Editorial

Dear Insiders,

Raffles never did manage to fully digest the mouthful that was Swissôtel: And exactly this feeling returns in face of the news that the Asians are about to sell their hotel business. For the new owner Colony, this is the opportunity it's been waiting for to net itself a hotel management company for its hotels. The investment fund already holds shares in at least eleven hotels or hotel groups. The pitch for management of Raffles is in full swing. The hotel market is with this becoming increasingly turbulent - and the ramifications are felt across all borders. Consultants predict this to be the start of a new wave of takeovers! Even the purchase of lastminute.com by Sabre confirms such statements despite it taking place in another market segment.

An area where forward movement is slow, however, is data protection. Students at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich gave the prominent German hotel companies a miserable report. Eight of the ten groups simply didn't respond to queries concerning saved customer data. The reason is simple: data protection places heavy work burdens on staff and requires detailed analysis of very dry material. Something hoteliers don't like. In view of the data protection traps that the data protection officer of Lindner Hotels counts, a little more caution is required. Penalties of millions of Euros can follow in cases of misuse of personal data! The legal regulations are of course also discussed by hospitalityInside.

Just as sensitive are our other topics today, that will raise many questions for the hotel industry: Which staff members are allowed to surf on the internet whilst at work? And what do holiday clubs do better than the hotels? Former hotelier Carsten Rath throws light on the latter by speaking of some of the successful concepts of Robinson Clubs.

I hope our choice of topics this week once again meets with your taste. Thank you for the e-mails and telephone calls from the last weeks which strengthened our resolve to continue to bring such a news and story mix. Our team is very grateful for such compliments and your support.

Yours,
Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, write to: maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insider,

The over 60s are described by the GfK as the target group of the future: They are still prepared to spend money for quality! Senior citizens thumb up their noses at youngsters with their spendthrift mentality. Finally! If that isn't enough reason to continue believing in quality! There still seems to be some sense of value out there.

Or is that just wishful thinking? Young people don't seem to be afforded too much competence as far as quality goes. Are they already unable to tell a good conference hotel from a bad one? So it seems, for otherwise the Association of German Travel Management would have no reason to introduce the first "Certified Conference Hotels" in Germany, which, as from Autumn, will bring one more sticker to German hotel doors! Because it sounds better and because foreign PCO's have to be convinced of the quality of German conference facilities, it will read "Certified Conference Hotel". Nevertheless, this will not be enough to conceal the VDR's second certification embarrassment. The first attempt to introduce the label "VDR Certified Hotel" to the German business hotel industry in 2001 went painfully wrong. Of the 400 top houses expected to carry this logo, only 250 have come together. "It's no success story" the VDR king of standards, Haakon Herbst, quietly admits. So that this time everything moves along the road to improvement, the VDR representative has ensured the support of the most important associations and conference competitors. Okay then: So long it's not proved otherwise, we'll trust in quality!

Anett Gregorius also believes quality must be improved. Since her Boardinghouse Consulting firm determined the market in serviced apartments to have as many holes as an old sponge, the definition of minimum standards has left her no peace. A table clearly shows where expectations lie - any providers among our readers may compare it with the "present state" in their own houses. Officially, this present state is to be coordinated by means of an independent TÜV certification procedure in autumn.

A product that already stands for quality is "Welltain" - Holiday at healthy altitudes. But the guests are staying away. Is this only a matter of location - Lech am Arlberg - or simply the lack of interest? The guessing game as to health and quality has begun.

You have certainly noticed by now: Quality is the central thread running through the whole of this week's edition of hospitalityInside.com. Almost every announcement and article is concerned with it in some way or another. That can't be coincidence? Well, it is. And for this reason a true reflection of what motivates us. Together the effect is simply more noticeable.

Have fun with this new quality conscious edition of hospitalityInside!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Write to me with your opinion: maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insider,

Everything easy - or not? Stelios and easyGroup show how it's done: After easyCar, easyMoney, easyJobs and easyPizza, the young entrepreneur is taking a stab at the hotel industry. The first budget beds on a second-hand luxury cruiser have already taken across the seas -and all that at dumping rates. In August the first easyHotel is also to open in London - of course also at dumping rates. 

