Editorial
Dear Insiders,
After the HR Special in April, we publish a "Sustainability Special" today: a topic, which has to be regarded strategically and has to be practised by CEO to intern. Employees would like to commit themselves more, but their bosses are not letting them. Similarities to "Fridays for Future" are purely coincidental...
Some believe in Greta, we believe in the power of the market. This is why today we are discussing sustainability as part of CSR in various practical facets: Food waste is considerably more harmful for the climate change than plastics as food waste is generating the greenhouse gas methane. Every year, food waste worth one trillion dollars is thrown out. The Moevenpick Amsterdam wants to make a difference here and rescues its breakfast leftovers via app.
There are many positive examples for the reduction of food waste, energy and CO2. Small steps, chosen thoughtfully, are much more helpful to hoteliers than stereotyped solutions. Xenia zu Hohenlohe, Partner at the specialised consultancy Considerate Group, appeals to small and larger hotel groups to set new performance goals every year. The Oetker Collection follows this path in small steps, in the Caribbean as well as in the French Alps. CEO Frank Marrenbach about efforts and results.
An intact nature ensures everyone's survival, also of tourism countries like Austria. Now, studies are doing away with prejudices against skiing: A summer holiday by car burdens the energy footprint more than a winter holiday starting by train, they reveal.
And finally, we dedicate ourselves to sustainable cosmetics with the example of the Vinoble brand from Styria. A start-up has found a chemical-free solution for cleaning all surfaces: ozone water. All staff members of the Spanish Room Mate group wear entirely recycled uniforms now. How much sustainability infuses various segments today becomes obvious in the respective news mix as well as in additional news.
Bahrain delivers this week's most implausible sustainability news: it has just sunk a decommissioned Boeing to the seabed. The aircraft is the highlight of the new underwater diving park, all environmentally friendly, of course... It's just a wrong signal.
Immerse yourself in a topic, which is going to seriously influence the future of your business, too!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
I’ve been very pleased with all the feedback we've received since Tuesday. There was praise for the unemotional, factual coverage of the CEO change at Kempinski Hotels and thanks for "not getting drawn in to the mudslinging". Managers of other hotel groups appreciate our efforts to bring clarity to difficult issues – they follow the change with collegial interest and still have questions that we cannot yet answer today. Martin Smura can do that best himself. We remain true to our line and will continue to accompany Kempinski's development in the next era. And will do so calmly as things unfold.
Now a quiz question: What do you call the children of Millennials? Gen Alpha – or iGeneration. These are the children born after 2010 and who already glean all their knowledge from the Internet. In 2025 – six years from now – there will be two billion of this extremely tech-savvy generation in our midst. As things stand, 9-year-olds already exert a massive influence on where the family takes its holday: They decide on location, experiences and the budget mum and dad have to set aside. Sarah Douag presents the figures and the preferences of this Gen Alpha.
The co-working market in Europe is growing, BNP Paribas reported yesterday. Susanne Stauss took a look at the many "co's". She reveals how co-working and co-living are beginning to merge – paired with whole lot of community actionism. That is: The bed should be right next to the "desk", and if there's no action or networking in the evening, the nomad simply moves on. Providers brutally exploit their insatiable appetite for socialising: A sparsely furnished room of just 10 sq.m. in a shared flat costs can cost EUR 469 per month. For 25hours CEO Christoph Hoffmann this "co"-hysteria is nonsense. As he sees it, hotels can live also without the "co".
In the stable German market, the value of the hotel has reached a new record, above all in the upscale segment. In other news: This was the finding of an analysis by two investment companies. In their third survey on digitalisation, the hotel associations in Germany and Austria discovered that the hotel industry has finally woken up to the urgency of this issue. Scandic is now looking for employees by means of video application; and a third hotel is being built at the Gardaland Resort. And as always, various personnel information and our mixed market news completes our issue.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Three weeks ago, we reported that the Serviced Apartment segment has truly taken off and "is flying". There are a number of new providers on the market, but two articles today show that, despite the boom, rapid growth is not so easy – even if the targets are clearly defined. The Dublin-based Staycity Group, with several shareholders in the background, is stepping on the accelerator internationally and is not afraid to accept short stays as an aparthotel. Brera Apartments based in Munich though is doing things the other way around: They are focussing exclusively on genuine longstay, a touch of Viva Italia and on organic growth – currently only in Germany. Both groups have been on the market for quite some time and together make clear that concepts under the term "Serviced Apartments" vary widely. Every Serviced Apartment newcomer will have to find its niche somewhere in this broad spectrum.
