Editorial

Dear Insiders,
Accor has declared war on the OTAs: Europe's biggest hotel chain has created a booking portal for all. It wants independent hotels to allow their bookings to go through AccorHotels.com... Of course, this immediately poses the following question: Would it be better for a private hotelier to exchange the unpopular "Booking's" of this world for a colleague from one's own industry? Or is that colleague not better to be viewed as a competitor?
Sarah Douag puts the surprising mutation into context. CEO Sébastien Bazin is determined to implement his repositioning strategy, including surprises. Help for medium-sized companies also comes from quite another corner: A German start-up says it is the helping hand for hoteliers fed up with the OTAs. Indirectly, DreamCheaper automatically checks room bookings of travellers and rebooks rooms if it finds the same room elsewhere - on whatever channel - somewhere cheaper. The guest pays the commission, the hotelier pays nothing. That sounds good.
Zoku also wants to revolutionise the industry - with a room-hybrid between hotel and serviced apartment, with "Zoku Lofts" of 25 sq.m! Hans Meyer, one of the creators of citizenM, is behind this smart and stylish room concept for the modern nomad. The first hotel will open soon in Amsterdam. This provides yet another solution for small layouts in over-populated and over-priced large cities.
In a separate news, we report on other small innovations in the apartment hotel industry, I also finally managed to take a look at Germany's first Adagio Access. The Austrians are now marketing "Nature reloaded" and for the first time a tourism "quarterly" appears in Austria; the majority shareholder of the Swiss Victoria-Jungfrau Collection now intends to acquire a 100%, and towards the middle of the year, the personnel carousel begins to turn much faster....
We also once again look forward to the small conference "Spotlight Hotel Investment Poland" on June 16, 2015, in the Westin Hotel Warsaw. You want to know more about this promising market? Join this interesting one-day conference. Further details on our Page 1. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Of the international MICE destinations, Germany still occupies pole position - and even achieved new records in 2014. Recent data on the strengths and weaknesses of the hotel scene were presented at the IMEX in Frankfurt this week. A negative point: the snail's pace of hoteliers in online matters.
By contrast, the decisiveness of Omer Kaddouri sounds more high-speed: The CEO of the Arabian Rotana Hotels will begin expansion towards Europe. He wants to appear with "Family & Friends". What that means, he explained at the ATM in Dubai.
Following our Dubai excursion at the beginning of May, Susanne Stauss and I have today summarised several developments in the Middle East. There's no escaping the superlative projects, but they make increasingly sceptical. The chains obviously take a less restrictive view and do whatever their Arabian investors demand: they even dilute their brands. Accor is a good example here. Positive: Countries like Croatia see how GCC guests enjoy travel and have their own ideas here.
Instead of complaining about Airbnb & Co, one Spaniard took another look: Kike Sarasola first founded a hotel group and then bought up private apartment providers. Now, the customer finds both in the city and the hotel reception also takes responsibility for apartment bookings etc. Sarasola is, by the way, an Olympic rider and not a hotelier. What does that tell us?
Happier customers are loyal customers, this was the finding of the VDR with respect to business travel. But that would certainly also apply to other areas? Booking.com still has to learn though: The OTA again attempted this week to lead German hoteliers on to thin ice in terms of parity clauses. The German Hotel Association is clear in its response. – The full editorial…

Dear Insiders,
Today, there'll be moans and criticisms. Article 1: The old hotel industry which we all know is a thing of the past. Hoteliers without an online strategy will die - of IT failure. Lateral thinker Marco Nussbaum tells us in a guest contribution today what annoys him about the constant moaning from his colleagues with regard to the OTAs. Very readable!
Article 2: The Italians are fed up too. They no longer want to be the football of tax rules, OTAs and Sharing Economy. However, there's no silver lining on the horizon for them. Performance figures from the sector for the period between January and April are thin. Massimiliano Sarti was at the Federalberghi's annual conference.
Article 3: The contribution on the new "future hotel" in Vienna prompted a comment from me; our correspondent Fred Fettner describes what the German Fraunhofer Institute has taught the Austrian 3-star family hotel through a piece of research on "innovation". What has been developed there over seven years has long been replaced. The future can look so old. And even if the parties involved praise the online check-in with direct check-in in the room, the overall impression remains disappointing.
And in the news this week: In Italy, Atahotels and UNA Hotels have merged and therefore form one of the biggest chains in the country; in the CEE countries, the large cities at least celebrate a recovery; in the US, it has been shown that a two-brand concept in one complex can have very different results; we shortly introduce the new investment company Lapithus; a new Amsterdam market report says that hostels challenge budget hotels there; and a study on cruise ships questions current emissions practices. Last remark about yesterday's news: The European Union approved the compromise of the EU Package Travel Directive. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Irrespective of the other tourism events in Dubai last week, I was able to meet Alejandro Bernabé there, the new CEO of Kempinski Hotels. He's been in office for the past seven months. And it was his first official interview. Reto Wittwer's successor often used terms like flexibility, dynamism, quality, cost-efficiency... in short: The luxury hotel group must sharpen its profile. Yet the hotel group is to remain European, in spite of the CEO's move to a new office in Bangkok together with three revenue-driving departments. Rumours that Kempinski was for sale were also dispelled.
In Dubai, Susanne Stauss and I gathered both global as well as regional trends – presented by a political analyst from South Africa and the Euromonitor data research institute. It is simply good to think out of the box and ask yourself to what degree masses of Chinese travellers and crazy mobile millennials affect your own business. And whether the US are truly about to transform into a bike nation. Only one thing is certain: the markets are experiencing rapid changes, not only on a regional but also on a global scale.
From 2016, all companies in Austria will have to have a rethink. As of then, the Barrier-Free Access Act will enter into force after a long transition period. What is reasonable here? Whilst the sector gets all hot under the collar, individual hoteliers/hotel groups and online platforms inspire confidence with their own barrier-free or barrier-friendly solutions.
In other news, the InterContinental Davos has lost a considerable sum through the recent insolvency of its leaseholder Stilli Park; in Amsterdam, the German Maritim Group has a mega convention hotel in its sights and has signed a 50-year lease agreement for this purpose; the Italian transaction market is recovering slightly and in today's colourful mix of news, you will also find first quarter results from various hotel groups. And taking a look at IT, consolidation goes on: Sabre is buying GDS Abacus and Priceline is purchasing Pricematch.
In our office, the words Expo Real are now being heard ever more often. 21 companies have already registered for the "World of Hospitality" joint stand during the real estate fair in October. The hospitality magnet continues to grow! Anyone looking to join the stand or advertise its brand as sponsor still has a little time. The deadline moves closer. – The full editorial…

Dear Insiders,
This year, two members of the hospitapityInside editorial team send their regards from Dubai as Susanne joins me! The photo of us, taken yesterday in the new Four Seasons at Jumeirah Beach, is a reference to the golden age which one could again begin to believe has returned to this city. Yet the system has obviously come up against its limits; Dubai threatens to cannibalise itself. This is also felt in the hotel industry where the hotel density continues to rise. Family travel and midscale hotels are to balance all of this out. An initial sentiment report supplemented by many small releases today in the News Mix Middle East. More in subsequent editions.
Sarah Douag has once again taken looked at the EU "leaks" on the issue of OTAs which we reported on briefly last week. The facts show how OTAs are taking control of distribution across the whole of Europe. Sarah has also analysed the new page of Booking.com for Business.
Fred Fettner's contribution this week is on "social hotels" - a continuation of our story on the Embrace Hotel Association last week. In the Viennese Hotel MagDas, asylum-seekers look after guests. Obviously, more social and charitable organisations are moving into the hotel business.
Also this week, Best Western explains how its new country structure will be. An Italian study looks at the Sharing Economy during the Expo Milan. And the EU takes a more soft approach to the industry than some had feared with its new All-Inclusive Travel Directive. Enjoy reading!

Brussels. This week, The Austrian Hotel Association published a leaked document issued by the EU last February. The report revels details how highly concerned commissioners in Brussels are about "big data".

Dear Insiders,
In the "War of Talents", the embarrassments are always the same - and in talk rounds hotel groups aren't making a very good impression at all. Every millennial, however naive, notices just how outdated the hotel industry's ideas are; that it flatly refuses to pay higher salaries and that it fails to take the career wishes of young talent seriously.
All the more refreshing then is the new "Motel One University" in Munich. Of all hotel groups, it's a budget chain which has now decided to invest heavily in a unique modular concept that encourages every member of staff from basic training to BA degree. This will cost Motel One EUR 3.5 million each year. Employees pay nothing. Motel One motivates towards loyalty. This will secure their "human capital".
"As guest welcome, as person desired" is the motto of the seven-year-old consortium Embrace. Its 42 hotels and restaurants employ disabled workers and introduce them to "totally normal" guests. All of these perform a valuable social service. President Martin Buenk explains.
In other news, the DZT forecasts that German tourism will continue to grow based on new figures. And in the world of distribution a "leak" causes a stir: The EU Commission warns of TripAdvisor and Booking - read the full paper here; the background will follow next week.
Expedia, HRS, Starwood and soon also Accor have already jumped on the Apple Watch waggon; Cornell professors warn of offering the traveller useless gimmicks... A new study also shows how future traveller types will look - somewhat between "sharing" and ego-oriented pleasure. The German procurement company Progros will in future expand its European radius, and the German Association for Travel Management seeks political influence in Berlin.
And news from the chains yesterday: In view of falling results in the first quarter, Starwood Hotels is now considering everything to satisfy its shareholders: From divestment to the acquisition of another chain, anything is possible. That and more in today's News Mix.
And for everyone on our page 1: the results from the hospitalityInside INVESTMENT BAROMETER from spring 2015 - inter alia on the issue of return expectations - as well as first report on the 4th World Tourism Forum in Lucerne last week whose contents weren't quite so convincing but which nonetheless is not making its way to the Far East. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
EU countries again apply a double standard: For me, the story to get your blood boiling this week is the different treatment of Booking.com. Italy, France and Sweden allow what is prohibited in Germany. Hotrec met yesterday in Luxembourg and is discussing the issue. The background and details.
Accor has again bought-in expertise, this time in IT. Fastbooking is also based in Paris. Strategist Sébastien Bazin therefore increases the speed on the data highway, as he said right from the very start.
And Moxy is now also really getting going. Investor Vastint may in future continue to build its pre-fab models, though other investors and leaseholders may build together with franchise partner Marriott using conventional construction methods. Accordingly, Moxy no longer has to do without city locations. The gates here were opened by German project developer GBI. And by the way, Chairman Nittka and other construction experts see no cost advantage to the pre-fab method of construction.
In Vienna, hoteliers recently protested against the VAT hike. Now they register their frustration with the smoking ban set to apply from 2018. And in Munich, hoteliers also took to the streets - and protested against the bureaucratic rules on documentation brought in with the minimum wage.
TV talkshows are meanwhile focussing public attention on migrants. We asked Germany's largest convention hotel, the Estrel Berlin, Lindner, Maritim and Steigenberger Hotels how they attract foreign apprentices and how they integrate  them into the company.
What poverty really means is hardly possible for a European to comprehend. But help is on the way: Slum tourism is booming. But is it right to make money from the plight of the world's poorest? A sensitive subject.
If you have time in mid-June and Poland is your target market, then you could be interested in the second "Spotlight Poland" investment conference. New contacts await! More on this on page 1.- The full editorial...

Dear Insiders,
The internet and IT wave has created new jobs: in revenue management. These experts have become very expensive as they offer special knowledge. Healthy competition has started between the classical distribution representatives and the new revenue strategists. Accor, Rezidor, Pandox and HMG talk about structures, two headhunters about salaries.
Patrick Fitzgibbon, Senior VP Development, provides a short insight into the development plans of Hilton Europe, especially the ones concerning Doubletree, and he naturally advertises the new brands Curio and Canopy.
Four weeks ago, Schloss Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen opened its "Elmau Retreat": 47 new suites, a luxury spa, and a living-room lobby with a view to the Bavarian mountains. This way, Germany has received its first luxury resort within a resort. This is an overdue new standard – on an international basis, it has existed for a long time.
The retreat was already planned before the decision was made to hold the G7 summit at the hideaway in the Bavarian Alps. Dietmar Mueller-Elmau is experiencing stressful days, his colleague Dr. Jakob Edinger of the neighbouring hotel Das Kranzbach still has peace and quiet. Extensive construction measures have already torn open the valley, security measures are slowly increasing now. A visit on site.
HRS is establishing a tighter network in the US, now also through a joint venture with GDS Travelport. 25hours is flirting with a hotel in New York too – as well as at other European locations. The skiing location Saalbach-Hinterglemm is acting as a pilot region in order to be able to create the first benchmark for leisure hotels. Steigenberger expands further – a location in Munich has finally been secured. Starwood Hotels introduced its second brand for independent hotels yesterday - Tribute Portfolio. Warimpex, Grand Resort Ragaz and Ringhotels published their business figures for 2014; Dorint Hotels only published those for 2013. Immerse yourself in the details! – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Notions of gigantism won't cease in the hotel industry. Incited by the Sheikh of Dubai, Remo Stoffel from Switzerland wants to build a 381-metre-tall hotel tower in the small mountain village of Vals. And his guests will arrive solely by helicopter. That screams out for protest, and initial experts are already advising against erecting the tower. It seems, big men are playing their sandbox games based on "my village, my tower, my hotel ..."
In Vienna, yesterday, the second demonstration took place against the planned VAT increase from 10 to 13 percent. Not only do representatives of OEHV, the Austrian hotelier association, participate, but also the hoteliers themselves. There is enormous frustration, as even more burdens are looming on the horizon – and they will drive a good many businesses into a true struggle for survival.
The hotel sector is subject to massive pressure from all sides. And on top of that, there are new market participants such as sharing economy players. At the ITB hotel conference, an illustrious discussion panel tried to find positive approaches for the industry, while a new survey by DICON in Berlin addresses analogies and differences. I think it's quite reassuring that it becomes obvious that sharing platforms remain a technology variation with a limited offer. What’s more: the market researches show that the allegedly "social world" is nothing but controlled social control. Who wants that? Surely no one in Europe. In this context, a discussion at ESSEC Paris became exciting: Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin and Olivier Grémillon, Managing Director EMEA, Airbnb talked about similarities and differences.
The fact that the German cartel office holds Booking.com at bay concerning parity regulations just as it did with HRS is fine. Expedia will be the next platform on the list. However, the hotel industry should finally strengthen direct selling. And stop moaning. After all, 2014 was a very good year for the hotel industry, at least in Germany. The fifth in a row!
In Austria, surprisingly Belgians and Dutch have entirely compensated the lack of Russian guests during the winter season! In this respect, there are several pieces of good news today and a few colourful ones as well.
Last but not least, I don't want to miss the opportunity to point to the forthcoming "World Tourism Forum" in Lucerne that will tackle big challenges like talent management, innovation and sustainability in an international circle on April 23 and 24. – The full editorial …