Editorial

Dear Insiders, After a turbulent 12 months, our impression is that 2010 has for many hotels been much more difficult than expected... We will give more details here in our annual review 2010 in January. Today, in our last edition of 2010, Munich-based Consultant Dr Joerg Frehse takes a critical look at movements on the investment markets, primarily on the Anglo-Americanisation…In contrast, we also bring you some lighter reading – on hotel shops. The tills are ringing towards Christmas. The spectrum of these shops meanwhile reaches from large boutiques to lifestyle shops with milk bars and the small stores. In early 2011, the ITB and thus the 6th "ITB Hospitality Day" will take place. hospitalityInside will be exclusive media partner for the 6th time and will organise topics and participants – the programme and first guests are already fixed. In April, we will also be at the "World Tourism Forum" in Lucerne as media partner…About Solutions today: Our partner hotelbau interviewed Hans Rudolf Woehrl for the January issue. Following retail and airline business, he steps into the hotel industry now. For us too, a dynamic year is drawing to a close. We are grateful for the recognition and respect we have meanwhile gained within the industry and which is an incentive for the entire hospitalityInside team to continue to be there for you every Friday also in 2011… The new year will also bring new activities: Have a look at our first page, at the announcements about the 1st ITB hospitalityInside Special and the details of the 1st hospitality joint stand at Expo Real 2011! I would like to say a heartfelt thank you here to all our readers, friends and supporters, as well as to our staff here in Augsburg as well as to our freelancers in other editorial offices, to our editorial experts and to our translators – and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Chains are not the only ones that come up with new brands, private hoteliers like Harald Ultsch from Innsbruck also have “ideas for new systems”, create new brands and even hire top designers such as Philippe Starck. TUI also created two new hotel brands for 2011. Also, tour operators are currently competing for exclusivity and target groups – for me, these are simply two new euphemisms for increased cutthroat competition. Today, three spa experts take a look at the status quo of spa development about 10 years after the big boom.And last but not least we take a look back on 75 years of Swiss tourism statistics, a piece of Swiss history. Of course, there is also lots of other interesting news.And how do you create synergies from sustainability, design and guest orientation? On our “Solutions” microsite, Siemens Hospitality shows how hoteliers can put their product in perspective and create an atmosphere of well-being and even save energy in doing so. Immerse yourself in the new hotel LED world.We won’t say goodbye yet for the Christmas holiday, as hospitalityInside will be appearing on your desktop next Friday one more time… - To the full editorial.

Dear Insiders, A little scepticism remains, though the outlook for 2011 is good: Investors are again buying hotels. Our colleague Beatrix Boutonnet provides a snapshot of the current state of play. Matthias Buchholz too, Consultant with Kohl & Partner in Vienna, draws his own conclusions – on the development of health tourism: Expectations have up to now not been fulfilled! For this reason, he provides reason for thought with five theses. Managers are dismissed or go "voluntarily". The reasons for this often include more than physical exhaustion. Franz Josef Koenig, an expert for System Management and the former Accor Manager Marc Hildebrand describe an industry that has lost its balance. The victims? Chain hotel managers. Helmuth Herfurth has left a chain in order to set up his own group: Advena Hotels. Nevertheless, he's still proud in the knowledge that it was Hyatt that recognised his skills. A Managing Director will presumably resign from Dorint Hotels today, and Leading Hotels present their new focus… - To the full editorial.

Dear Insiders, With every new CEO, a new future begins – also for Steigenberger. Arco Buijs, who I met this week, made a very confident and competent impression. He gave a preview of Steigenberger's future. By contrast, owner Hamed El Chiaty grants little insight into his future planning – up to now he has not come out in public with his commitment to Steigenberger.Because Thomas Althoff finds it more difficult to expand with his 5-star gourmet hotels than with the 4-star business hotels, he has now modified his Ameron brand...Google is taking the world by storm with many "trailblazing" innovations – with respect to Google Streetview, though, there's hardly been a ripple in the industry.The "bed tax" will be a headache in future too; creative people at the recent travel managers' meeting relabelled it "mattress toll". It sounds funny but is a politicians' revenge on the back of an entire industry.Marco Nussbaum is already practising the future: He lives social media every day. Now, in order to inspire and transfer interest to his colleagues, he will report regularly - and exclusively for hospitalityInside.com - on short episodes from his day-to-day on the Web… He greets you today with "Good Morning, Social Media!" - To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Hilton Worldwide now believes in the announced opening date of its two Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn hotels at Frankfurt Airport. In July 2011, the construction disaster of the “Airrail Center” on top of the ICE train station is finally to come to an end. One of our articles thus deals with just this particular construction disaster while another one covers Hilton Hotels. Olivier Harnisch, VP Operations, talks about the Squaire’s “brand package”, Hilton’s new preference for cluster hotels and synergies. A current survey about hotels among individual travellers shows that 3-star hotels are the most wanted category of all - and that hotels are almost exclusively picked and booked online.Time and again, it's all about synergies just as with the Asian hotel groups: They are slowly feeling their way forward from East to West, hoping for synergies. Susanne Stauss asked the big Asian names about their current state of expansion. Furthermore, there are exciting staff developments at the Capella Hotel at Lake Woerther as well as at Steigenberger and Leading Hotels. - To the full editorial...

