Editorial
Dear Insiders,
Not a week without Sébastien Bazin: AccorHotels' CEO loves scripts involving the powerful of this world. Now he is even helping a former French president out of his political minor role giving him the main role as a strategist in the transformation drama round about the biggest French hotel chain. Ça va! Yes, the two know each other well.
However, Bazin seemingly had to cope with a defeat regarding the bidding for the Canadian Luxury Retreats platform – Airbnb grabbed it. Annoying. 4,000 luxury hotels at one swoop – that would have been perfect for the group's own sales platform. Now he needs to put together smaller packages. All those unwilling to give away their luxury hotels should take cover. Revenue and EBIT figures covering 2016 – published two days ago – will further give wings to Bazin.
But there are also hotel groups that don't want to be swallowed, taking action by themselves: as reported, last week, Kempinski professed its future as an independent boutique hotel group via a shareholder change, and yesterday afternoon, Vienna House in Vienna announced a new 100-percent shareholder: another Thai company, backed by a listed billion-dollar conglomerate. Simoner, himself a former Kempinski top manager, knows the owners of its parent company BTSG from his days at Kempinski. Apart from that, the timeframe and the same focus were pure coincidence, he reassures us. But: the family operating hotels in Asia itself doesn't want to see Vienna House drown in the merger mash.
Finally, the trend has an anti-trend! The hotel sector needs diversity – it lives from it ... We don't need any additional unisex lounges!
In England, the hard Brexit is shaking up hoteliers. The immense costs and disadvantages are becoming clearer and clearer. Experts and the British Hotel Association are pessimistic almost across the board. And Frank Marrenbach, CEO of the Oetker Collection operating the Lanesborough London brings up the following image with respect to the planned exclusion of employees: the best curry isn't of British origin!
Today, our legal experts analyse the difficulty in differentiating between residential living and Serviced Apartments in Germany – an important contribution in the context of this booming segment. Further news cover the 2016 balance sheets of AccorHotels, Choice and IHG, the stagnating room nights in Switzerland in 2016, and the EU Commission investigating against Meliá Hotels and tour operators.
And finally, we talk about three panels you should visit at ITB Hospitality Day on March 9, and the IHIF announced the new winner of the "Young Leader Award" in the run-up to the 20th anniversary: the young lady comes from Berlin. Enjoy reading!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Kempinski versus the wave of consolidation: despite "all those" who have stood in line to buy Kempinski in the past two years, CEO Markus Semer implied that the two associates from Thailand and Bahrain have opted for a long-term strategy focusing on quality instead of an ad-hoc sale generating short-term top yield. Yesterday, we had the "Breaking News" about the switch of shares between the two owners, while today Semer lists several arguments why Kempinski has a good chance as an individual boutique hotel group.
And where does luxury meet its limits? In other words with a smile: among budget chains that treat themselves to a "luxurious" appearance partly including the term of "luxury" in their name. Motel One is consequently pushing on upgrading its budget design provoking a discussion. 17 square metres and upgrading without limits? Who will tag along? Nearly everyone, as it seems. We explicitly asked Motel One, prizeotel, Ruby, AccorHotels/ibis, Super 8, and B&B. 2 and 4 stars are definitely closing the gap in terms of space, which is why developer GBI says: budget is not out – but subject to change.
As described several times, the Italian hotel market is experiencing major changes. But once again, my colleague Massimiliano Sarti ascertains – this time talking with experts of Horwath HTL – that important market figures are still strongly diverging. Chain and brand hotels, respectively, have selectively gained ground during 2016, but statistically speaking, private hotels still remain very strong. In summary, Italy continues to grow as many figures show.
Sébastien Bazin of AccorHotels has implanted the term of "growth" into the company DNA: hospitalityInside.com learned that the hotel group is obviously about to acquire Turkish Rixos Hotels. The luxury puzzle is getting even bigger!
And regarding technology, mergers keep going – now in the metasearch segment. New brand names are pushing towards Germany. In the meantime, Best Western is happy about the synergies of its European network consisting of ten countries: things are beginning to take effect. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Rezidor, and Wyndham have published their results for 2016 and the fourth quarter, respectively.
It was an exciting week between breaking news and news.
Until next week!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
If I was Trump, I would seal off my website just as Trump Hotels does. The media are unable to find downloadable pictures; there is no login, there are no contacts. Normally, this is standard among other hotel groups. The company does not return any calls. Therefore, we are very happy about the fact that all Trumps love to twitter and reveal their activities this way. However, the POTUS and his family empire are offending an increasing number of "watchdogs". Sarah Douag summarises the areas of conflict concerning hotels. We decided to label this article "Part 1", because sequels of this dramatic POTUS Soap Opera are probably guaranteed.
easyHotels once started off with full-bodied announcements, but then expansion got stuck. Now, easy founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou no longer has any influence and expansion is starting to roll again... The new Franchise Director Wolfgang Gold provides details and tries to enthuse new franchisees.
