Editorial
Dear Insiders,
The announcement of the second new TUI hotel brand "Sensimar" sounds as poor as the announcement of the first leisure lifestyle budget brand "aqi" a few weeks ago. A clearly distinguishing profile from other already existing brands is not visible. And once again, TUI offers no details - as it probably doesn't know any itself. Thomas Cook does not sound stronger; yesterday the TUI competitor announced also a new hotel brand called "Sentido". This is no coincidence.
Both our wellness reports today show that competition in the well-being hotels has become reality. The Swiss industry association of hotelleriesuisse tightened its wellness criteria in order to provide transparency in the quagmire. For the successful hoteliers in the market, Bianca Spalteholz, our distribution expert, provides tips on how to increase their success with the aid of revenue and yield management. But seriously, did your spa manager ever try to sell treatments more expensively during peak times? What would your guests say to this? The results-oriented approach in the calculation of spa treatments is a real challenge.
Increasing turnover not cost savings is the approach of the Zarges von Freyberg Consulting in Munich, founded nine months ago. We introduce the "newcomers" of the upper hotel industry to you: they have been the first German consultancy as a partner of the Leading Hotels of the World for a week now.
At the small chain "Ghotel", all hell has broken loose: the former Posthotels are very agile. Either they want to expand or be bought. This is market-oriented thinking!
The Hospitality Alliance AG, only known as Ramada licensee up to now, is starting its own budget brand; Germany was a top holiday destination in the first half of the year, and Moevenpick and Scandic are happy about good results. Under the news, you will find more interesting reports.
And last, but not least: hospitalityInside invites you to a new special interest trip to Dubai! From January 9 to 14, 2009, we shall be combining sightseeing with expert discussions. Each day of the program has a special motto and, for our guests, we are inviting experts from the hotel industry and the economy to Dubai. Get to know "hospitality inside Dubai" and find valuable contacts. Read more in the column "readers' trip."
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Any questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The personnel roundabout was spinning this week at Starwood, Hilton, Wyndham, Worldhotels and Barwa.... The position of CEO is still vacant at Wyndham.
Alain Leibman has probably been performing some crisis management this week: A fire broke out at the showpiece resort Atlantis, probably due to construction works. Nonetheless, the hotel would open as planned in 19 days, said the General Manager. Dubai insiders doubt it.
In four weeks, the Expo Real Munich will open its gates once more - offering expanded exhibition space of eight halls and a hotel conference whose programme has been organised by hospitalityInside.com for the first time. Take a look at the programme of the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" on the web and note the panel discussions. Industry experts unlikely to be met elsewhere have promised to come. The introduction into the topic will be a contribution about the investment trend in the first six months of 2008.
The "ITB Asia" is also approaching - in late October, the Berlin trade fair is venturing a beginning with an accompanying congress programme. hospitalityInside.com will be on site for you as media partners and will follow trends and developments.
In Germany, the busy consultant Stephan Gerhard found some time to give us a detailed report on the changes in his company. The Treugast is only a supporting pillar for him, as he is increasingly engaged in interests in hospitality companies.
Princess Helen zu Oettingen Wallerstein is also looking for a way into the hotel industry - this is why we are introducing to you the interior designer with a love for historical buildings in the "Newcomer" column.
In contrast to this, the report by our colleague Fred Fettner is almost frustrating. A survey in Austria has shown that nearly half of all entrepreneurs in the field of tourism have chosen their profession due to family reasons - and not due to passion or talent. I think this result can probably be transferred to Germany and Switzerland as well. This is maybe the reason why the medium-sized companies in these countries are so shy towards innovation and inflexible with respect to everyday business. On the other hand, they often invest millions in new concepts - without having analysed the market in detail beforehand.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Summer drama revolving around the Atlantic Kempinski Hamburg: thanks to the supposedly "lost 5th star", the run-down building of the luxury hotel has entered the limelight. Now Kempinski, the operator, is putting pressure on the owner Bock. And this brings us to the key question: how long are owners allowed to let their hotel buildings bleed white?
There is another drama behind the scenes at Best Western: supposedly eight million guest data were offered for sale in the cyber underground. Data theft has occurred at the Marriott Vacation Club in the US or Sol Kerzner as well in the past. The alarming fact though about Best Western is that the group does not tire to claim that the originator of this news is unreliable, and at the same time admit that there was a hacker attack at a German hotel. Best Western does not officially deal with the issue in detail.
The different explanations for the delay of the MBA for business travel management are just a minor summer drama. The Business Travel Association of Germany was seemingly informed too quickly and badly. Our editor Baerbel Schwertfeger received some strange answers.
Our real estate specialist Karin Krentz has had a sceptical eye on business methods of rating agencies. Although not too many hotel groups are listed at Moody's and similar agencies, you will get a highly interesting insight into the working methods and backgrounds of analysts who decide on the fate of real estate through a thumbs up-thumbs-down procedure.
And finally, we pose the question today as to whether life is better with or without the stock exchange. Stock exchange newcomer Rezidor thinks positively about it of course, while stock exchange veterans like Moevenpick or Four Seasons are of a different opinion.
And in the end, our smaller news show that the summer holidays seem to be truly over....
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Two industry greats celebrated their birthdays this week: On 15th August in London, Moevenpick founder Ueli Prager turned 92 - in Moevenpick's 60th anniversary year. Annemarie Steigenberger also celebrated her 80th birthday yesterday together with her family near Rome - in the 79th year of the Steigenberger hotel group. hospitalityInside.com wishes many happy returns!
Someone else congratulated Ted Teng, the new CEO of Leading Hotels, from New York: Fred Kleisner, CEO of Morgans Hotel Group, was Teng's superior at Wyndham. He sent the following to hospitalityInside.com: "Ted Teng is a perfect choice to take Leading Hotels to their next level - He has a broad rage of talent and should not be "branded" in any way. Ted is both a strategic and tactical thinker Leading Hotel is blessed to have him at the helm!" I was fortunate enough to meet Ted Teng for the first time in the informal surroundings of the last European meeting held by the Cornell Hotel Society in Vienna. This autumn, we'll meet again, this time in a more formal capacity. More then.
One reader, who grew up in the hotel industry and who today is a self-employed hotel marketing professional, commented on the serious complaints of "exploited" staff in our recent article on employer rankings with the words: "That was no different in my day either. The better the hotel, the worse the staff conditions."
Perhaps a few employers have learnt a thing or two from the article. Today, our correspondent Baerbel Schwertfeger takes a look at cross-industry employer competitions. And has found only two hotel groups willing to take part. Yet both of these speak of huge image improvements, also in respect of existing staff. All the same, colleagues urge caution in the choice of the right ranking.
Many speak of "green" or "environmentally friendly" labels. Today, we explain what exactly is behind the American label LEED and how the new quality certificate for sustainable in Germany will look like.
In this week's edition, we also take a look at a trend in real estate development: the three-way relationship between owner, lessee and franchisor. More and more global players concentrate efforts more closely on pushing their own brand - leaving the operation of the hotels to "nameless" hotel groups under franchise agreements. We took a look at the model and asked the parties involved for their opinions.
Enjoy the read!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Ted Teng is the 6th President of Leading Hotels of the World since the association was founded 80 years ago. Statistically, each President was in office for 13.3 years at the head of the marketing association. The face and origin of the American with Asian roots indicate new momentum. The 52-year old looks back on a classical chain hotel career: Sheraton, Westin, Starwood, Wyndham. In addition, he knows America and Asia like the back of his hand and he is an expert in brands and real estate. Therefore, everybody is anxious to know what "the new one" is planning to do with the individualist private hoteliers at Leading... Jean-Jacques Gauer, Chairman of the Leading Executive Committee, will familiarise Ted Teng with the association - and afterwards, he will think about his withdrawal, as the well-known Swiss hotelier revealed in an interview. Then it will become exciting once more; finally this position is among the subtly influential ones in the global luxury hotel network.
The concierge services also build on this network in the end. The "wish managers" know no limits, but they definitely feel new trends: ever more guests are willing to pay more for services. Leading Hotels observe this trend with respect to their Loyalty Club, and a concierge agency in Frankfurt construed an extensive business model for private and business customers based on it. Concierges are becoming "life coaches" - and are creating new customer relations beyond the hotel borders. A trend that is slowly taking shape.
