Editorial
Dear Insiders,
The chaos surrounding Brexit is also causing difficulties for hospitality companies. With uncertainty everywhere, even large chains such as Hilton and IHG can't make specific statements. Our lightening survey of brokers, consultants, investment experts and hoteliers reflects the confusion just about everybody is suffering. There's no clear opinion about whether hotel investments are now being put on hold or not. And one commentator even placed part of the responsibility on the sector's own shoulders: It never took an interest in politics. Certain is: We'll continue to bring you Brexit news.
Deutsche Hospitality stuck with its plans for a budget brand and has now acquired a majority interest in the Danish Zleep Hotels. In our interview today, CEO Thomas Willms sees both in and south of Scandinavia lots of room for expansion and synergies.
Switzerland is again very much in demand as hotel destination, as our review today reveals – but the competition and the enormous pressure from pension funds mean money is flowing more freely, though unfortunately into few sustainable projects. 800 pension funds stand behind the a-ja Resort in the Vulcano complex, a CHF 300 million project in the very heart of Zurich. A-ja is also a budget concept. It promised wellness in the city right from the very beginning. I asked myself how wellness, city, budget and concrete fit together. The investor, the Credit Suisse Investment Foundation, sees things more optimistically than me.
But the tourists are coming, unstoppably it seems and from across the entire globe. The UNWTO counted 1.4 billion tourist arrivals in 2018 – a figure which is two years ahead of forecasts. No wonder that Airbnb is not letting up and is now wooing the first French cities with "voluntary" tax payments. Italy had no super year in 2018; here too we now have figures for comparison. The Serviced Apartment market is getting ever larger and – like the classic hotel industry – will in future struggle with lots of brands. In order to set the segment apart from the very different residential property economy, there is now – initially for Germany – a new "Charter Temporary Living".
And another word on our second HITT, our Think Tank on 19/20 May in Berlin, again to take place on the ship. Save the date! Our preparatory negotiations with the "impulse providers" should be complete by next week so that we will then be able to introduce them to you...
We wish you a good week!
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 Brexit drama is edging toward total chaos. It's depressing to watch as a great country with a great history tears itself apart. The hotel data were down in 2018 already, as Sarah Douag reports today. Everybody, even Kate Nicholls, the Chief Executive of UKHospitality, can only appeal to politicians. On Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May will present her Plan B. It will be "Mayday", also for the hotel industry. We'll keep you informed.
By contrast, the Austrian Hoteliers' Association sees itself on track for success. The OEHV has been successful in many things, members praised this week at their annual congress in Villach. But former OEHV President Sepp Schellhorn, today Member of the National Council, knocks his colleagues down from cloud 9: The OEHV has achieved little, he says.
The second part of our FF&E series by Horwath HTL and Trinavis today looks at the fair distribution of responsibilities between owner and operator under certain FF&E models. No easy subject, but one that you must be familiar with if you want to build/operate a hotel in Germany.
The German investment market posted no new transaction records in 2018 – as expected – neither in terms of the number of deals, nor in euro terms. The Austrian market was at least able to hold capital volumes steady on the previous year. The stars above the rosy world of hotel real estate are beginning to fall.
After giving the starting shot for our new column "Digi News" last week – with further releases today – we now launch "Digi Talk": Interviews on new products and ideas from the world of digitalisation. Today: the start-up Architrave whose new AI robot Delphi can analyse and store 25,000 real estate documents in three minutes.
An app meanwhile analyses the app world and comes to interesting conclusions: The number of apps used in the field of "Travel and Navigation” increased by 50% between 2016 and 2018. The search for "Food and Drinks” increased in this period by 130%.
Our personalia today focus on renowned personalities in the sector, our extensive news mix completes the picture.
For China and e-commerce fans, the last call for Prague: On 29/30 January, insiders will meet there to exchange ideas. More on our Page 1.
Till next Friday!
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,
We wish you all a happy New Year! We hope that the world remains peaceful, because only then will businesses be able to operate in a reasonably reliable framework in order to manage their already large challenges.
One of these is and remains digitalisation. But we have to manage – all of us! The looming changes are massive and have a deep impact on the structures and processes of businesses. With today's edition, we changed our category "Distribution & IT" to "Digitalisation" in the magazine, and from now on, we will collect weekly "Digi News" for you, similar to the market news under "News Mix". In addition, we will be starting our "Digi Talk" shortly: interviews and reports about new digital ideas, products and start-ups.