In Austria, a whole new government has to come together again. After "Ibizagate", politics is operating in a vacuum and tourism and the hotel industry are suffering as a result: A number of measures that are enormously important for the industry are now on ice. The sector needs all the leeway it can get...
And just as unpredictable as the politicians are German judges it seems: To my mind it really is quite a scandal that judges first prohibit HRS from imposing best-price clauses only then, four years and four months later, to expressly permit Booking.com to do exactly that. Not only the German International Hotel Association is left aghast.
A great, very promising message comes from Dresden: There, at its Dresden campus, the SRH Hochschule Berlin founded the "Institute of Global Hospitality Research" on 1 June. From now on, world-renowned universities will conduct joint research on this site: Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Modul University Vienna, University of the South Pacific, Kansas State University, Haaga Helia University Helsinki and, of course, SRH. The head of the institute is Prof. Dr. Hartwig Bohne, SRH.
In other interesting news, we bring you details on over 40 new reports now available on Brexit, and on a furniture manufacturer working on "robot furniture" for micro apartments.
Our news mix and personalia complete today's issue. We also bring you some sad news: Mark Pearce, the Senior VP International Division of Choice Hotels, passed away a week ago today on the morning just after his 60th birthday, completely unexpected. After 25 years with Choice, this professional and personable manager leaves a huge void not only amongst his colleagues.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
In Austria, tourism associations are now entering the battle for skilled workers. The solidarity with the hotels reflects the dire situation in a country depending on tourism. The associations lure applicants with bonus cards, for example, that provide employees with numerous discounts in their spare time. Strangers are meant to become friends – locals. The idea is good, and in cooperative Austria, there are already various models for this. Fred Fettner describes the pros and cons of individual approaches, e.g. of Job-Life Achensee and Team4u in Zell am See.
Incidentally, rising employee costs are one of the reasons why Austrian holiday hotels are losing profitability despite a record winter in 2018/19. But analysing the winter statistics reveals more than that.
My colleague Fred is a big fan of the Philippines by the way. He meticulously followed the media after the island of Boracay hit the headlines across the world after it was called a "cesspool". The President himself had both experienced and described this and closed the island for six months prescribing a rigid environmental cure, combined with tough conditions for the inhabitants and hoteliers. The flow of tourists is now limited. Fred was recently on site, immersed himself deeply in the background and witnessed unbelievable things. He considers the entire thing a violent act of ecological rescue. By 2020, the island should already be flawless again ... But according to Fred's words and pictures, this can hardly be achieved.
Islands like Boracay, which have fallen victim to overtourism, could serve the Fridays for Future environmental activists to perform a reality check of their ideas ... Nonetheless, the youth is being heard at the moment, surprisingly also at Booking.com. The OTA supports start-ups with ideas for improving the environment. Sarah Douag picked out the best ideas.
Italy sometimes also fights against its garbage, but hoteliers fight even more against taxes and many other state burdens. Accordingly, the members of the Federalberghi industry association used their chance to do hold a mirror up to the tourism minister. Gian Marco Centinaio seemed more like a helpless puppet says Massimiliano Sarti.
How do German and American consumers perceive the five tech giants of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft? Very differently as a statistics institute found out in its surveys. In Germany, Facebook is the loser.
You will find more colourful news in this issue – and our video covering HITT 2019, including testimonials of participants. We are happy about the positive feedback and the numerous suggestions that filled our inbox last week trying to make sure the next Think Tank will help the industry find its way through the digital jungle. You'll find all that on our page 1! Save the date: HITT 2020 will take place on June 21/22.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The second HITT was again a success – even livelier and more interactive than a year ago, pragmatic, clear and surprising in terms of many of the statements made by our top-class speakers. The ship tour along the Havel in Berlin gives the impression of calm at this think tank, freeing the mind from its usual concerns and distractions and encouraging inspiration. From the moment the ship put out to the river to the time it moored again, HITT guests were fully focused, asked critical questions and discussed openly with everyone. We had the feeling that the spectre of digitisation has disappeared – at least for those who have now participated for the second time on the river and/or in our post event workshops.