Renowned funds firmly believe in Greece's future in the tourism industry; the funds just provided 250 million euros for the further development of the Ikos/Sani Group. These brands are supposed to redefine all-inclusive on a luxury level à la Four Seasons and push the development of a mega resort destination.
This week, AccorHotels added another puzzle to its growing luxury brand empire, as revealed in an announcement, with Travel Keys. It is exciting to watch Sébastien Bazin buy and buy and only he seems to be able to see the entire picture at the moment. Marriott is also tattering itself: Of all things, the sensitive well-being brand Element will be provided with communal "suites" following the style of the Sharing Economy.
Motel One has quietly removed the small word "low" from its original subtitle "Low Budget Design" hotel group, and announced the next high-quality product improvements at the new Motel One Upper West Berlin. It should actually be becoming quieter with respect to Airbnb, but the last record fine of the city of Amsterdam affects the landlords first and foremost again and not the business.
The new Honestis AG bought Dorint Hotels, and officially leaves the former shareholder E&P behind. Worldhotels, on the other hand, were sold to an entirely new US partner; together, they plan to explore new paths in Europe concerning the MICE business. In Berlin, the German industry celebrated its awardees of the year; and from the human resources departments of several companies, new names are coming through.
And, finally: Today we can present the programme of the 2017 "ITB Hospitality Day" at ITB Berlin: six lively panels about hostels, automatization/artificial intelligence, food design, safety&security, challenging countries and metasearch. Have a look at our page 1!
Enough for today; enough to read, enough to be astonished at.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Motel One's success story continues and CEO Dieter Mueller has no ambitions whatsoever to change anything at all concerning the strategy of this low-budget design group. Mueller and his wife Ursula Schelle-Mueller, Chief Marketing Officer & Design, still see a lot of potential through fine tuning of both the product and digitisation. How long does upgrading work at budget rates? Last week, I met the entrepreneur couple at the group's Campus hotel.
The story of Austrian hotels unfortunately drifts off right in the opposite direction. Surveys of Tourismusbank OEHT and Austria's OEHV hotel association drastically show: most hotels are barely able to survive. Only top-performing hotels were able to increase their results sustainably. 1,250 hotels ought to better disappear from the market. Now, the government is supporting financing once again.
The gap between theory and practice is wide. This was clearly the tenor at the first "Sustainability Roundtable" to which Invesco Real Estate had invited seven major chains. There were the practitioners, profit-oriented experts. And not all of them consider certifications reasonable, preferably relying on their own fair benchmarks.
A new European analysis based on the figures of 2016 defines winners and losers in tourism among destinations. The result was basically known already, but now it is supported by figures. Among other things, the new "snow sports hotel" category is to help ailing mountain hotels in Switzerland. The Airbnb start-up favourite is profitabl for the first time and aims at buying additional companies. In contrast, money is not an issue in a new, unusual start-up competition that everybody can participate in with their idea receiving expert feedback and know-how. And Four Seasons comes to the fore again with a few announcements. In addition, there are some interesting staff issues today – another colourful edition. Enjoy reading!
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
As of January, Austria has been free of the requirement for rate parity. Yet the discussion at the annual conference of the Austrian Hoteliers Association showed that private hoteliers are still very much dependent on the OTA giants. Also, more and more young companies are entering the market. Fred Fettner looks at the persistent pressure faced by hoteliers.
As far as real estate is concerned, things are more relaxed. Even experts meanwhile hunt for hotels as they do truffles. The asset class with its high yields currently has an appeal like no other. Beatrix Boutonnet took part in the truffle hunt at the BIIS Annual Conference.
For Elisabeth Guertler, the grande dame of the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, staff are the diamonds in the relationship with the guest. Now she's venturing the leap to a resort location, Seefeld in Tyrol, and will attempt to create there what has been successful in Vienna and Salzburg: a real luxury hotel among the spa resorts. She's investing 23 million euros in the Astoria Relax & Spa Resort set to open in June. I met her in Vienna, we talked about the project and about true luxury.
Our correspondents bring lots of interesting news today: The earthquake in Italy now appears to have put tourists off in more significant numbers; Spain has recorded a super year with transactions and the Fitur International Tourism Fair in Madrid presented a number of local news. In France, the next hostel brand is on the up, as competition to AccorHotels' Jo&Joe.
The CEO carousel at NH and Carlson surprised yesterday: is it a sign of the imminent merger of NH and Rezidor – as soon as the latter is also acquired by HNA? We will report as soon as the facts are clear.
