Editorial

Dear Insiders,
The OTAs are gradually moving into every niche that has ever provided the hotel industry with a small income. Now, it's the turn of excursions and events. A multi-billion euro business there for the taking. Booking.com and Google presented "Booking Experiences" and "Google Trips" this week, and Airbnb even bought a start-up in this field this week. TripAdvisor is also moving in on the game – as is AccorHotels. Sarah Douag summarises what these portals, tools and apps offer at first glance.
The budget market is also moving into new territory: Yesterday, the Berlin-based project developer MQ Real Estate revealed its first hotel room, a wooden module on the roof of a Berlin parking garage: The start-up will build hotels from wooden modular units on the upper storeys of car parks. Hotel chains have already shown an interest, as what hotelier doesn't want the top floor in a premium location?
IBB Hotels is focusing on another niche, namely B and C locations. The Spanish company is currently in the process of conducting an intense analysis of the German market and is already in the process of building its next five hotels. In Poland it focuses on A locations. CEO Vladimir Saal on the plan to double the size of the hotel portfolio by 2021.
In France, the government has approved an emergency fund for tourism; after regulatory approval in China for the Marriott/Starwood merger, there's now the internal matter of personnel; and the EU has once again let the hotel industry down with regard to liability for WiFi use.
Here at hospitalityInside, we are in the final sprint for the Expo Real in Munich on 4 October. If you're planning on visiting the trade fair for property and investment and would like to make appointments with exhibitors at the "World of Hospitality, you can find the contact data in the individual portraits of the hotel operators, funds, financiers and consultants. These can be found as of today on our Page 1.

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

Dear Insiders,
If AccorHotels can entice third-party hotels on to its booking platform, then Plateno can do it too. China's largest hotel group now offers all individual hotels as well as smaller hotel groups its help it placing their offers in Chinese distribution and social media channels, as well as providing translation, cultural training and a Chinese website. On hospitalityInside.com, Roland Paar, Regional VP Europe, and his eCommerce Manager Tomasz Janczak for first time present "Plateno Connect" – including concrete packages and prices, which are not yet online.
But it's not only worth reading hospitalityInside.com for that. Europe's fittest tourism companies are in Austria, and they are currently having a heated debate on digitalisation in tourism, and are once again hitting nails on the head. Slow progress in discussions at the EU level has provided an opportunity for rivals - for instance Korea. Korea is certainly no snail in terms of the speed of development.
We take a look at the broader picture, also in Almere in the Netherlands today. There, Carnival Cruises has opened its first hotel, together with a training academy for its own staff. With this impressive project, the cruise travel giant takes over 20,000 overnight stays away from the hotel industry in one fell swoop. An interview with Captain Hans Hederstrom and hotel manager Jan Hein Roersma.
NH Hotels has confirmed that its shareholder HNA has now launched court proceedings against the hotel group. The Chinese want to get back on board. A really strange story: A major shareholder sues his own company. The Chinese are marking out their claims.
Their interest in keeping a foothold in a European hotel company is justified. The majority of Chinese nationals are becoming increasingly willing to travel, are spending more and are also looking to Europe. By contrast, business travellers are becoming more cautious in light of terror scares; and they have little time for hotels without free internet access. These were the findings of two surveys.
In Switzerland, Airbnb has substantially expanded its presence. In the German market, the brands of the recently merged Deutsche Hotel & Resort Holding is making larger steps than it has taken up to now.

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

Dear Insiders,
Four weeks ago, the Chinese government stipulated another 60 days to examine the merger of Marriott/Starwood in its country. The outcome is still open. The expected economic benefits for this year are slowly melting away... Will China protect its own hotel chains? Sarah Douag has assembled expert opinions. However, in the end, we were outmanoeuvred, too: The international law firms we interviewed on that matter in China withdrew their answers and prohibited us to use any of their comments – not even anonymously. A global power exerts pressure. I don't want to imagine how CEO Arne Sorenson feels right now. He has my sympathy.
Roeland Vos, CEO of Belmond, and I are sharing our passion for the real and honest. On Wednesday in Munich, he presented the new strategy of Belmond: luxury as an understatement is in, realised by "genuine people serving genuine people". The hotels, house boats, ships, and trains of Belmond will become "authentic escapes". This mixture will top all luxury master brands. By 2020, he wants to double the portfolio. Roeland presents himself in top form – just as he did at Starwood once.
Authenticity during holidays is also sought after in the budget segment, but with comfort, please! Therefore, glamping is booming. Unbelievable what is available in this segment: Tents with wooden floors, safari tents in trees, round wood lodges – and an endless variety of mobile homes. In Germany, Croatia, Austria, and France, simple camping sites turn into multifaceted holiday resorts, which are also taking away guests from hotels.
French hoteliers have real reason for concern: The hotel association GNI presented alarming figures for the summer season and is urging the government to limit the damage. Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice, recently contemplated on various topics such as rock bottom rates, loyalty and OTAs. TrustYou publishes an ebook with advice for the perfect guest questionnaire.
And I would like to briefly present to you the topics of the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue", the hotel conference at Expo Real, which takes place on October 4. In the meantime, the preparations for Expo Real are keeping us moving. The holidays are over, the final spurt has started!