Dear Insiders, Today, franchising is our main subject with three contributions. We are accessing this matter more deeply by means of a survey conducted among large franchisors and franchisees; banks, consultants and auditors have also commented on this agreement and relationship pattern. The statements made by the "big names".Two weeks ago, German BBG Consulting published a critical chapter on the subject of costs and benefits of franchising – including a calculation example. We asked Martin Bowen, Franchise Developer at IHG, to comment on the consultants' contribution. The third focus contribution today describes how franchising "feels" from the guest's perspective.Last but not least, a subject, which should be interesting to all: how much are Twitter and other social media being used at events? A study shows the result.Moreover: the Louvre Group and Warimpex are finally launching their budget hotels, the Austrians are getting rid of their trade fairs, and a personnel shuffle is taking place among Dorint's general managers… - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Over 1,000 Berliners booked a hotel in their own city last week. The creative campaign by Berlin Tourism Marketing was introduced to boost "domestic tourism". On a global perspective, however, Europe will still find it difficult to achieve the record figures posted before the crisis. Trends from the WTM in London and the Pisa Convention of tourism experts.There is still scepticism with regard to the unexpectedly dynamic recovery of the tourism sector. The situation in the real estate and hotel market remains volatile!Just how difficult it can be to earn money is illustrated in a further article on the marketing of Vacation Ownership models. Anyone looking to step into this sales machine must be able to withstand pressure. By contrast, one particularly circumspect entrepreneur from the Bavarian Forest doesn't wish to allow any pressure to build up at all. From its very inception, he's been keen to have the Bio Kids' Resort planned and constructed with regard for sustainability. And of course, like every week, there's also a range of interesting news articles.- To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Dubai is finally becoming an affordable destination. And since the start of the crisis, more and more developers and operators have dedicated themselves to the budget and mid-class segment. The segment is growing. Today, each hotel category tries to participate in the business of their counterparts - this is what Asia’s luxury MICE hotels have learnt. A panel discussion at the ITB Asia mentioned some findings, while further talks explain the new heyday of Singapore.Our “Small chains” series aims at drawing attention to some less well-known names. In complete silence, some highly successful groups are on the rise, such as Star Inn. Travel Charme belongs to the rather modest players on the German-speaking resort hotel market. I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of its new hotel in Kleinwalsertal, Austria. The Ifen Hotel, a true hotel legend, has been reborn. Sustainable success results from details, not from standardization.The dismissal of Gilles Pélisson, CEO of Accor was already rumored in Paris this summer. But the true reason behind his departure is hard to find out. Furthermore our „Solutions“ Partner hotelbau presents the new mega project at the Frankfurt airport, where operator Hilton will occupy two hotels. - To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Hervé Humler came to Ritz-Carlton as "no. 4" in its ranks. Now, he's President – and he told us just how the luxury group is doing now. My stay in Singapore last week was a far cry from Ritz-Carlton service standards. Notes from a business traveller here. The developments at ITB Asia, which again "experimented" with new contents and offers, were then even more satisfying. Positive comments from exhibitors were also in the majority. The International Hotel Conference in Venice was less successful though, as our correspondent Guy Dittrich reported. There too, he felt a cautious optimism, whilst the conference itself suffered under the consequences of the crisis.My colleague Baerbel Schwertfeger visited Lebanon – and returned quite shocked by the still very blatant contradictions between the war-torn facades and top-modern luxury hotels. And as always, a colourful selection of international news. - To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, a modern destination resort is to be made of the Swiss mountain village of Andermatt. In the centre of Qatar's capital city, Doha, a new city district is also being built. Both projects are to be completed in 2016, cost billions and follow a simple goal - to make money. Whilst the ambitious project in Andermatt is financed by an Egyptian entrepreneur, the money behind the development in Doha comes from the Sheika of Qatar. Both destinations are looking for operators... But should Andermatt and Doha become new tourism magnets, the hotels will face a very contemporary problem: They need qualified staff to meet the high demands of their guests. Just how concerned hotel representatives are today of other countries poaching important staff is illustrated in this week's edition in one of our articles about the Austrian Hotel Association. Growing personnel costs and changing guest behaviour is also accelerating the growth of budget chains in Europe. An interesting study which looks at the budget concepts developed by the brand hotel industry and how they are calculated. Yet, low-cost concepts aren't a thing of the future alone. Our author Baerbel Schwertfeger has observed how the holiday destination of Bodrum may develop to the St. Tropez of Turkey. And last but not least, a practical tip for companies: The increasing flood of documents and storage duties place ever more stringent requirements on organisation in companies. Micros-Fidelio today shows the solution. Click on Solutions! - To the full editorial…