At hospitalityInside there are no "alternative facts"... Whoever I spoke to over the last few days with regards to Trump's media bashing, everyone is appalled by his claims. I wish my American colleagues all the best in making it clear to this political newcomer exactly where the line is. For this reason I'd like to add a link here to a notable letter to US media which set out the rules of journalism to Donald Trump three days before his inauguration.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
What figures did last year provide, what trends will everybody have to pay attention to this year? Current surveys show that Austrians will travel more in summer, spend more and book earlier. The winter left the tourist destination Austria in a fix in December. January, on the other hand, will put things back in order with plenty of snow. Lots of Austrians believe in the persistent appeal of winter sport.
The Italians look back on a record investment year in the hotel industry and to a surprising development in the sale of Boscolo Hotels.
In Spain, chambermaids have long fought for fairer working conditions in outsourcing after many hotel groups deliberately terminated their contracts in order to immediately re-employ them through cheap service companies. Interestingly, a new protest movement known as Las Kellys has now grown up through social media.
Good news for hoteliers worldwide: Airbnb is by far not as successful around the globe as the portal would have you believe. STR has analysed hotels and Airbnb in 13 markets: In most of these, hotels achieved considerably better occupancy and room rates. Fitting here in our personnel news today: Chip Conley, the hotelier from Airbnb, has left the company.
Jean-Gabriel Pérès, the new CEO of Kerzner International, reported recently in Paris that he will not only push forward with the brands One & Only and Atlantis. We also have many small market news articles today in our news mix.
The mega industry meetings of spring are moving closer: "World of Hospitality", our joint stand at the ITB, gets a new design this year, introduced on our home page. The organisation of the "ITB Hospitality Day" is being finalised. New this year is our media partnership with IHIF Berlin, the International Hotel Investment Forum, which will also celebrate its 20th anniversary. Together with the IHIF organiser, Questex Hospitality & Travel in New York, we have compiled a white paper for this event; initial details today on our Page 1, further information over the coming weeks.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The hospitalityInside team wishes you all a happy new year with good business in a more peaceful environment with positive news.
My review of the past year has become more of a comment: The centre points in the world of hospitality shifted considerably last year thanks to a wave of mergers. Chinese groups, Marriott and AccorHotels simply bought in size and dynamics in 2016. That was courageous, but not really innovative. Up to now, the top dogs have only adjusted their expansion targets at high speed. Private hotels and smaller groups should therefore carefully watch the top dogs. The consolidation among the giants provides new opportunities for the small. But for this, new courage will be required on their part!
2017 will bring movement, clear words and more togetherness, it is stated in descriptions of the Chinese Year of the Red Fire Rooster, which will begin on 28 January. It will demand and also encourage those who maintain an overview...
Here we are exactly right with our new China column: From today, Prof Wolfgang Arlt will provide regular contributions and an intercultural bridge to the Far East. He has been travelling to China for more than 30 years, he built up the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute in Hamburg and was recently appointed by the UNWTO into a group of 500 globally leading tourism experts. He will analyse both tourist market statistics as well as provide explanation with regard to the peculiarities of Chinese travel behaviour. To kick things off, he has chosen a soft topic: No Chinese food for Chinese travellers please!
Elisabetta Fabri, CEO of the Italian Starhotels, also goes into the new year full of courage: In an interview, she explains how she wants to expand outside Italy and will bring external investment partners on board in future. At present though, she is at loggerheads with her brother Francis.
The transaction results 2016 for the hotel investment markets Germany and Austria are now available: New incredible records were set with the last quarter! The results confirm the enormous pressure on capital to find a safe haven. In other news, hoteliers in the Brussels region have meanwhile thankfully received a tax gift, agreed at the end of December.
We also summarise the European mergers officially completed at the end of the year or which will soon complete. The new year also means lots of job changes, both in the international hotel industry as well as among consultants.
We look forward to again bringing you interesting topics in 46 current editions and two special publications in 2017. And as always, we will also keep an open ear for your ideas, concerns and problems throughout 2017.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
An exhausting year comes to an end, flanked by extremes, between real estate boom and terror, suffering people and the super-rich, frustrated voters and unpredictable statesmen. The year 2017 will not be easier – but I will worry about that in our next edition on January 13. And who knows, this year might indeed still have some surprises in store until New Year's Eve.
In 2016, one of the most frequently used words was "disruption". Therefore, at the end of the year, we are doing away with a misunderstanding: Airbnb and Uber are not disruptive businesses, for example, according to Clayton Christensen, Professor at Harvard, and the man who invented the term "disruption". Baerbel Schwertfeger met him in Vienna and quizzed him about innovation. A must-read for top managers today!
