Editorial

Dear Insiders, Between the trade fairs we received an email from Frank Fiskers, CEO of Scandic Hotels, from Stockholm. In the midst of all the talk about investments and yields, he urges us to pause and reflect: in September, Frank participated at the Berlin Marathon and was able to win 20,000 euros with the aid of "his" sponsors. The money will benefit a school in Uganda. "It isn't just about business…", says Fiskers. Thank you for this valuable interjection, Frank!The panel discussions at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" during Expo Real, revolved almost always around money or the relations between moneylenders and money receivers. In this issue, we are also summarising the panel discussions concerning different contractis, conditions and yields after the crisis as well as discussions about missing standards and lacking of complete value chains when realising hotel projects.Peter Verhoeven is not yet able to reveal figures. The new CEO of Accor Germany faced journalists for the first time, at the celebration of the 100,000th Ibis room in Munich on Wednesday. Accor Germany is stepping on the gas again - to expand its economy brands.Dr. Florian Schuetz, Co-Investor of the International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef Bonn, is stepping on it as well. A second campus has been opened in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria and another one!On our "network" page, you will find a photo gallery and comments made by some of the guests who participated in our "Bricks & Brains" networking event during Expo Real. The feedback was very positive and we would like to thank our sponsors and guests for their support and visits!

Dear Insiders, Among the big international trade fairs, Expo Real Munich put up a good fight this year. The commercial real estate fair ending on Wednesday recorded about 21,000 professional visitors, which reflects a decrease by only 15% in comparison to the peak year of 2008. The the total impression we have been observing throughout the entire hospitality industry: quality and rationality are back. On our Network page, you will find a summary of the general mood, detailed reports on the trade fair and the Expo Real hotel conference – partly in this and in the next issue.HospitalityInside and Expo Real launched an exclusive networking event for top-level decision makers and men of action from the world of finance, project development and hotel operators. Regarding the Hospitality Industry Dialogue hotel conference, we will report on the two panel discussions about project development and hotels in municipalities. In addition, the Treugast consultancy published its Investment Ranking for Germany and Austria: several major hotel chains have been downgraded. Read more interesting news - enjoy!

Dear Insiders, The panels and speeches at the Expo Real Munich will certainly bring up new bare figures and hard facts. Hospitality experts will meet at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" hotel conference staged at the Special Real Estate Forum between 10 am and 5 pm. Winfried Holleis, an entrepreneur from Austria, had a bad experience with his engagement in Croatia, but nonetheless, the courageous medium-sized entrepreneur is venturing into a new project in Italy. It sounds like a poor joke, but it probably is not one: allegedly, more than 80% of the planned hotel projects are not realised in the Ukraine. The crisis has also led to decreasing revenue at Worldhotels, but at the same time, members demand a more intense exchange of experience and support in terms of purchasing and IT. The new Managing Director - in the office only for a few days - explains the most recent developments. More interesting news…

Dear Insiders, Yesterday, Hamed El Chiaty, the new owner of the Steigenberger Hotels Group, introduced himself in Frankfurt. A smart, wealthy man. In Berlin, the boom continues. A current real estate study reveals that their value is ten times higher than the value of the projects in 2008! The Americans are suffering heavily from the crisis; therefore Preferred Hotels are introducing a new design brand in the "lower 4-star category". The budget eater energy is being very frequently analysed first nowadays. Do you know the model energy contractors? In addition to that a full spectrum of highly-interesting news. Read more.

Dear Insiders, TUI last week celebrated the birth of its "Sensimar" brand with the opening of a new resort in Turkey. The hotel is attractive and shows healthy booking figures. How TUI expects to implement its quality standards across the brand, however, I don't fully understand. Thomas Althoff has negotiated well through the crisis - and sticks to gourmet and luxury, despite any crisis. In Bonn he will also operate the convention flagship in town - a challenge. In Austria, a fine private hotel has difficulties in shedding its image as a "Russian hotel". And in Munich, the commercial real estate trade fair Expo Real will begin on 5 October with the hotel conference "Hospitality Industry Dialogue". 28 experts will discuss current trends in the industry's investment and finance sector. Read more….

Dear Insiders, Bombs destroy hotels, but investors and hotel operators still shy away from making the safety investments that they should. Instead, the first prototype of a "security hotel" is currently under construction in Germany. In Greece, the hotel market is opening new doors for the luxury segment. Women have had much influence holidays for a long time, but travel managers still think far too "masculine". The International Hotel Conference will soon take place in Venice. Starwood Capital and JJW argue, three Marriott hotels announce insolvency, Sol Meliá has a new Germany boss. Please read more.

Dear Insiders, The subjects of this edition of hospitalityInside.com take us to the water: Star architect Mario Botta commences two new projects in Switzerland, a thermal bath and a wellness project. In the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa water causes a two months' closure of the hotel. The waves of the economic crisis have obviously hit the high-sea cruise business less hard than the riverboat cruise segment. A market report. And an entrepreneur in Berlin operates a paw-hotel - a special story on the subject of target groups. At the end of October, the second "ITB Asia" will take place in Singapore; hospitalityInside is once again media partner to this up and coming trade fair event with the integrated conference "Web in Travel". This as keywords, more at your fingertips…

Dear Insiders, After the "summer break", we welcome you with a newly designed website that will be further extended during the next weeks. All new additions are explained on our homepage hospitalityInside.com.Today's issue will contain the following main topics: Steigenberger - What will happen next? Hyatt - Does the IPO make sense in the crisis? Spain's first low budget chain has arrived. Rocco Forte's mini commitments. Media in the crisis - The quality crash. And more.

Dear Insiders,

The market of senior residences is adjusting itself and introducing new developers. There is an enormous potential for this special form of real estate that can be combined with hotels as well. Arkona Hotels are repositioning themselves: they will bear the name of arcona in future and will expand with boarding houses, among other things. Communities often discuss hotel establishments in an emotional way - a recent study brings some sobriety into their views. Luxury hotels at a tertiary location are mostly solutions for the ego instead of economically sensible ones.

In the second part of our series on conference hotels, you will read about creative international chains with respect to acquiring meeting and conference customers. In doing so, rates are not the be-all and end-all!

The one-day hotel conference at Expo Real, the biggest European commercial real estate fair in Munich, will again be included in the entry fee. This means a lot of know-how without any extra costs! The editor in chief of hospitalityInside.com will be responsible for the content of the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" for the second time. The six top panels will bring 28 notable representatives from the hotel, real estate and financial industries together for discussion! Read for yourself.

This week, Design Hotels, Orient-Express and Switzerland have presented their half-year and quarterly results, respectively. And Starwood Capital has finally concluded the deal with Golden Tulip as expected. Golden Tulip's partner, Top International, however, is now facing downsized collaboration.

The hospitalityInside team wishes you a great time in August and happy holidays should you go on vacation! We will be back after our summer break on Friday, August 28.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The crisis has given the budget hotels an additional push: According to the findings of a new survey, 71% of investors wish to invest in 2-star hotels in future.

Just how great the success in this sector can be is demonstrated in our article on Meininger Hotels, a swish concept which has long since lost its initial hostel image and is now firmly established in the low-budget hotel sector, not only in Germany.

Less is more - this was convincingly explained to us two weeks ago by London trend researchers. Now, the Swiss research institute GDI goes one step further and describes in its "trend radar" just how "elastic" many sectors have adjusted to the current economic situation. Enjoy witty examples of how one can master the switch from "savoir-vivre" to "savoir survivre"!

Gaining less business generally makes more creative: This is the vein of our two-part series on survival strategies in the conference hotel industry. Today's article looks at the current situation in detail - and here too one can see that there are hotels which haven't lost seminar and conference business. General moaning is misplaced even in the MICE sector.

Open real estate funds have now been hit hard by the crisis. Morgan Stanley has shocked the branch with the announcement that it will revalue its entire portfolio. Will investors now withdraw their capital?

Some lose, others gain in the crisis: David Fattal from Tel Aviv has concluded a deal for 12 properties and massively extends his lead with the Leonardo hotel group in Israel. For central Germany, a 720 bed resort it planned. And InterContentinental hotels are currently thinking about whether to give new life to a somewhat aged brand with a new resort concept.

This and much more - enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com