At the same time, we are working on the programme of the 2nd HITT Think Tank! Save the date: May 19/20, 2019, on the ship again, in Berlin again! The 2019 title is "Digitalisation: The new value creator. Learn from others". After our speakers explained "Emerging Technologies" last year, the participants will learn specific things from other industries this time. Details will follow.
The participants of the HITT premier are invited to participate in another post-event workshop in February; here, we will look at the research status of an "intelligent property". Today, Susanne Stauss already plunged deep into the topic and describes which synergies and handicaps investors and operators encounter.
The consultancy MRP from Vienna looks back on 2018 and, on our behalf, analysed the number of overnight says in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in its guest contribution. The markets cannot be compared directly but show similar trends: one of them is the fact that the gap between strong tourism cities and weak countryside destinations is increasing.
Ready to move in only with a suitcase or turnkey letting? These are not the only questions in the complex topic of FF&E. The teams of Horwath HTL Germany and the audit firm Trinavis describe the dealing with FF&E, from an owner's and operator's perspective, in four parts starting today.
Today, Austria's tourism companies are much happier than 10 years ago – and not only because the current masses of snow will last until the Easter holidays. Preferred Hotels are also happy about their development: The consortium will soon be nearly twice as large as The Leading Hotels of the World. A judge in New York delivered a verdict in favour of Airbnb again. The Asians are increasingly determining the global flows of tourists. Because tourism booms enormously, Venice has decided to collect admission fees from day visitors. But this is only one of several problems that bothered Italy in 2018 in regard to tourism. And here are two short memos. EXPO REAL 2019: The first early booking period ends on 15 January 2019. Those who are determined to exhibit should book now. You can find the PDF with the conditions under this link.
Moreover, the premiere of the first "Marketing to China" conference in Prague will start in just three weeks: the marketing and e-commerce hot spot with Chinese partners. Our subscribers and HITT participants still receive a last minute discount.
From now on, we are back for you every Friday! We look forward to a continuously inspiring exchange with you in the New Year!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
End-of-year business is reaching its peak. 2018 will soon be over. It was a crazy year, a mega year... These were the sentiments expressed in the Christmas cards reaching us. The pace was unbroken, the records continued. 2019 should maintain the high. Who knows. A thick political and economic fog cloaks the sector.
But fog usually clears, and this is exactly what the 20 hoteliers in the western German state of Rhineland Palatinate are hoping in their lawsuit filed against their own industry association. In August, Dehoga Rhineland Palatinate president Gereon Haumann managed to secure himself two further terms of the presidency, whilst he still has three years, until 2021, left of his current term. In return, one of the smallest Dehoga associations in Germany granted him the handsome sum of two million euros paid over eight years.
The election was "democratic", though the path towards it less so. According to the statement of claim, Haumann violated the association’s statutes. 'I'll make the world the way I like it' was and obviously is the motto of this charismatic leader, who put pressure on those standing in his way, using pre-formulated declarations and threats of fines. Those affected report. The national Dehoga association is saying nothing – merely referring to the legal independence of each state association.
20 disappointed hoteliers have now taken their complaints to court. The whole affair at the end of the year has a moral and ethical touch: More and more disappointed people are standing up for themselves. They want the truth to out over the machinations and promises of those at the top. In Paris, the 'yellow vests' set entire streets alight in frustration and disappointment. This is something to think about under the Christmas tree.
For the moment, we remain in the today: After our Breaking News from last Friday, we have researched further facts and figures on the LVMH-Belmond deal. It looks like the perfect deal, though one important element is still unclear: What does the global luxury goods giant handling over 70 brands want with these heavy trophy assets? Belmond CEO Roeland Vos declined to answer any questions at present; the acquisition has not yet been completed
The leap across the Atlantic has now been ventured by the American Magnuson Hotels. As cheap alternative to franchise, the group first plans to establish itself in Great Britain, then in continental Europe – in close partnership with Louvre and Jin Jiang. For the US hotel industry, experts forecast the tenth successful year in row. In Germany, on the other hand, voices predicting a potential downturn are becoming louder. CommerzReal remains in good spirits and together with Deutsche Hospitality has launched its own hotel fund. In Brussels, HOTREC has established an online platform for hospitality start-ups, a type of incubator as it were. The cross-border approach is good, this is what the industry needs!
We take the following message with us from the year 2018: We need more people with courage, who stand up for their values, who question things and put aside their own selfish wishes. We need leaders with a clear head and a new – sustainable – modesty as regards many deals. All that can only be provided by people, even if AI and robotics assist. For this reason, people must learn more about digitisation. That too will busy us in 2019.
HospitalityInside thanks you, dear readers and business partners, for your loyalty, your support and the many inspiring conversations. All of this contributed this year to the successful premier of our first HITT Think Tank and once again to a successful Expo Real. We would also like to thank our staff, both here in the office as well as external authors, editorial experts and the translators. Without you, there wouldn't be a hospitalityInside on Friday.
We'll be back with more news on Friday, 11 January 2019.
The office will open again on 7 January 2019.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The "Yellow Vests" in Paris have reduced the three years of hard work put in by French tourist businesses and hoteliers after the terror attacks to nothing. Overnight stays during the advent riots once again collapsed, this time across all segments and categories. And then the attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg this week. Frustration is running high and insiders now fear long-term damage for the destination.
The hotel industry has to react and control everywhere. In future, it should also discipline wholesalers and bed banks with greater intensity – as it should colleagues in the industry: Chain hotels are undercutting their own website prices through such channels – and are doing so more often than presumed. What is the chain motto again? "The best price only directly with us...” ? A study has now shone a spotlight on this questionable game played out in the shadows of the distribution channels.
And it's in the spotlight too that innovators and innovative companies like to see themselves; they announce incubators and entice young creative employees... All "pure theatre", Alexander Osterwalder says, one of the most respected innovation consultants around the globe. Companies are wasting young people's energy because they suggest room for new ideas but don't actually provide any. "Employees focused on innovation shouldn't be the young and inexperienced staff," he says and adds provocatively: CEOs who don't commit 20-30 percent of their own time to innovation, don't take innovation seriously... Have you quickly worked out what that would be for you?
And it's getting serious for Airbnb in Munich after the Administrative Court yesterday held that the sharing platform, headquartered in Ireland, must pass on host data to the state capital, Munich. If it doesn't, it faces a fine of EUR 300,000. The Austrian Hotel Association ÖHV and Roland Berger identify Airbnb & Co as a driver for city tourism, which in turn drives Overtourism. In a study, they put forward proposals for an appropriate response for the destinations.
We also include today TUI's results for its successful year, a note on strongly desired law against rate parity in Spain and details on the new joint white label operating company of SeetelHotels' shareholder Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff and the previous CEO of Azimut Hotels, Walter Neumann.
Christmas is rapidly approaching. We are back for you again before then next Friday.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The Chinese traveller is shopping less – at least this is true for younger travellers. They want to experience pure shopping joy – physically, and no longer virtually. Bargains – no thanks; emotions and experiences – yes please. This is how our China columnist and expert Prof Wolfgang Arlt from COTRI summarises two current Chinese studies on the drastic changes in spending behaviour among different age groups.
And in keeping here: The EU estimates the billions Europe would earn from the Chinese if visa restrictions were to be relaxed. GDP would rise by 1%. That would be a real Chinese boost.
At the same time, we find China again today in the analysis of the recently discovered data theft at Marriott/Starwood. In the US, there is speculation that the attack bears a Chinese signature. Spies have been snooping in the Starwood system since 2014 right up until today. I just remembered that: In 2016, the Chinese insurance group Anbang wanted to acquire Starwood and challenged Marriott only then to withdraw suddenly and unexpectedly before 1 April. Just a few days later, Marriott was finally able to clinch the Starwood deal...
The Swiss hotel operator SV Hotel has invested two years in developing Stay Kooook, its first own brand for extended stay. Initial details were provided here live last Friday from Switzerland. Today, more details follow on the concept, which offers an innovative approach with its rolling bed. It turns 22 sqm into a true room wonder. Managing Director Beat Kuhn wants to stay connected with the Marriott franchise brands Moxy and Residence Inn all the same though. This all has its reasons.
And about Switzerland: Current statistics reveal an excellent summer, though the industry association hotelleriesuisse does not share in the euphoria. The hotel industry is coming out of a deep depression and the earnings situation is still difficult. Radisson announced yesterday evening its first hotel under the RED brand in Vienna, on the fringe on the event in Frankfurt, Susanne Stauss was able to entice a few more comments from CEO Federico J. González on Radisson under Jin Jiang.
Airbnb continues to evolve and now plans its own "shared accommodations". With this, the home rental platform is to set foot into the real estate sector as investor. This is another new dimension - following its first hotel in Florida. Novelty on a smaller scale will be offered by Considerate Hotels from January: an energy app which also helps SMEs of different branches. Through the course of this development, the specialised consultancy for sustainability has also renamed itself Considerate Group. Interesting personalia and mini-news round off our news package today.
Note on our own behalf: This week, from Monday evening to Tuesday afternoon, our mail server failed. If you sent us important mails during this period, we kindly ask you to resend them. Thank you very much!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Marriott first! This time, it is not a political statement but an exaggerated description of the bed giant's priority with Hostmaker. The start-up from London handles the bookings and takes care of the guests of Marriott's Tribute Portfolio Homes; these are holiday homes the bed giant is offering as it enters the rental home business segment. An interesting fact is that Hostmaker also cooperates with Airbnb, booking.com, TripAdvisor and others. The responsible managers, Belinda Pote at Marriott, and Veronica Rives at Hostmaker, describe their experiences.
Again, guest relation has become more important than before, and tourism experts are following this trend. In Austria, the city of Linz wants to look after its travellers more intensively in future – and even receive short-term guests "like locals". The local population is being asked to participate. At the new "TravelCulture" congress, many participants thought outside the box, which was very refreshing.
Where no one thinks, overtourism develops. Concerns are therefore increasing in German destinations such as Hamburg or Freiburg, where the masses of tourists are growing every year. The number of beds is increasing to some extend so that day tourists become the main problem. Researchers and politicians are speaking out for action before it is too late. Two discussions, initiated by the Travel Industry Club in Berlin, show that each city is taking different measures. And Hamburg, apparently, wants to allow only selected hotel types in future.
Instagram freaks have been identified as massive drivers for overtourism, by the way. Idyllic pictures of hideaways, "shared" millions of times around the globe as posts, open up the last hideaways for mass tourism. Thus, it is only logical that the Instagram-hooked Millennials hate package tours. In a study, HolidayCheck revealed some interesting details about their contradictory behaviour.
AccorHotels continues its investment policy and wants to purchase all shares of Orbis Poland now to expand its position in Europe further. In this game, the properties are becoming the driving mass. Swiss SV Hotel presented its first own Extended Stay brand Kooook last night in Zurich - with an innovation: a bed on rails.
TrustYou enables live chats with its bookers, the French consortium Logis allies with colleagues again, and Italy's government prolongs its vouchers for seasonal workers. In brief: Everybody wants one thing only: to grow strongly and get as close as possible to the customers! The only hitch: activities concerning staff members always seem to be rather desperate and tense.
Last but not least… hospitalityInside.com supports the m2C marketing to China Conference at the end of January in Prague, because we like the event's approach: West and East are meeting to establish direct contacts and to discuss e-commerce and marketing with and for Chinese people. Our readers and HITT participants have special conditions here. You will find an update on page 1.
Wishing you a good start into the pre-Christmas season.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Would you sleep on 3-6 square metres? It works: in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, soon in Lucerne and 25 times across Germany in the near future too. Malin Flamm and Sarah Douag today present the capsule hotels. Is that still hospitality? It’s certainly on the borderline – but on one which you can presumably make lots of money with. One night in such a windowless plastic cell you can only crawl into would set you back EUR 150 per night in Amsterdam.
On closer inspection, we discover interesting details and differences between the models at area24/7, Capsule Hotel and CityHub: One capsule module is even geared towards the long-stay guest. I'm sure that soon we'll see maxi-investment in such mini-accommodations in densely populated metropolises across the globe. For real estate professionals, they are a profitable plaything – also because all you need to operate them are a few students. Trained hoteliers are surplus to requirements.
Million-heavy investments are meanwhile demanded by larger resorts. The competitive pressure in the booming leisure segment is great, and guest expectations are high. Macy Marvel was inspired at a resort conference and picked three examples on the Mediterranean with which operators want to attract the demanding classic hotel client: the new Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, the luxury resort Borgo Egnazia in Southern Italy and the 7Pines Resort Ibiza.
In a world of uninterrupted hotel growth, the mountain of washing is also not getting any smaller. Sometimes the towel is left on the floor, on the side of the bathtub or even on the bed. Does this towel now need replacing or not? Our environmental expert Klaus Lengefeld explains why housekeeping can never do right by the guests – and recommends a solution to this daily towel drama.
The internet of things, AI, 3D printing and Blockchain will continue to drive change in commerce, a new report states and sets out the core changes.
The German group arcona Hotels will develop a new brand further: "Barefoot Hotel". The hotel hobby of the internationally-renowned actor Till Schweiger is to multiply his fame in many countries. He himself is a consummate self-marketing and merchandising professional. The pilot hotel on the Timmendorfer Strand knows just one theme: Til.
The leisure segment is booming and so five more online and offline intermediaries for holiday homes and apartments have joined the German Holiday Home Association, including the world’s largest platform. TUI has also announced what brands it would like to be present with everywhere in 2019.
We remain active behind the scenes for you for the whole of this week and will be once again present online next Friday.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Can you imagine your guests arriving in their own mini-van and simply docking into the hotel? At best they might dine in the hotel and enjoy a massage before continuing on? Well okay, a few might stay because your rooms are larger and more comfortable than this six-metre long travelling hotel room/office with wash basin on four wheels. Canadian designers have developed an interesting concept which a disruptive approach which has the potential to seriously mix up established structures.
Automated hotels, that is, hotels without reception staff, were also once unthinkable, though now they’re part of the everyday landscape, even if not a mass phenomenon quite yet. But do unmanned hotels stand on a sure legal footing? We often got this question, so today we have answers from a law firm and the hotel associations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We also asked abito suites in Leipzig and Towerhotel in Waldkirch, Switzerland, about their experience operating under this model.
And from the Deloitte conference in London last week, I have brought you STR facts and figures on brands: There's still a lot of room for more brands... So there's no use in hoping that the flood of brands will come to an end soon. If Europe, Asia and America are full, Africa still has room.
In a conversation with Deloitte’s Head of Hospitality, Andreas Scriven, both CEOs from IHG and Radisson, Keith Barr and Federico J. González, showed themselves to be very concerned when it came to the insane and complex pace of change in the world. Both of them believe that future strategies will only be possible as a result of massive investment in technology.
Never before were so many hotels under construction in Europe as is the case today, never before have so many investors been on the lookout for hotel investments, as brokers/consultants and data researchers report. The hype has also arrived at national level, for instance in Greece, which experienced a super summer. Those looking to keep up internationally need a sexy name: For this reason, SEH United has renamed itself The Originals, Human Hotels & Resorts. This has again stoked huge expectations – above all measured against the increasing tech network that has grabbed hold of the sector.
Whatever the case, people's desire to travel hasn't diminished, not with age and certainly not among the Germans. They want more barrier-free rooms, as Scandic Hotels found out in a representative study.
Between high tech and high touch, we wish you a balanced week.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The omnishambles regarding Brexit is turning expressions of concern to looks of despair in Great Britain: By Christmas, the rifts are to be bridged, though in the background things are obviously chaotic. A no-deal Brexit would mean a significant hit to tourism. Very little is clear, both for air travel as well as for labour, insiders report. Both politicians and businesses are paralysed with uncertainty.
A curiosity: British travellers are preferentially booking package deals for 2019, because they believe that the organiser will iron out any problem for them. Fred Fettner and I were in London this week, at the WTM and at other events, with official and discreet background information.
There was no chaos, but there was still uncertainty among investors when thinking about sustainable construction. This issue is generally complex and will become even more complex if new "green" concepts are linked with digitisation. Together, they make the "smart hotel”, and that makes a lot of sense. All three articles from Sarah Douag this week mention the QO Hotel in Amsterdam, currently Europe’s most sustainable hotel, built from recycled concrete and with urban farming on the roof... The property manager is Invesco Real Estate, which in turn asked environment experts to a roundtable discussion for critical exchange in the QO hotel.
Sarah also asked AccorInvest, Hilton, Louvre, Zoku, Siemens and others what they understand by smart hotel. This particular focus today is not theory, but contains many tips for future concepts.
Investing in energy efficiency and sustainability pays off, the German Energy Agency states, having now issued recommendations for the industry. Amsterdam is also Europe's most attractive investment location, according to the current "European Hotel Investment Survey" by Deloitte. And despite Brexit farce, London remains a desired location.
In the Spanish hotel market, RevPAR is growing, but on the Canary Islands occupancy has slumped. Other Mediterranean countries are catching up. Choice Hotels can now be booked directly through Google. The Hotel Academy Lausanne is set to make its own Hospitality Hub. And about staff: In Italy, certification standards for European hotel managers are now being put together. Marriott's Europe boss Amy McPherson is leaving the company to pursue private plans – in London, there was already speculation as to her successor.
We wish you pleasant reading.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world