Another quite negative trend is also on the rise: an increasing number of employees are complaining about their employers and hotels online and in public. They describe screaming housekeepers, talk about mobbing and exploitation. The hoteliers themselves react rather helplessly towards these anonymous accusations, as our editor Baerbel Schwertfeger found out. But what is permitted and what is contestable in legal terms? A complicated issue: read for yourself.
Compared to that, Seminaris Hotels are in rather calm waters. A new article in our "Small chain" series. And Managing Director Guenther Strube shows once again that it is possible to make a good living in the market niche with clearly distinctive seminar and conference hotels.
And you will find several interesting issues in the smaller articles, too...
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Ideas? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Today, on 8th August 2008, the registry offices will be full and many hotels have arranged wedding parties. The unique combination of numbers is the reason for couples to get married and not superstition. This is different in China. For thousands of years, the number 8 has been dominated by mysticism in China: This is the reason why the Summer Olympic Games start today, on 8th August 2008, at exactly 8:08 am and 8 seconds. The magic number stands for "no problems" or "success" and also "wealth". As such, the hotels in the land of the rising sun still have the chance to improve their weak numbers. Latest US statistics report a decrease in occupancy and in RevPar for the first half of the year.
When there are hotels, there is also a need for staff. In the whole of Asia, millions of employees are needed, and the training of the junior staff as well as managers is a sensitive topic. Today, the Dean of the Cornell branch in Singapore speaks about the situation in Asia and the courses offered by her university, where a Master course is also suitable for western employees.
In October, Singapore will be the venue for the first "ITB Asia". As we are a media partner of this trade fair premiere, we would like to re-emphasise the added value of this trade fair week, which incorporates not only one but four events revolving around the topics technology, MICE, leisure and business travel.
A study carried out by the Lausanne Hotel School show that the ideas of a new generation of hotels can massively change the hotel product. The school's students "connected" the guests with each other and used the intranet to re-vitalize the hotel. This is brain food for established hoteliers!
Just as the students use technology as a vehicle to achieve a new quality in dealing with guests, spas already belong to the hotel sectors where the staff quality plays a decisive role when it comes to the turnover. Our editorial expert Judy Singer, international spa consultant for 25 years, gives concrete tips as to how hotel managers should deal with spa employees.
German health spas have not reached the "software" yet. The majority of them still are absolutely average when it comes to strategy, offers and infrastructure. This was the result of an analysis carried out by the Treugast consultancy: Its health spa ranking speaks volumes. Treugast presented its first ranking at the ITB; at that time, due to our ITB commitment, we only had little time to address the details of the ranking. We would like to provide this information in today's article. And the analysis of Treugast is more detailed and concrete today as well.
I wish you a good week filled with Olympic records!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Next Friday will see the beginning of the Olympic Games in Beijing. The Olympic torch has already cast many a shadow, and now it looks like expectations of the hotel industry will not be met either - at least from a western point of view. Beijing has too many beds, even if they should be sold out during the Olympic Games for many days at premium rates. Whist reviewing the individual elements of our article on China today, I get the impression that the Middle Kingdom will soon be a hotel kingdom of average, and hoteliers will probably be involved in price wars at dumping rates much quicker than elsewhere - due the general conditions for travellers in China being far more difficult. But it also illustrates the ever-returning madness that has investors building only due to a single event, and then probably putting all the blame on the operator.
Perhaps, the Chinese would have been better off building the mobile rooms of Travelodge from the UK. This new hotel type comes to where the guests are, i.e. the event. They cost less and probably cause less damage. Anyway, we will keep the bed in the box "under surveillance".
How flexible are investors and operators when it comes to designing an agreement? Hotour Consultancy tried to find out with a diploma thesis. The result is quite sobering, as you might have guessed. An investor remains an investor and an operator an operator. And the figures have confirmed this fact. Read for yourself!
In Austria, hoteliers have laid the foundations to ensure that the winter sport destination of Serfaus enjoys a successful summer season. At destinations that will definitely have to deal with climate warming, Serfaus proves to be a role model.
You can find further "hot" news in our small news...
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Are your BBQs in demand, too? Barbecues are becoming increasingly popular this summer, says the Institut Allensbach in a new survey... But that is only a marginal note. There is some news from Choice Hotels concerning expansion and brand development. In order to cover some more ground, the franchise chain is following various approaches. The drawback: even for insiders, things are getting ever more confusing.
