Dear Insider, 

A roller coaster ride... That's what today's issue feels like. Depending on the country, the hospitality sector goes up and down. At high speed. Anyone who flies off at the curve files for bankruptcy. Those who take advantage of the upswing go public. In between, there is a lot of pressure and few opportunities.

Family-run hotels or small hotel groups often have an even harder time than chain hotels, and not only in Italy. Their plus is often excellent locations, their minus the hole in the till. Foreign investors, mostly private equity, are sniffing out many cheap assets from depressed families between the beach and the mountains, from hostels to boutique lifestyle hotels. And they see the new flight routes that are bringing more and more travellers to the land of the dolce vita.

Fewer and fewer business travellers are boarding planes in and to Germany. And the Serviced Apartment segment is feeling the effects. The ratio of business to leisure has completely reversed this year, and the volatility of the traditional hotel industry is now also affecting this type of accommodation, which investors still like. 

Adrian Lindner is no longer sitting in the roller coaster, but in the gondola to the other side: He persuaded his cousins to take a stake in the "new" Lindner Hotels AG. Otto Lindner, the previous hotelier in the family empire, is no longer a partner. We took a closer look at the new structures. 

And we will continue to do the same for AHC International Consulting AG, which is backed by the founder of Amedia Hotels, the Austrian Udo Chistée. The development of the group is difficult to track, as the hotelier preferred to remain in the background. Now AHC is in bankruptcy proceedings, allegedly with a debt of 100 million euros or more.

The deep-red figures for the German hospitality industry in the 3rd quarter are very transparent. The sector is very close to flying off at the curve. And even more pressure is being placed on the shoulders of all hoteliers and restaurateurs, as a brand-new VAT report calculates: A Europe-wide increase in VAT by one percentage point could reduce the industry's revenue by around €8 billion and lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs.

In the United States, OTAs are currently under pressure because their own competition has become fierce. Ennismore is under a completely different, more positive pressure: The lifestyle section of Accor is preparing for its IPO. The Board has finally approved the plan, which was previously an open secret. 

In the last carriage of our roller coaster today are two mobility topics: charging e-cars as part of guest loyalty and the new desire to walk more. Things also go up and down in companies where nobody knows who is responsible for AI errors in everyday life. And if you are then annoyed by bad-tempered friends, simply send them to Copenhagen. There you can "try out" whether a new job would be the right thing for you...

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief