Editorial

Dear Insiders,

Croatia has pushed its luck with Austrian hotel investors: the investors are now threatening the government with withdrawal from the market, if clear structures are not created and promises not kept. Falkensteiner is resentful too - understandably enough, as the success or failure of the mega resort Punta Scala will be decisive for the fate of the entire business.

The investors in Dubai, as already reported last week, have become quieter. As it is no longer a shame to admit the crisis and consultancies are documenting the failure in figures, everybody has become more objective. However, the self-confidence of mainly Arabian chains remains unbroken. The ones that have the money of Sheikh families in the background, are expanding. An overview of selected hotel projects shows the concentration towards the Gulf States.

The Gulf region not only builds new hotels but also architectural monuments. In this respect, Dubai and the likes are good examples showing the influence of architecture on tourism streams. When buildings tell a story, they are also successful. Our correspondent Guy Dittrich reported about this unusual subject.

The two Spanish chains NH and Sol Meliá published their quarterly results this week, and the latest departures from Wyndham have thinned out the management considerably. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Those who drive through Dubai these days, as our Editor in chief Maria Puetz-Willems does, see empty shops and deserted construction sites. The atmosphere is subdued, but not hopeless, as her report shows. Experts expect that the region will recover in the not too distant future, and a bit of humility does not do any harm either. All managers who are desperately trying to get their beds filled in Dubai at present should take the experience from the 2001 crisis to heart. It takes many years to make up major rate concessions again.

Therefore, managers who have experience with crises continue to reduce their costs rather than increase their rates. In doing so, they discover ever new potential for saving. Costs can be reduced not only in terms of goods and material employed, energy and employees, but also in distribution. Those who believe they had to join any possible reservation system in times of crisis may fall flat on their faces. Reservation systems are not emergency instruments, but they want to make money. And they demand increasingly high rates for their services. At least, this was the drift of the conversation at this week's "Pricing and Distribution Day" of HSMA Germany. In addition, there are more and more meta search engines apart from the established reservation systems listing rates of as many providers as possible as well as the cheapest one. But nothing is for free. Hoteliers have to pay them fees per hits or bookings as well.

Our article about search engine optimisation and marketing, reserched by Ralph Langrock is connected with this topics. Read the details!

Those willing to save on costs in housekeeping should not by any means dispense with quality. Two experts in this field analyse frequent mistakes made in the industry and the issue of minimum wages for you.

Do you know the difference between RevPar and TrevPar? The consultant Harald Muecke discusses the advantages and disadvantages when using these two key figures.

Latest news provides some insight into the current situation of the industry and shows trends and raises some hope. Let yourself in for some surprises. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Susanne Stauss
Senior Editor

Your comment? susanne@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The leases are to blame for the poor figures, and the pipeline which is far too big... In an interview with hospitalityInside.com, Rezidor's CFO confirms a dilemma that several hotel groups may be faced with. Revenues are currently facing a rapid decline, but Rezidor needs time to shift from the straining lease agreements to management and franchise. This consequently leads to devaluation among analysts. The "fastest growing hotel company", as the group from Brussels likes to call itself, needs to watch out not to stumble over its own legs.

The results of Q1 2009 were published the week before last. We have summarised the figures of Accor, ArabellaStarwood, Starwood, Marriott, Rezidor and Wyndham for you. They are all negative, but their range spans from "relatively bad" to "dramatically bad". Nonetheless, the results remain relative: 2008 was a record year for everyone - that should not be forgotten. A true-to-life comparison will not be possible before Q4 2009. Thus savings packages currently in the making appear partly exaggerated. As Rezidor's financial head fittingly put it two days ago: "This is the perfect moment to correct the mistakes of the past." So, how much is truly caused by the crisis and how much by mistakes made in the years before? Neither the figures nor the mangers say anything about this.

Today, we will close the post-reporting on the "ITB Hospitality Day" with a summary of the profile of "ecologic guests". Five top experts on this panel showed that an immense potential lies dormant here, but nobody books his holiday based solely on ecological aspects yet. But new online platforms will change this. By the way, our ITB reports will remain accessible for every user. And you should already note down the next hotel conference: Thursday, March 11, 2010.

In Berlin, about 100 alumni of Cornell Hotel Society came together last week in the bright sunshine. We were there as well, enjoying networking in Berlin. Next year, the Cornelians will convene in Paris for the EMEA meeting.

Please also note the following mixed news: Jumeirah enters Frankfurt, Maritim Hotels enters China, and Martin Smura allegedly exited Hotel Adlon Kempinski as proprietor's representative.

Next week, Susanne Stauss will welcome you here, as I will be in Dubai visiting the "Arabian Travel Market", taking a look at what remains of this fairy-tale land.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The "transparent" hotel has come - at least the new hotel in Sweden used a lot of glass.... For the industry, the subject of "employer branding" seems to be less transparent. Hotel managers have often emphasised that they wish to distinguish themselves because of the looming staff shortage - however, for the most part, the employers of other industries have put this into action up until now.

It is always a surprise time and again to learn of those brands which wish to expand in Germany and Europe. Among them are the IBB Hotels, introduced in our series of "small chains" today. The "small" ones are not going to make as big deals as one would expect of residences. A high-quality discussion panel at the fourth hotel conference discussed the difficulties of this business at the "ITB Hospitality Day" in Berlin. Many investors/developers do not realise that residences combined with hotel brands need a clear concept: lifestyle or real estate.

Until last Tuesday, Hilton had a concept for the lifestyle brand Denizen too. Now, the members of the Denizen team have been suspended on suspicion of corporate espionage. Starwood filed a suit against Hilton. A story that could have come straight from the movies! In secret, Falkensteiner and Managing Director Edgar van Ommen have separated, and the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm will have a new General Manager. Dark clouds are looming over the Dolder Grand in Zurich.

Many more interesting stories today! Enjoy reading,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The internet doesn't forget - and those youthful moments of madness may well come back to haunt some job applicants as human resource managers carry out internet background checks. A number of new search engines help the internet in retrieving those latent memories. But not every company checks out its applicants online. Some companies view such policies as conflicting with their own company ethic. Nevertheless, the trend is there.

The trend "back to roots!" is also seen in the new marketing campaign of Design Hotels: the hotel chain presents "originals" by video and in print: people who make and reinvigorate hotels with charm and imagination. "Made by Originals" doesn't just sound novel, it is.

Siemens Hospitality's approach to its Zeitgeist topic is just as analytic. In Siemens case, it's integrative planning. Siemens Manager Michael Hartmann explains today in an article for hospitalityInside.com, how a smooth value added chain between all parties to construction can be achieved. This requires a rethinking. But isn't the re-evaluation of opinions the very essence of the new Zeitgeist?

Students working towards a position in the hospitality industry should also be rethinking their goals today. They need to adjust their ideas of their first job to fit with the market. Flexibility is what's required. The talk and question round on the subject of "talent management" during the "ITB Hospitality Day" 2009 drew clear words from both experts taking the podium.

Marriott has a new European Director, the Gstaad Palace in Switzerland has its own district heating system, Taj has another new hotel brand and Emirates Hotels will soon have a new eco-resort on the fifth continent.

Alumni and friends of the Cornell Hotel Society will hopefully see each other at the Cornell Regional Meeting of the European Chapter in Berlin? Registration for the event is still possible.

Have a good week!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Hanns Kennedie is playing hide-and-seek - despite everyone around him is saying that last week's insolvency would be overcome with a merger soon. But why does Golden Tulip's CEO hide away? As we could not talk to him, we simply asked his business partners. They know and name details. Only few hotel managers master the game of crisis PR: persistent silence only increases the damage.

On the occasion of the Golden Tulip disaster, we took a deeper look at franchising asking the largest franchisors, namely Accor, Choice and Best Western, how they cover against weak franchisees. However, their vet of franchisees is more or less thorough.

The crisis causes problems - but there is no reason to panic. The panel discussion on "Reactions in recession" in the course of the "Hospitality Day" at the ITB Berlin was refreshingly constructive and pragmatic. Read about the solutions and logic given by top hotel managers and a consultant.

Of course, Moevenpick needs to increase its sales - especially in times of crisis. Moevenpick's CEO Jean-Gabriel Pérès makes no secret of it. Despite that, he strongly forces the strengths - and these are clearly to be found in the regional know-how of the German-Swiss group, which is in the process of "sailing across the ocean".

The market value of the Austrian Vienna International chain is obviously sounded out by Warimpex. VI head Rudolf Tucek is struggling refuting market "rumours". And the Russian Azimut chain is currently learning that its own ideas cannot always be put through on the German market. Its Managing Director in Berlin handed in his notice.

Happy Easter! And see you next Friday,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Two days ago, Golden Tulip went into voluntary receivership. New investors seem to be in sight. How strongly all 780 hotels are affected could not be clarified that quickly. More next week.

This edition is almost completely Spanish... Sol Meliá is one of those companies that doesn't communicate as intensively as its American counterparts yet still manages to impress with new approaches. Because Meliá's management is seldom seen in Germany, our correspondent Susanne Stauss travels to Seville to interview one of the company's Junior CEOs, Gabriel Escarrer Jaume. I met Meliá managers months ago at their headquarters on Mallorca. Once sitting across from them, they certainly have a number of things to say. And so this week's edition dedicates two articles to the global strategy of Spain's biggest hotel group; a strategy which has had to be amended in the face of the global economic crisis two years after its introduction. The Spanish speak of the German Innside Premium Hotels with the greatest of respect - the takeover in 2007 has itself proved to be a stroke of luck. The more puzzling it is then that the chain remained largely unknown in Germany up to now - despite operating 19 hotels on German soil.

Franklyn Hotels, also headquartered on Mallorca, were once also affiliated with Sol Meliá - as they were called Stein Hotels. Now, fresh and international wind has reached here too. Franklyn currently counts 13 boutique hotels - some of which have less than 10 rooms. Nevertheless, the chain is also very ambitious in making profits like the big chains. With finance from Asia and Arabia, they now intend push forward with expansion.

Whether and when growth poses a danger to sustainability was an aspect of the talk round on "integrated resorts" during the hotel conference "ITB Hospitality Day". Our correspondent Guy Dittrich describes the mood and contents: For some, mega resorts in Las Vegas, Singapore or Macau are the key to profit, for others the gate to a better more sustainable world. Which argument appeals more? Excerpts from this ITB session can also be seen in the video posting on the ITB congress website under this link.

And of course there's a sprinkling of news, as always! Enjoy your read.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your comment? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The global economic crisis is man-made and for this reason, no one at the IHIF or the ITB was pointing the finger. If the current situation has any positive effect at all, then this was felt in Berlin last week: Tourism and investment experts have made a return to old virtues, to modesty - and once again are focusing their attention on the market as opposed to marketing. Proof of this was that industry leaders didn't claim to know any more about how things would develop that those who discussed the situation at the stands both before and after the conferences.

Today, we've summarised the statements and the mood at the IHIF and the ITB: as of next week, we'll begin with the step by step and comprehensive summaries of the individual discussion rounds held at the once again very successful "Hospitality Day". The event attracted even more visitors than last year with its even better panels: 17 of 28 speakers were company owners, managing directors or board members.

Today, we've taken a more comprehensive look at the new Hilton lifestyle brand "Denizen", which has been introduced with much ado but still leaves many questions open.

To round off the top events in Berlin, this edition also includes a summary of recent market studies carried out by international consultancy companies.

Our shorter news also reflects the new old spirit of the ITB: For years, hotel groups have not only spoken of figures, but have been increasingly pushing contents. Out of necessity, as the details now show: Now though, it's a matter of battling the crisis with new and original ideas. Gerd Ripp, Romantik hotelier at Schloss Rheinfels in Goar, has put together and published on his website some creative ideas for the hotel industry www.wir-trotzen-der-krise.de.

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

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com