A survey of the Munich University of Applied Sciences confirmed findings in the development of the luxury hotel market. An interesting fact: when it comes to defining luxury, chain hotels put more emphasis on technology, while individual hotels set greater store by personal service. Burkhard von Freyberg, who has been working as a freelance consultant since the turn of the year, analysed this in collaboration with the Munich University of Applied Sciences.
hospitalityInside.com introduces the new "Newcomer" column today: in this section, we will introduce people who have changed positions or slipped into a new role or who have newly entered the market. They may be company consultants, real estate developers or even young chairmen - like Markus Semer: 32 years old and Strategy Chairman of Kempinski Hotels since May. He "translates" the visions of CEO Reto Wittwer incorporating them into the planning of the group.
A newcritical view of existing tourism architecture in our cities and towns would benefit all parties involved, says leisure time researcher Felizitas Romeiss-Stracke. She knows that the travellers have increasing demands regarding the architectural design of travel destinations. She calls it "depression architecture" which confronts travellers nowadays. In her new book, she demands that the design of buildings, places and areas lead to a plus in competition for tourists.
And as summer time is also holiday time, we are presenting a new judgment about an old question: Are parents allowed to take unused holiday even after parental leave? Our legal expert knows the answer.
Have a successful week.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Ideas? Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The gas coupon was only meant to be a PR gag, but now it turns out to be attracting guests in weak times. With this idea, a hotelier is tapping the pulse of the guests. We have asked tour operators and hotel groups about the effects of the increasing gas and kerosene prices on German travel behaviour. 2009 seems to become a tough year for resort hoteliers.
The next summer season is to confirm the new "Hideaways" concept of A-rosa Resorts. After separating from its city hotels, the resort hotel group of Horst Rahe is restructuring its marketing policy starting from scratch. A-rosa's focus on health is reduced.
For the designers of the new 25hours in Frankfurt, the design of the new, unpretentious hotel next to the main station was almost self-explanatory. Their partner, Levi's, gave clear guidelines. The famous jeans brand was customised for young guests and for those who have stayed young; the result is the first Levi's hotel in the world. How do you convert this cult brand into a lobby or hotel room? The Managing Director of Levi's gives an explanation.
The visual appearance of the 25hours by Levi's is the result of an inspiration of creative designers. Big chains opening new hotels "on the assembly line" subject to the constraint of company standards always have strict guidelines for designers. They can select individual modules from so-called "construction kits". Among others, Le Méridien, Best Western and IHG explain their strategies.
The autumn conferences are coming: the International Hotel Conference in Rome is booked up once more. And as a consequence, there will be much accolade for Georg Rafael, who will receive this years "International Hotelier Global Citizen" award. Again, hospitalityInside.com will be media partner of this event.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
A question from an Austrian reader about "the Lindner who is so quickly expanding in Austria" gave me cause to talk with one of the most creative German hoteliers about the dry topic of finance. And so I learned how the family run hotel group had made the transition from lease to management company and had profited from synergies within its own company network - e.g. fund finance. Otto Lindner is among the most communicative hoteliers in the country; a man who speaks freely and with an open hand. Lindner Hotels & Resorts has tripled in size over the last eight years; now the German first class chain has set its sights on expanding abroad.
The biggest hotel group in Austria, Austria Trend Hotels, profited greatly from the Football European Cup and plans on expanding more rapidly abroad - also with partner Motel One at its side. Although ATH's attention falls again and again to the resorts, the Group sees its focus firmly fixed on city hotels in the future, also in Eastern Europe.
That the expansion desires of the luxury chains surpass market needs is being felt quiet markedly by Elmar Greif in St. Petersburg. He first got to know the Tsar city as Kempinski GM; today, he lives and works for the second time in St- Petersburg. Now he intends setting up his own hotel academy.
Quite apart from Russia's St Petersburg, the Ukraine has a dearth of hotels. International brand names are few and far between. Our correspondent Macy Marvel, Professor of Economics at the Hotel Academy in Lausanne takes a look at the hotel market in the Ukraine.
Until next Friday!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief
Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com