Thus reassured, we are able to turn towards the nicer things in life: One year ago, a family hotel opened in the Italian Alps, where people can celebrate Christmas between the 24th and 26th of every month for nine months of the year. At the Mirtillo Rosso Hotel, Santa Claus sits at the pool in August. Hotelier Stefano Cerutti explains the challenges behind his idea in an interview with Massimiliano Sarti.
Bayern Tourismus had another good idea: the Bavarian tourism association made "quiet times" bookable – at farms, in monasteries and in very peaceful hotels. Market researchers confirm: After the summer, sun & beach holidays, an increasing number of people wish for quiet and absolute silence, and letting go... More than 90 providers have already got together for 2017 – some of them even offer silence for free. "The cry for silence", a current trend.
With that being said, the team of hospitalityInside.com starts into its Christmas break.
We will be back in the office on January 9, 2017,
and the next edition appears on Friday, January 13.
For us, a demanding but also good year draws to an end. And you, dear readers, business partners, co-exhibitors and sponsors contributed to that in every single edition of the online magazine as well as at the trade shows and events. We are especially happy about the success at the Expo Real where the hotel industry has finally found its international "showroom" in the real estate and investment industry. The industry needs room for profiles! We are happy to contribute our part again in 2017.
And we would also like to thank our own staff members, the authors and translators, a core team of more than 20 people. Without their reliability and expertise, hospitalityInside.com would not be able to start into its 12th year.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team
Dear Insiders,
Olivier Chavy has been CEO of Mövenpick Hotels for 100 days. Now, he talks of his plans and market assessments. Interestingly, he's open for everybody showing interest in the group and for groups which Mövenpick would itself like to acquire. The brand is currently giving itself a makeover, innovative ideas are being tested. Mövenpick is to become more relaxed and more of a lifestyle brand. He is also thinking about a second brand. In my opinion, he should leave this alone. After all, Mövenpick - the brand with a seagull in its logo – has made such a name for itself, that even German-speakers are misspelling "Möwe" as "Möve"...
In Italy, the market is again becoming more transparent and attractive. The country is recovering rapidly. More and more international investors are knocking at the door, especially in Milan. However, the hotel morsels are often too small for the interested funds and HNWIs. At the same time, Italy relies on many private owners who are often prepared to resist difficulties longer than a fund. Massimiliano Sarti on the current trend.
At the "International Hotel Investment & Design Club Forum" held in Vienna's renowned Hotel Sacher in November, conversation turned to the new upswing in Eastern Europe which - just like in Italy - is attracting international investment. Croatia in particular stands out and so too the resort segment. That will remain an issue in 2017.
Airbnb is increasingly being forced to wrap up warmer: Paris has now forced the P2P platform to post its revenue statistics. This will be the basis on which the company is then taxed. An alarm signal is also sounded from Switzerland: There, Airbnb is again pushing further into the hotel market.
Just four weeks ago, the German Airbnb clone 9flats acquired the competitor Wimdu - and shortly afterwards sold it on to Novasol. With this, Wyndham now also has a P2P platform in its vacation network.
News from the real estate world: Soravia Capital in Austria wants to dive deeper into the sector and to this end has set up its own Hospitality Development AG and seeks to attract investment with a new model. And an unusual experiment is being ventured by 81 luxury companies based in Paris. They introduced wealthy guests to the city through experiences which can't be bought with money. This way, they hope to become ambassadors for the terror-plagued city. Enjoy reading more… Until next Friday and our last edition for this year.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The wave of mergers continues to roll over us: AccorHotels has now secured itself a stake in the Banyan Tree Hotels. But doesn't this torpedo the top hotels of Raffles and Fairmont in Asia? It remains an interesting field. Gaurav Bhushan, Global Chief Development at AccorHotels, answered our questions on an ad hoc basis yesterday.
The Chinese will also keep us holding our breath with their 'octopus' strategies. But they won't talk about them much. Prompted by the "China Market Day" by Pandox in Stockholm, we asked three China experts and a Chinese EHL student what Chinese companies think of investment outside China, about Europeans, about employees and about culture clashes... Prof Wolfgang Arlt from the research institute COTRI, Jileen Loo from CBRE and Cornelia Kausch from Pandox provide their insight.
The extraordinary reception of the new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg also benefits the integrated Westin Hotel, though brings with it challenges of its own, in particular with regard to infrastructure. Last week, we reported briefly on the official opening - today we provide more comprehensive reporting on the choice of the Westin brand, the lack of a fine dining restaurant, the shortage of parking and the full-to-bursting visitor terraces.
The new "Lausanne Report", which is now online, focuses on future scenarios; experts at the World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa concentrate on the Sharing Economy. This and more in today's edition.
Just three weeks until the end of the year. How many mergers/equity participations have we yet to experience before then? In the run up to Christmas, the question as to the rationale behind many company mergers poses itself.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com