north Africa over the next 15 months. They comprise two hotels in Egypt, two in Jordan, one in Saudi Arabia and one in Tunisia.

Germans stay home

More Germans are taking their holidays in Germany, according to new statistics from the German Tourist Office. In the first six months of 2000, the number of overnight stays by domestic tourists rose by 6%, compared with the first half of 1999.

Protester sentenced

French sheep farmer and anti-globalisation campaigner José Bové has been sentenced to three months in prison for vandalising a McDonald's restaurant.