We would like to thank everyone for this exceptional day amidst the hectic of everyday life! On our page 1, you will find an initial summary and statements from the keynote speeches. More pictures/videos will follow next week. And of course there will be a third HITT: on 21/22 June 2020, again in Berlin, again on the ship. Save the date!
While we were floating down the Havel, Fred Fettner took a look at the new and very successful bike parks in the Austrian mountains. Lift operators and hotels are now earning money in summer both from the sporty mountain bikers as well as from those who prefer more leisurely bike rides. Another target group is born.
In Dubai too, an increasing number of hotel groups are developing a finer sense for their target groups. Competition turns up the pressure. Some rely on F&B with star chefs, others on halal or technology to seduce guests. Malin Flamm sought out the trends at the ATM.
According to our knowledge of yesterday, the B&B sale to Goldman Sachs has been signed off. Accor is also constantly signing new partnerships, this time for Jo&Joe, for new luxury hotels – and with a new COO for the "Luxe" division.
We also bring you interesting news from the IMEX in Frankfurt last week, on the world's rising tourism figures in the 1st quarter and on the results of a study on travelling with digital assistants. And in Germany this week, fears of a VAT increase have again begun to circulate…
Enjoy reading and for today, ahoi!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Intelligent buildings will have a brain in future, just like people. It will absorb all the information from their walls and from the people who move within these walls – from "bricks & brains" as you could say. In future, matter and people will be inter-connected, which enables many control options. Beatrix Boutonnet was able to get to know what is possible and will soon be possible at the symposium "Smart Building Solutions" in Aachen a short while ago.
The 150 investors and developers – normally rather off in some future spheres – were amazingly down-to-earth. After all, there is incredible news out there, such as Wi-Fi being replaced by Li-Fi in future. The hotel industry naturally played a part in these scenarios. Please join us and continue thinking outside the box!
And then, please read the interview with Zoku's Co-Founder Marc Jongerius. Both articles are connected content-wise, and Marc provides the digital topic with a pragmatic approach: Zoku has experimented with a great number of things, following the principle of "growth hacking", in order to become even more innovative. But the group never loses sight of one thing: the people, guest as well as staff members. The Dutch hotel hybrid Zoku, which has only been in the market for three years, is one of the digital pioneers in the hospitality industry, just like citizenM and Yotel.
These contributions are the perfect lead to our HITT Think Tank in Berlin next Monday. We will ride the trend wave when we cast off with our solar-powered seminar ship from Spandau in the morning. The title "Digitalisation – the new value creator. Learn from others" fits perfectly. I wonder how we knew that so exactly?
Change has many faces. In Italy, many things are slower and in the world of hotel properties anyhow. Massimiliano Sarti sees the faint desire for new concepts, which also include co-living/co-working – what a surprise. As they contribute to the monetarisation of areas.
Sleeping in a homely ambience, working and relaxing also occupies the Serviced Apartment segment at the moment. Like in the hotel industry, an increasing number of new brands are appearing: This segment also calls for diversification, analogue to the travellers' desires. Today, Anett Gregorius from Apartmentservice presents the new core trends of her new serviced apartment market report 2019, which will be available from May 24th.
The MICE destination Germany is still doing well but a change is underway – just like in the business travel segment. After an up-to-date decision by the German Federal Court of Justice, apartment owners have to tolerate the fact that their neighbours rent out to tourists. You will find this and many more pieces of news in our well-established News Mix on the market, but supplemented today by the News Mix from the Middle East and from the "Digi" world.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Only 9 days to go until the start of the HITT… We are in the final throes of preparing our second Think Tank about digitalisation. Once again, we will learn from other industries and internationally experienced movers & shakers. Listen! Question! Interact! This is possible in this circle of 50 executives. If you have never heard of our unique format of "floating forums", then you should klick on www.hitt.world and hop on board. There are still some seats available.
For three years, Dr. Jeroen Oskam, Director Research at the Hotelschool The Hague, has researched the Airbnb phenomenon and now published a book on this topic. In an interview, he explained to me how the start-up was able to get so powerful. Today, however, he sees Airbnb caught in its own dilemma. Airbnb does the balancing act between a hospitality company and an OTA and will have to keep up its stories, non-transparency and unfairness in order to survive. These are the pillars of its business model – wow, what a sustainable concept…
Choice Hotels, present in Europe for decades, is the exact opposite: It always wants to meet the requirements of every individual market, it relies on trusted partners, plans meticulously which US brand can be introduced at what time to which part of the world. At the Amsterdam Convention, Sarah Douag talked to CEO Pat Pacious and reports about the news of the global franchisor. Pacious just let the Comfort brand shine and worked out a concept of how his franchisees are able to follow suit quickly and cost-efficiently. At the same time, Choice considers participating in the extended stay segment and introducing its economy brand Econolodge here.
Dubai has become very, very quiet. Yes, you read that correctly: One year prior to the Expo 2020, which should attract 25 million visitors, the Arabian Travel Market provided zero information about this mega super hyper event, the entire world is allegedly looking forward to. The scheduled press conference at the trade show was cancelled on short notice. Dubai Tourism did not comment on that either and even the interviewed hotel chains downplay the Expo as one of many events.
Malin Flamm went to Dubai and returned surprised, fortunately she was able to get hold of some market figures. But when looking at these figures, the question arises why nobody is advertising the Expo. Let's guess: Has Dubai perhaps run out of passion, energy or money???
From the news: For the first time, Soravia has launched its own hotel fund, and Premier Inn is forced to unfortunately invest millions of euros in the German hotel market. And along comes the next investment opportunity: A market report predicts a good future for "workspaces as a service". The hotel school Les Roches in Switzerland is teaming up with Minor Hotels to recruit a generation of young talents. And we have many news titbits from the market and ATM today.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Finally, the world's largest hotel chain Marriott has made the move into the homesharing rental business. But just 24 hours later, it's overtaken again – by a tech company. On Tuesday, Marriott announced 2,000 units for its new segment. OYO saved its news for Wednesday and comes on line with 300,000 homes and apartments – through the acuisition of Leisure Group. The Indian start-up made the American bed giant look very small this week.
That the announcements were made so close together reveals something very different, more massive: The tech companies are overrunning the classic hotel industry. The huge market shift has begun! In future, hotels will no longer make money by the sale of beds alone. Hallo there, dear hoteliers – wake up! Start-ups are converting overnight into tech giants and are storming across ground. Sarah Douag analysed the current announcements by Marriott and Oyo on the issue of homesharing rentals and put these into perspective.
Taking a look out of the kitchen window every now again and gazing into the distance pays off. Then, you're not quite so shocked when a once conservative Austrian group transforms into an internationally active owner-operator under the auspices of a Thai investor. Only this way Vienna House can quickly acquire 19 arcona hotels in Germany – and continue to keep an eye out for further groups. Those who missed our Breaking News on Tuesday will still find the full story in today’s edition.
And what do the Italians dream of? Also of the big wide world. Valeriano Antonioli, the CEO of the famous Lungarno Collection, wants to revive the aura of the once famous Italian Ciga Hotels through his super luxury brand Portrait and in so doing, expand and go beyond all luxury benchmarks.
And who's dreaming of conquering the world? The Chinese of course. The retail, internet and tech giants of the country are trying their luck virtually, with a virtual reality trail wherever the Chinese traveller cares to go. Alibaba, Trip.com/Ctrip and Fosun recently explained in a discussion how they want to shore up their value chain.
And finally, we turn our attention today to Airbnb: One of the most opaque companies in the world wants to go public, though still has time to think about further swipes at the hotel industry – for instance through its own streaming offers which include travel films.
With so many world-changing announcements, it's easy to get out of breath. For this reason, it's important to think critically about it all .... We help here – also with our second HITT. There are only 16 days to go before the HospitalityInside Think Tank in Berlin. Get on board, don't let yourself be taken off-guard by the wave of digitalisation. With our high-calibre impulse generators from the digital sector, from retail and marketing/branding, there will be lots of pragmatic tips for you to take home. All details on www.hitt.world. Or give us a call.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Today is the first time that we've turned a complete issue into a special one. With this we want to create more awareness for special developments within the industry. Human resources deserves it. We're no longer talking about a shortage of skilled workers, but about a shortage of employees in general. The situation at the grassroots level is already dire.
