Dear Insider,

At midnight on 1 August, the Spanish government will implement a crack down: Any short-term tourist landlord who is not officially registered by this time will be removed from the central database. So far, only 13% have registered. This means a whole 87% have just one week left. This corresponds to 1.1 million beds - which would then simply disappear. In the middle of the season. This has all the trappings of a great drama - and all of it to the advantage of the hotel industry. Set the clock! Sarah Douag brings us the details. 

Almost all of Europe will be going on summer holidays in the coming weeks; certain destinations and cities will be overcrowded again. How high is the burden on local residents in popular cities with a lot of tourism? Austria's eight provincial capitals are looking for and finding solutions, e.g. "Grätzel Tourism". This is "life-seeing" instead of "sightseeing". Fred Fettner has collected figures, examples and opinions on how to reinvent the "experience value" for locals. 

Radisson didn't have to invent anything new, but jumped in at the deep end: The chain was determined to show its investors two sustainable hotels with verified net-zero status - not according to its own standards, but also according to the methodology of third parties. The two buildings in Manchester and Oslo already serve as learning platforms. Head of Sustainability Inge Huijbrechts on her experiences: "I would never claim that we are perfect. But we are transparent. We share what worked and what didn't, and we keep asking ourselves: Can we go any further?"

Marriott also took a big step and officially confirmed the acquisition of citizenM yesterday. The mega-chain's learning experience will be to understand the Lifestyle Group's corporate culture and technological edge. That's not in the press release, a citizenM insider from Amsterdam told me recently. 

Private hotelier Johannes Eckelmann runs five cocoon hotels with 500 rooms in Munich: natural, smart, warm-hearted, like a cocoon. His intuitions very quickly translated into top KPIs and industry respect. With the new budget design hotel directly on the Oktoberfest site, he is taking the next remarkable leap in concept and quality, inspired by high-quality family apartments with kitchenettes and workspaces. The record tourism year 2025 predicted by the WTTC will quickly fill the beds of this brand. 

The positive reports that have been sweeping across the hotel industry in Germany and Europe for months have not stopped. In Austria, SMEs dominated hotel transactions in the first half of the year. As reported last week, the investment market really seems to be picking up. According to research by bulwiengesa and Union Investment, the value of hotels is also rising sharply, especially at the 4-star level. 

The Austrian government has simplified the tipping regulations. Our colleague Fred Fettner was confused and annoyed when he booked a room in a Hampton hotel for €77.95 and received a confirmation for €100.70. He checked, asked, researched: Hilton's booking system is probably always right. No employee could or wanted to solve the problem. 

The main thing is that the balance sheet is right. As always, the Hilton CEO is mega-confident in the assessment of Q2 2025, while Wyndham is moderate.

The news mix is well-filled every Friday, and the second half of the year brings another change of personnel. The DIHK has found that more and more businesses in the hospitality industry are becoming orphaned and disappearing because there are no successors. The chairs for "green" and "turquoise" jobs in the sustainability sector also remain empty. This is certainly not good news. In its own survey, BWH Best Western found no evidence that conference budgets are being noticeably reduced.

The only person who knows how to make money in tourism is Donald Trump. He simply orders the money: From 1 October, there will be the so-called "visa integrity fee" - anyone wishing to travel to the United States will pay $250 per person. That's $1,000 dollars for for a family of four. I wonder whether the President knows what a boomerang is? 

Till next Friday! 

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief