Editorial

Dear Insiders,
Next Wednesday, Expo Real starts in Munich and both the trade fair and we are expecting a "full house". The hotel real estate industry is buzzing; this is also obvious at the joint stand "World of Hospitality", which is fully booked again this year with 31 co-exhibitors. This week, citizenM joined the names of those already well-known. The large logos above the stand will show the way to the renowned hotel operators, investment companies, project developers, prime contractors and consultants from afar. Get to know all co-exhibitors in a short portrait! We are very happy about this feedback and the huge know-how all assembled on 230 sqm of space.
On Thursday, we expect visitors from politics again: Thuringia's Minister-President Bodo Ramelow has an appointment to chat with several exhibitors of the "World of Hospitality".
Right on time for the trade fair, our SPECIAL has been published again and boasts 108 pages this time, in English and German as usual, and it is already available on our website as an eMagazine. The title "Beds, Boom & Bubbles" hints at what many talks will be about. You will find more on page 1. You can also get your printed edition at our stand, starting on Wednesday! Or watch out for it at your fair-hotel; it will be distributed to 66 hotels in Munich.
With Expo Real, we will start our social media activities – at LinkedIn. Nonetheless, we will not flood you with information in future, but provide you with selected topics at this business platform and inform you about all our activities. As an opinion maker, we are always interested in your opinion. Please share your thoughts with us, also via this communications channel.
About today's edition: The topics that stir people became obvious at the Hogan Lovells hotel day in Hamburg last week. Rates of return, yields, new and promising niche concepts… Much of this will become more precise automatically through our coverage in the next few weeks. I can already tell you about the new plans of citizenM: The company wants to expand in 30 cities and be present with several hotels in each city, and Germany/Europe will be at the top of their agenda.
Sarah Douag explains today why you should deal with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation: Your business and the people responsible for digital data could be fined starting in 2018 – up to 20 million euros!
In Italy, many things have been running better than in the last few years now: The summer of 2017 was fantastic, but Italy can never compete with its main rival Spain.
There is more news about the market in Poland, and also changes concerning personnel in the developer's scene due to Expo Real.

We look forward to meeting you at Expo Real in Munich! Our team will be there.

We will see each other at "World of Hospitality", the hotel conference on Wednesday and/or at our networking event BRICKS & BRAINS.

Full house – full programme!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Nothing, absolutely nothing appears to be putting investors and operators off from making further investments in the hotel industry, and in particular in hotels in Germany. This is the conclusion that can be drawn just a week after the end of the bubbling Expo Real 2017. There are certainly concerned voices, but the desire to make deals simply trumps everything else. Sentiment, opinions and facts in summary. This week's edition also includes more news on individual hotel brands and the transaction figures for the 3rd quarter for Germany.
For us at HospitalityInside, the trade fair was also a success. We would like to thank all our exhibitors for their wonderful collaboration! The hustle and bustle at the "World of Hospitality" reflected the market's dynamics. All the more relaxing it was then to attend our networking event "Bricks & Brains" in the evening with around 200 high-calibre guests.
On our Page 1, you find today a short text on hotelier opinions on the trade fair. There are also a few lines about out networking event, including links to photos of the event. Or click on the two corresponding banners in the right column of our home page... Enjoy the picture show!
Today, we also launch our "Investment Barometer" in collaboration with Union Investment – consciously after the trade fair. This time, it's about the ability of the hotel market to absorb the new. Anyone can take part. Accordingly, we include the link to the questionnaire with our Friday newsletter. There, all recipients of our morning newsletter will find a participation link and will be immediately redirected to the questionnaire, without the need to enter a code or password. We have simplified the procedure. Those taking part by 3 November will subsequently receive the entire analysis.
Those who haven't registered yet should register soon in order to join the survey next Friday, with the next Friday newsletter. Please go to www.hospitalityInside.com, look for the Newsletter or Barometer registration; both is free of charge.
On today's edition: The Expo Real hotel conference brought together three China experts from Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, from CBRE London, Kempinski and the research institute COTRI. They provided insight into the strategic thinking of investors from the Far East. They warned sceptical Europeans not to be so wary of the Chinese. There's no use in it.
Putting Chinese superlatives and gigantism in the right context is not easy though. This was certainly Fred Fettner's experience on his Shanghai visit. There he met the Austrian COO of the rapidly expanding Greenland Group, which aims to become one of the world's Top 100 companies within just five years. At the moment, it must content itself with a Top 500 listing. Greenland's new brand Primus Hotels already offers residences, too.
AccorHotels again wants to acquire a company – this time the second largest hotel group in Australia. This would make the French company the no.1 there. But nothing has been decided yet. There are also big hopes in the MICE sector worldwide: It is blossoming as competition on the market blooms.

Until next Friday!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Expo Real is still in full swing today… The first two days at the fair in Munich knew just one scenario: overcrowded halls, hectic crowds, non-stop meetings and networking to excess. The sector is already breathless, working as if there were no tomorrow. Is this the fear that the bubble is about to burst? The experts attending the hotel conference completely denied this was the case.
Our editorial team is fully immersed in the trade fair events, and because of the overlapping with our editorial deadline yesterday evening, it will only be able to report in more detail next week – including conversations with hotel exhibitors and other hotel experts as well as about the hotel conference. You will therefore find the most important news in a nutshell in today's edition.
Nevertheless, we are able to present exciting topics related to real estate and investments: Amsterdam, a city with 850,000 inhabitants struggles under the burden of 17 million tourists in 2016; for this reason, the city of Amsterdam proclaimed a hotel ban. Despite the ban, more hotels can be developed but only in the "Amsterdam Metropolitan Region". The region attracts investors and operators with good infrastructure, airports and bleisure offers. Sarah Douag with more details.
Beatrix Boutonnet unveiled details about the latest Invesco deal. In September, the investment company paid 530 million euros for 13 European hotels – for their first open fund for institutional investors. Now, Managing Director Robert Stolfo and Asset Director Hans-Peter Hermann have revealed more about the deal, the growing time pressure, and the new modesty of the investors concerning leverage.
International investors have many questions when they want to gain a foothold in Germany. And there are many who are willing to do so, but are often frustrated due to the specified legislation. Therefore, Dr. Anton Ostler, one of our editorial experts for legal aspects, explains the basic structures of German law to newcomers.
In the news section, amongst others, we are reporting about Preferred Hotels. The company is growing fast in its preferred segment of Preferred Residences at the moment; and its consulting subsidiary, which was established quietly, is expanding. Again, AccorHotels is spending millions for the business travel hotel reservation platform Gekko and for share in the Orient Express brand.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
It is not easy to understand the differentiation between the two new and independent companies AccorInvest and AccorHotels. Therefore, my conversation with Andrea Agrusow, the new COO AccorInvest Central Europe, was highly informative. At least, many questions were answered, and the success of the "booster project" strongly depends on the ongoing negotiations between Sébastien Bazin and the new investors. But they are not jumping onto the booster project as quickly as hoped for, as I heard from well-informed circles. We shall have to wait and see.
The fact of the matter is AccorHotels is retaining its old name but as of July 1 "is only" a partner of AccorInvest, provides services on demand for its colleagues and "only" bundles the brand leadership for the marketing and franchise hotels itself. The responsibility for assets as well as for personnel has shifted to AccorInvest. This way, it becomes obvious for the first time that Accor has changed and become a real estate group now. Therefore, a member of AccorHotels' business management is leaving in the next few weeks: Eike Alexander Kraft, VP Corporate Communications & Social Responsibility for Germany and Central Europe. His job will be taken over by the marketing department.
The Swiss SV Group wants to grow. Of their ten new hotel projects, seven will be Moxy Hotels, and three Residence Inn properties. SV Hotel Managing Director Beat Kuhn will continue his exclusive partnership with the Marriott brands.
In Zurich, Motel One recently made its debut, but other budget operators will be knocking on the door in the next few years. An unusual development for Switzerland where the market has been exclusively dominated by 3 and 4-star properties so far. But in light of a strong Swiss franc and high personnel costs, these lean concepts make sense. Their peppy design, however, is a source of distress for the outdated private hotel industry. A development, which began in Germany 15 years ago, and has now reached the cities in Switzerland.
On the news front: The first hotels in Paris are fighting for more trust among the tourists by putting up a security label on their doors. Good times are in store for sellers of leisure properties to Germans who tend to re-finance these properties by renting them out to guests. And Falkensteiner is betting on crowdfunding.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Green light for hotel transactions in Europe! That's the message of last week's annual "Hospitality Investment Seminar" in Amsterdam. Spain is catching up with mighty steps. In Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Portugal, business is also clearly gaining ground – the remaining countries have been struggling. But it's just these fragmented market movements that offer promising opportunities to investors. This is why there is a double thumbs up!
How do you make a mark in this jumble of budget and lifestyle hotels? The answer is simple: go back to the roots and down-to-earth products free of any selfie or Instagram mania ... That is the new plan of Amedia Hotels expanding with four types of hotels to seemingly uninteresting B locations and adding cosy extended stay units to several hotels. Udo M. Chistée, founder of Amedia Hotels, and Roland Paar, his new partner, look back and ahead.
Intercity Hotels will be available in a package now: in Brazilian and German. Both groups share the same name and a similar past and will now officially combine their marketing forces. The German midscale brand of Deutsche Hospitality gave itself the best present for its 30th anniversary. Thinking globally wins!
Today, there are globetrotters from every country on earth. No wonder that UNWTO recorded new records: 598 million tourists have travelled in the first half of 2017, an increase by 6 percent – the strongest six months since 2010! In Great Britain, tourism is booming as well, but who will serve the guests after the Brexit? A "leaked" document now confirms the worst fears of the hotel industry.
The rumours about Barcelós interest in NH Hotels keep coming up in the media. But there haven't been any negotiations between the two parties at the moment, as we learned via our network. Nonetheless, a merger of these two Spanish groups makes sense. Uniting also makes sense to individual hotels: this is how "Global Alliance of Private Hotels" was born from five European consortia. Together, they count more than 500 hotels in 65 countries.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Booking.com is the cash cow of Priceline Group, which itself is the driving force of global distributors. With an enterprise value of over USD 100 billion, Priceline is worth more than Marriott, Hilton, AccorHotels, IHG and Wyndham together. Today, Sarah Douag describes the giant, which perhaps can only be challenged by Ctrip in China and Airbnb. But certainly not by hotel chains like AccorHotels who believe they've found the golden goose with their distribution platform for third parties. CEO Sébastien Bazin recently admitted that they had perhaps miscalculated.
Our China expert Prof Wolfgang Arlt once again looks at China's investment restrictions. With more than 30 years' experience with business partners in the Middle Kingdom, he believes multi-billion dollar investors will not stop investing.
Alexa and similar devices will also not be stopped. The virtual voice assistant by Amazon etc. as well as service robots and chatbots will make their way into the hotel. That they might have a negative impact on jobs was not a concern shared by participants at our 7th "Freitagshappen", at least not among the luxury hotels. Last Friday, HospitalityInside and the luxury hotel Nassauer Hof, Wiesbaden, invited guests to the familiar talk round – this time also welcoming a TravelTech start-up. All agreed: If Artificial Intelligence helps to improve efficiency in hotel operations, then it's perfect. – By the way, two days ago I had the opportunity of experiencing "Alexa" live at another event. A pleasant voice as assistant, but still not really able to help much...
And from the world of brands, new deals are again to be announced: Invesco has just acquired a European portfolio for EUR 530 million; the hotels will be operated by the German company Event Hotels. Almost at the same time, this company is also involved in a 200 million deal regarding the Dutch Bilderberg.
And in other news: Smartphones and wearables have never been so popular; according to two studies, the luxury market continues to grow; and we also have various personalia this week. There's lots happening in the sector.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Have you heard of the Paris Inn Group? Even for me, I always find it fascinating when relatively unknown names suddenly crop up, reveal themselves as million-heavy companies and then, over night, set out on a high speed global expansion drive. In this case, the boutique brand, Maison Albar Hotel, based in France, is to set off to conquer the world. A joint venture with Jin Jiang will help in this undertaking. Today, Paris Inn Group counts 32 hotels with 2,000 rooms and assets worth EUR 900 million. What chances do we give it? Top or flop?
Plaza Hotels, a German company, is also ambitious. Up to now, the investor and operator was almost exclusively linked to Best Western, then Amedia came on board and now it's got Hilton in its sights. The entrepreneur couple Ihsan and Yonca Yalaz on their strategy for growing the portfolio from its current 33 hotels. Plaza is a conversion specialist.
Specialists are also needed to get the Austrian Hotel Brand Monitor up and running for private hoteliers. It analyses the brand value of individual companies using economic benchmarks. Thomas Reisenzahn from Prodinger gave an interview to Fred Fettner recently in which he explains the model in detail. We provided brief reporting here in July.
Sad but true: After the recent terror attacks in Barcelona, bookings remain steady. Travellers appear to have already got used to the threat of terror. Floods and water damage have meant the opening of the new luxury hotel The Fontenay in Hamburg has had to be postponed. Director Thies Sponholz gave us a tour of the construction site all the same. The opening of the Buergenstock Resort in Switzerland is also delayed.
The German International Hotel Association has updated its brand compendium and has identified in its market analysis: The number of branded hotels has increased slightly, whilst the number of hotel companies has fallen markedly. A study reveals: Leisure parks become hybrid entertainment magnets.
And to finish off, interesting personalia: Puneet Chhatwal's move from Deutsche Hospitality to the Indian Hotel Company has meanwhile been confirmed by the man himself. Exciting: Expedia has lost its CEO to Uber. Also, last week in Hamburg, Selektion Deutscher Luxushotels said its official goodbye to its co-founder Karl Nueser in the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahrezeiten.
Last but not least: From 2018, the ITB will terminate the ITB Hospitality Day, one of the most successful conferences at the trade fair. More on our Network page.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Hotel deals with Chinese investors are currently in the air. The Chinese government has not banned them yet but categorised them as "restricted". Only selective investments seem to be possible in future – and no more property purchases. What does all this mean? A China expert at CBRE Hotels has answered Sarah Douag's questions concerning HNA & Co. In spite of this, giants from West and East are forming joint ventures on a strategic level: Marriott and Alibaba are passing loyalty customers to each other, and more.
Croatia is free of state interference concerning deals. Therefore, the Austrian-Croatian hotel owner and operator Valamar-Riviera is accelerating at full speed, investing a lot and focusing fully on upgrading. This way, 2-star Valamar Hotels will become 4 and 5-star mega resorts, and modest camping sites will be transformed into luxurious glamping sites. The boom in this small country with storybook bays makes this possible.
New booking platforms are discovering the segment of Serviced Apartments. National as well as international providers want to make temporary long-time living easily bookable, on a global scale, of course. But this special hotel has its own online pitfalls. Susanne Stauss reveals them.
Paris is making an increasing number of illegal apartment landlords pay – and it is paying off. In Italy, MICE business is returning, especially because of international demand. Switzerland, just as its neighbouring countries, is moving in more forcefully against OTAs. And the number of overnight stays has increased in the first half of the year; Germany-bound tourism has also increased significantly at the same time. Belmond, IHG, Marriott, and Orascom have retained their good mood after publishing their half-year results.
After our summer break, we have many new personnel particulars today. And we also have a long news mix, as we are making up for some contributions of the last two weeks for documentary reasons.
There are only six weeks left for many of us before the Expo Real starts in Munich. Today, you will obtain the first pieces of information concerning the joint stand of "World of Hospitality", which, with its 29 co-exhibitors, bundles most hotel groups and exhibitors focussed on the hotel industry at the trade fair at one platform. You will find more details on page 1.
We hope you were able to relax and enjoy yourselves in your summer break as well as we did. Let's start into an exciting fall where the federal election in Germany, which takes place in four weeks exactly, could set a new course. Also for the hotel industry.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
With romantic lighthouses and deceitful tourists, today's issue moves towards our summer break. The Italian government has finally found an interface between special investors, operators obsessed with detail, and adventure-hungry tourists by renting unusual buildings. Hundreds of assets are planned to be allotted for this purpose over the next few years in order to fill the public purse. In Germany, Floatel seems to be earning good money with this niche concept.
In Spain, rakish lawyers likely motivated British tourists to sue hotels for food poisoning. The initial tourists are now on trial. Here, hoteliers become helpless victims of national legislation.
The German Novum Hotel Group catapulted itself into the spotlight – through its hyperdynamic expansion. Over the past few months, hospitalityInside.com has received an increasing number of calls asking how they did it. From 12 to 106 operating hotels within seven years? CEO David Etmenan and CFO Torsten Scholl faced up to our questions without hesitating and wish to make their company more transparent in the future. Today's – highly interesting – article is a first step towards this goal. Including both critical and benevolent voices from the market.
Italy – once more – hits the headlines in our news: on Wednesday, the parliament prohibited rate parity clauses by law. From Spain, the Idiso service and CRS provider is pushing onto the market. The Nordic markets and the Balearic Islands are both doing very well at the moment. In Berlin, a database of hotel rates is in the making. And American students managed to prove that humans are bribable. They would pass on the data of their friends just for a pizza!
Three weeks from now marks the end of the registration period for exhibitors at ITB Berlin. If you are thinking about exhibiting, we recommend the "World of Hospitality" joint booth in "hotel hall" 9. You will find details on our homepage. Registration for the joint booth will close at the end of August.
HospitalityInside will then be back from its two-week summer break. We'll be back in the office on August 21, and August 25 will see the next issue with new and exciting stories.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems and the hospitalityInside team

Dear Insiders,
Over recent years, large chains have in some cases quite unscrupulously stolen the innovative brand ideas of medium-sized hoteliers. Meanwhile, the small and medium-sized hoteliers have taken a closer look at the chains, especially as regards finance. Some have even ventured partnerships with major investors. Otto Lindner, master of 31 hotels in seven countries, wants to know nothing about locust deals with huge expansion targets, but he does have a lot of time for one particular family office that shares his approach. His new investment partner for the boutique brand me and all hotels is the chairman of the football club Schalke 04, a billion-euro heavy entrepreneur. The Chairman of the German Lindner Hotels on the new path, soon to take him outside Germany and into the wider EU.
From France to Europe and even Canada: The consortium SEH is making waves and is more active than ever. Its members are also impacted by chains and OTAs – they too place their trust in partners, common programmes and networking, just like the chains. Sarah Douag presents the Société Européenne d'Hôtellerie today.
Massimilano Sarti takes another look at the facts and figures on the development of the Italian hotel real estate market which is currently attracting attention from investors. Operators find it less exciting: They are still struggling against more and more rooms from non-hospitality providers.
The search and addiction for more market share no longer has any limits: Quartus, AccorHotels and Bouygues provide good examples of it today. They move with ease from house construction to the hotel industry and together create co-working spaces.
Yet there are limits as regards safety and security: A European study shows how much safety and security influences the choice of holiday destination. That will be the challenge in touristic distribution today!
Airbnb has managed to have itself listed on a booking platform for corporate travellers, alongside the chains. AccorHotels, Hilton, H.n.h., NH and Schoerghuber Group have posted their results for the first months of 2017, respectively for 2016. And with its third hotel fund, Invesco Real Estate remains loyal to the classic hotel industry, though for the first time initiates an open-ended fund. This and more in today's edition. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com