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

Dear Insiders,
Current market figures testify to the really good opportunities in the Serviced Apartment segment; however, the confusion concerning terminology still gives providers as well as investors/financiers a hard time. What is Serviced Apartment, what is Aparthotel, what is Longstay? After the industry summit in London in July, we are trying to bring clarification into the mixture of Anglo-Saxon and German definitions in today's issue. Another table shows the strong commitment of global hotel chains in this segment.
In Austria, a building contractor and two real estate companies are venturing into the market with the new brands b(l)ackhome and Phil's Place, introducing new Serviced Apartment variations – partly very aspiring concerning rates.
The fact that only profit from space utilisation counts at the end of the day is widely known by experienced hotel experts like the ones at Feuring. Today, the project developer, based in Mainz, is able to calculate locations and agreements exactly based on its own data base. Recently, Feuring has also taken over a few more things: e.g. asset management and even leaseholder activities in a few cases. The two Managing Directors Bardo-M. Feuring and Matthias Lowin explain.
What about Uber and Airbnb as companies? After all, both companies are being regarded as high flyers of the Sharing Economy. But, at the moment, they are more low flyers, economically speaking, with reported losses.
However, the spirit they called into tourism, especially Airbnb, is perceptible, e.g. also in Austria where holiday apartments were booked more frequently than hotel rooms in the splendid summer season. The figures from Switzerland, however, have been very sobering so far: 7 of 14 mountain regions lost considerable numbers of holidaymakers.
Furthermore, Carlson Wagonlit found out that "bleisure" travels are not increasing, despite common opinion; and in Austria we are wondering about the "Global Wellness Summit", taking place in Kitzbuehel soon: politics are supporting this summit with 300,000 euros of tax money.
This week, I also wondered about the coverage of the German magazine "Wirtschaftswoche" concerning Dorint Hotels: tendentious – and then just copied from the daily newsletters without verification the next day... My colleague Beatrix Boutonnet and I had, at the same time, so to speak, a very extensive personal interview with Dirk Iserlohe, Managing Partner of the parent company Ebertz & Partner. At the moment, we are quietly working on the complex subject of Dorint and Honestis, the new real estate corporation. It is always difficult to describe reorganisation processes. But it becomes tendentious when media are not willing to deal seriously with subjects. We, however, prefer to investigate more profoundly, as always. And I believe this is what you want us to do, dear readers.

Wishing you a good week.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief.
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,
Refreshed from our holiday in Croatia, we're now back at our desks and ready for the autumn! Our joy on holiday was only briefly interrupted by the border checks at the Austrian-German border near Salzburg: two hours of traffic jam for just three kilometres. Why must four lanes be reduced down to one in the main holiday travel season, without any reason? Children scream in the cars, caravans scratch their neighbours... This is certainly no good reference for Destination Germany. For tourists it's simply an affront! Lobbyists, please get to work!
The damage done to France this summer by the terror attacks won't be reversed so quickly. The initial figures are sobering. Paris in particular has experienced a dramatic fall. But Rome too has suffered this season - though as the only destination in an otherwise brilliant holiday destination, Italy. On the other hand, Germany has recorded new super results for the first half-year of 2016 - and is finally moving towards European RevPAR values!
A number of hotel groups are suffering headaches as a result of the imminent accounting changes under IFRS rules. In her research, Beatrix Boutonnet came close to becoming a financial auditor herself; though she leaves the answers to the experts from Colliers, JLL, Roedl & Partner, Jung & Schleicher, Bayern LB, DG Hyp and the Deutsche Hypothekenbank.
In Italy, Massimilano Sarti interviewed Damiano De Crescenzo, Director General of the private hotel group Planetaria which, under its own initiative, is in the process of setting up a network with other hotelier friends. An unconventional approach.
Over recent months, we have written a lot about China. Today, we talk about India. "Is India the next China?" Macy Marvel asks and sets out the potential and challenges facing the fragmented hotel market there with facts and figures – also compared to China as well as comparing national and international chains with each other.
The first two Aloft Hotels now allow room experiences activated by the guest's voice; in Innsbruck the industry is getting in a twist over a possible new player by the name of Motel One; and Thomas Cook outsources over 3,000 hotel contracts.
Today's News Mix also includes individual announcements from the last three weeks which you have perhaps already registered. This ensures our archive is up to date.
And last but not least to our own "hot autumn": In 39 days, the Expo Real Munich will begin. Our Joint Stand "World of Hospitality" will this time comprise of a record 30 co-exhibitors showing once again just how strong a magnet it has become in Hall C2. All names and information can be found today on our Page 1!

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

Dear Insiders,
In view of half of Europe enjoying its summer holidays in these weeks, today's issue is also a bit leisure-weighted. In this vein, we are seeing an upswing among resorts in Germany – a tourist region definitely without a guarantee of sunshine, but coming up with new concepts and brands, new operators and courageous financiers. Critically scrutinising banks urge hoteliers to become more professional here as well. "The financing situation has never been better for holiday hotels," says Juernjakob Reisigl from the small, expanding Explorer Hotels group, for example.
Regarding Club Aldiana, an upswing can only be guessed. The two Managing Directors Phillip Schmidt and Max-Peter Droll answered our basic questions, but they remain silent about figures, ideas, investments, and resort developments. Maybe this is only the new investors' fault. However, it surely does not create trust in the company.
A target group everybody would like to have are Chinese Millennials. But how to attract them? The answer is quite simple: with video blogs on social media channels where this group of travel-addicted FITs is roaming about. Marketing specialist Welf Ebeling founded a company with a Chinese star travel blogger and tells us how to virtually attract this smartphone generation today.
Marriott's CEO, Arne Sorenson, not only commented on the weak results of the second quarter towards media and stakeholders, but also spoke on Starwood and the fast-growing loyalty programme last week. This week, Belmond, Design Hotels, Choice, Hyatt, IHG, NH, and Meliá presented their results.
In Germany, rumour had it this week that the Airbnb competitor Wimdu is almost facing collapse. This would leave the market entirely to Airbnb. Apart from that, consolidation continues regarding tourist travel: Flixbus acquired Postbus, becoming an unchallengeable monopolist.
The Spanish summer season will be tremendous, but experts know that the currently high demand is only "borrowed" from Mediterranean countries in trouble. Greater fears are aroused by the absence of British guests as a consequence of the Brexit.
As always around this time, this issue will be the last one before our own summer holidays! By the way, I am packing away a painting book for adults in my suitcase – they are absolutely en vogue at the moment...
Our next issue will appear on Friday, August 26, 2016. We will be back in the office on August 22.
Sunny days and a relaxing summer!

Dear Insiders,
Within the space of six years, from 12 hotels and 560 rooms to 84 hotels with 8,000 rooms. The German company Novum Group Hotels managed precisely this huge leap. CEO David Etmenan today explains how the family company did this, both from an organisational as well as financial standpoint. Novum now wants to push forward in an even more targeted way and even more quickly with large institutional partners and international franchisors at its side. The group is now on the way to the Top 3 in the German hotel sector.
The Chinese New Century Group has also discovered Germany as a base for expansion. The privately-operated company with over 200 hotels and 50,000 rooms has now opened its first hotel outside China - in Offenbach near Frankfurt. A tasteful hotel, as Susanne Stauss reports. At the fringe of its official opening celebrations, she had the opportunity to ask founder Miaolin Chen a few questions. And what does he want? To continue to grow, also in Europe.
Because supply and demand continue to grow, the Polish market continues to attract more international investors, and of course operators too. The critical Polish are learning fast and are now also beginning to consider what makes sense and what may cost how much. A positive development, in my view. The 3rd "Sportlight Hotel Investment Poland" conference provided material for another summary article today as well as a more data-heavy market snapshot, published this week by Christie & Co.
And in the news this week: The emirate Ras Al Khaimah is currently touring its source markets in order to promote its tourism strategy. The Chinese continue to spend a lot of money on travel. And in Austria, the government faces making substantial payments to hotels after a ECJ judgement. Booking.com, Expedia and HRS dominate hotel distribution - nothing new here, but recent Hotrec figures are shocking.
In Nice, the recent terror attack has caused a crisis for local hotels - we have the first drastic figures. The season is over already, some believe.
The coup in Turkey last week followed by the extension of the state of emergency yesterday prompted me to contact a number of hotel experts in Istanbul. The situation is currently extremely chaotic. Only one thing is clear: tourism is suffering everywhere, and will continue to do so for a not-foreseeable future, and will presumably hit the smaller family-run suppliers first. Since the situation at present is dominated more by emotion than facts, and on account of speculation, I have decided to postpone a report on Turkey for the moment. – The full editorial…