But this has by no means reached the minds of politicians and association functionaries, and certainly not the minds of investors and owners. The latter ones simply shift everything to their operator. To be honest, we could fill five extra editions with HR right away, as there are so many hot spots at the moment. So let's just start today ...
The reports reflect studies that provide facts: about the snail's pace of employers, the growing desire of employees to switch their job and questionable employer rankings. They also report on new market ideas.
Operators, which offer new employees an apartment on top, clearly have an advantage. But that alone is no longer enough. They have to add a "value-added package". Payment above the standard salary is only the beginning. Competitive pressure is driving up the benefits for employees. And all this needs to be priced in ...
Investors must also know this, because they should not only sign contracts, but also ask themselves how paradoxical the entire situation has become: on the one hand, Germany's hotel industry is flourishing and blossoming, but on the other hand, restaurants and terraces are closing because of a lack of employees. This bottleneck prevents turnover and profits and does not increase the value of property. A bizarre boom.
Hoteliers/operators still have quite different needs, e.g. to face the digital challenges in human resources: There are so many mysterious AI tools around that recruiting is in danger of becoming an outright software party.
Digital + party. This leads me straight to our HITT Think Tank in Berlin on May 19/20. Although our event ship does not create any party mood, it will surely spread high spirits and a positive environment for creative thinking with contributions by critical non-hoteliers. We will tackle scenarios from the future from retail and other industries as well as transformation of HR into the digital age.
By the way, our sponsors are highly enthusiastic about HITT, and our driving forces are also happy to be on board. That is why we let them speak on our page 1 today. We will gladly take you on board as well! You will find all information and the registration field in this article and, of course, on the Think Tank website: www.hitt.world.
Happy Easter! hospitalityInside.com will return on Friday, May 3. The office is open again from April 29.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
So it's Brexit again in October. For the 3rd time. The hotel and tourism industry are worried most about Sterling depreciating further. Profit margins are already squeezed. In the first two months of this year, uncertainty, rising costs and falling earnings have already developed into a dangerous trio. Macy Marvel looks at the details, together with an assessment by Kate Nicholls, CEO of the hotel association UKHospitality.
We live in times in which anything is possible. Times in which a 24-year-old can turn his company into the world's eighth largest hotel group in just five years. Our author Sarah Douag interviewed Ritesh Agarwal, CEO of OYO, the founder of the Indian start-up seeking the change the hotel world just as much as Airbnb. In this six-page interview, Ritesh's responses exude self-confidence and superlatives, but his business model is clear and sober.
And what do the established chains like Choice and Taj have to say? That’s no competition! Sarah warns in her commentary of a second disruptor à la Airbnb. They are already on board with OYO after the billion dollar capital injection four weeks ago. For this reason alone, OYO is to be taken seriously.
And from India to China, to a cosy place by the name of West Lake. Today, many tourists are to be found at the huge lake. It was the place that Marco Polo stayed when he came to China. There, the explorer contemplated the world. Today, tourists stream into the mega shopping mall and into the robot hotel FlyZoo. Its creator, Alibaba, is at home here – on West Lake. On our page 1 this week, our China columnist and expert Prof Wolfgang Arlt describes the fascinating connections between self recognition and face recognition. Entertaining reading after the other challenging topics today!
Our news this week are also very mixed: The first quarter in the real estate and transaction market continues just as last year left off. Italians begin to use the smartphone increasingly for tourist purposes. Austria reinvents the wheel: With its next campaign, it wants to entice leisure cyclists and mountain bikers, mainly from Germany. Germany's largest hotel developer GBI now collaborates with a new EUR 500 million hotel fund. Orascom reports top results for 2018. And Design Hotels will be delisted at the end of the year; Board Chairman Peter Cole explains the background and the status quo of the consortium under Marriott.
If you would like to keep ahead in terms of digitalisation, you should register for our 2nd HITT, the HospitalityInside Think Tank, on 19/20 May in Berlin. The event on the ship is unique, the speakers of high calibre and the number of participants small – and there are still places free. All details on www.hitt.world and on our hospitalityInside homepage.
With our first-hand information and exclusive events, you remain fully up to date on what's happening in the market.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world