Dear Insiders,
Exactly a week ago, Munich was shocked by news of a gunman on the rampage. Over 8.5 hours, into the early hours of the morning, the city was gripped by panic and uncertainty. Without emotionalising this terrible evening further still, we asked Munich hoteliers how they reacted. We have reports from Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten, Cocoon/Buddy Hotels, Rocco Forte, AccorHotels and Starwood. The role of social media and the Open Doors initiative are viewed critically by some.
At the Apartment Summit in London, there were some motivating results for Serviced Apartments. In Great Britain and Germany, for instance, they are overtaking classic hotels by far in terms of their performance results. No wonder that the event saw the next niche concept presented: Locke.
The run on markets and niches continues unabated. Real estate developers are – depending on the market – quite out of breath at the moment. As so are lawyers in some cases too. After the purchase, the questions from foreign investors follow. For this reason, the Munich-based law firm Arnecke Sibeth looks today at the legal risks on the purchase of real estate in the German hotel industry.
If it's a matter of sustainability and certification, then collaboration is required. Frank Oettinger, Vice President Operations & Franchise, H-Hotels, speaking at the seminar "Green Hotels" by hotelbau and hospitalityInside in June, pointed out what an environmentally friendly business plan meant in day-to-day hotel business. This article is available to all our readers today on our Page 1 as a little motivation to "follow suit".
AccorHotels again wants to invest in luxury: This time, CEO Sébastien Bazin intends to spend EUR 150 million on a concierge service provider. Collecting companies obviously makes him happy, though what picture is he hoping to form from these jigsaw parts? He will certainly explain it to us one day…
AccorHotels, Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and Rezidor have posted their interest results this week – with some mixed figures. At AccorHotels, EBITDA and EBIT slumped as a result of acquisitions. This and more news in our edition today! Read it yourself!

Dear Insiders,
AccorHotels is focusing solely on power partners. This much became clear in the shareholder's meeting in Paris this week in which the acquisition of Fairmont Raffles International was approved with 98% of the vote. In Sébastien Bazin's presentation and the subsequent Q&A session with investors, there were some clues as to the future direction the chain wants to take: it prefers to grow with the Chinese rather than without them and the investment vehicle HotelInvest is now also to be opened up to external capital providers: Its money will now no longer exclusively be used to acquire real estate but also to finance acquisitions. The starting shot for a new Accor era.
A new era is also beginning for Iran. Sarah Douag spoke with the Iranian Nima Davoodzadeh, Meliá Hotels' Senior Vice President Development, with Rotana CEO Omer Kaddouri, who already has concrete plans for the first four projects and intends to build a hospitality school, as well as with Christophe Landais from AccorHotels. Scott Antel, the hotel expert at the law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner in Dubai explains why Iran will be a "safe haven" for investments - and why the Iranians are better positioned strategically than the Russians.
The young lean luxury brand Ruby Hotels is also well positioned. CEO Michael Struck announces three new hotels with three renowned institutional investors at three top locations in Hamburg, Duesseldorf and Vienna. The financial partners praise the lifestyle model for its flexibility and for its low breakeven.
With a new option as combination of hotel and apartment, the French-Israeli company Sweet Inn makes its move on the market. They rent apartments and furnish them themselves. They don't view Airbnb & Co as competition. Massimiliano Sarti interviews Boaz Beeri, Director of Business Development Europe.
And other news: Airbnb docks for the first time with Travel Management Company American Express, and with its market analyses, Carlson Wagonlit encourages companies to get used to the future negotiating power of Marriott-Starwood after the merger. The German hotel real estate market meanwhile appears to have been swept clean. Austria now prohibits the parity clause used by OTAs by law. The UEFA European Championship brought most destinations, excluding Paris, lots of guests. And a new CEO survey describes how top managers must look if they are to survive in today's times. Sébastien Bazin is mentioned here as a positive example. See above.
A truly international edition today with very exciting topics! Enjoy reading!

Dear Insiders,
It always pays to give things a second look. In the search engine hit list, it's not always the hotel that comes top that gets booked, but rather the one with the best ratings. More important for the hotel then is its ratings score. It's this score on which price hikes are based. TrustYou CEO Benjamin Jost explains why hoteliers should collect all sorts of guest feedback and why it pays to make sure the bathroom is sparkling clean.
Real estate, at least in Germany, has always been considered to be good protection against inflation. This is no longer the case today. Beatrix Boutonnet does away from the myth of "concrete gold", even if hotel assets are currently very much in demand.
I enjoy reading about hotel group strategies. The strategy of Allegroitalia in Italy sounds a bit confusing though: Fewer hotels are spread over several star categories and types. Whether the Chinese will notice? They already have a hotel in China.
Brexit will keep us busy in the near future, sometimes in big sometimes in smaller news articles. Today: If a British company wants to hire a member of staff from Europe in future, that would already cost over 3,800 euros for recruiting alone. This is what nightmares are made of.
At one London hotel group, guests can now choose their room before they book it. In Italy, a nation in love with cars, the well-known automobile stylist Bertone now also wants to branch out into the hotel industry. And Accor has again introduced a new service tool that bundles the entire content with respect to a hotel in the internet. Starwood Hotels have further refined their keyless check-in for their SPG members and have expanded it to include more brands. Enjoy surfing through the turbulent world of hotels! – The full editorial…