Stelios' websites reveal a lot about the his past and personality. And wasn't it also the lateral thinkers who brought new life into the classic hotel business? Budget cruises will definitely find their target group just as Accor's budget beds. 20 years ago, the French were also nothing but a target of ridicule...

If you believe in successful poles and polarisations, you must also give credit to the enormous success of Conrad Hotels. Dieter Huckestein is aiming at placing the long idling 4-star brand, in the upper end of the luxury market over night. An enormously demanding undertaking - which will definitely require thousands of perfectly trained employees.

Personalities are also coming and going at the German hotel group Maritim: Christian Windfuhr, a hotelier who has worked for many chains, comments on the industry. His successor, Gerd Prochaska, will have to figure out how he wants to lead the new mega Maritim hotels, above all, in Berlin. The insurance investment model Maritim conceived together with KG Allgemeine Leasing, demonstrates that the German chain, considered extremely conservative, is up to new and innovative tricks. 

Apropos financing: our colleagues from fondstelegramm.de have analysed the current account of the biggest German hotel fund initiator Dr. Ebertz and in doing so have reviewed the connection with Dorint Hotels. In the two latest issues, hospitalityInside.com reported in detail about the persistent losses of the biggest German hotel group and the way out of the crisis.

And for the friends of wellness there is also a new story: Following reports from Leading Hotels, Romantik Hotels now talke about their certification process. The most interesting facts at the end of the article: the table comparing the test conditions. 

Enjoy surfing and reading,
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, send your comments to maria@hospitalityInside.com 

Dear Insiders,

It is not the bare figures that decide on the future of a company; it is the employees, whose performance is reflected in the figures. Ritz-Carlton’s cult claim “Ladies & Gentlemen are serving Ladies & Gentlemen” is far from having become an executive’s second nature. Motivating employees is of great importance. We have listened to the human resources departments of the hotel chains – listen with us.
Two other trends fit into this concept: more and more hotels put trust in applications they receive via their own website. HR executives say these online applicants are the best. However, they are concerned about a new EU directive – the new Anti-Discrimination Bill. Even more bureaucracy threatens Germany. Read on.

Companies determine the fate of their employees. If the French Taittinger family wishes to sell off its 900 hotels of Société du Louvre, its employees will also begin to worry. Insecurity also dominates Germany’s Dorint Hotels that are still deep in the red numbers three years after the crisis. The restructuring approaches seem to work, but the effects are still rather scanty. The managing board, however, remains optimistic.

And even in the latest news from New York, people are the focal point. The hotel marketing departments are refraining from spending their dwindling budgets on paper and promotions, but are using it instead for establishing personal contact with the people.

An issue that shows the hotel industry as a people’s business in many facets! I wish you motivating conclusions.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, write to: maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insider,

It's hard to believe but: Austria's taxpayers are to fund a tourism project for and with the Dalai Lama! Government nodded the decision through - unanimously. A project reflecting the "Zeitgeist" of the moment is to come into being, developer Rogner says. A location on the edge of a certain German big city was allegedly discussed, insiders report, but the personal and spiritual closeness of the "Tibet-makers" in Carinthia is sure to have been the decisive factor.

Austria's tourist industry never ceases to create a stir, be it through big project announcements or new strategies. Other countries can only dream of such success. The little country in the Alps - a tenth of the size of Germany - continually manages the re-fashion itself into a tourist magnet.

Mega plans with mega figures have also been announced by Montenegro. The little state of former Yugoslavia is making hasty preparations to steal guests from the western Europeans. And they have good odds - the price differences between western and eastern Europe are an unbeatable reason to take holidays on the Montenegran rather than the overly expensive Italian Adriatic coast.

Projects as far as the eye can see. Bed-giant Marriott is now to expand in Asia. The Americans want to double the number of hotels and their turnover there. Presumably Starwood was too quick for them. And Emirates is to spend money for an eco-resort in Australia. Even Jumeirah, one of the bigger Arabic hotel companies, has announced further global expansion plans.

In Germany the bad news seems to be unending: Blackstone now wants to take over the adventure parks Legoland - and presumably not just the German one close to Ulm in Bavaria. If it succeeds, then this is likely only to be the first morsel for the huge US investment giant...The deal is likely to come nowhere close to the billion dollar take over of Wyndham Hotels announced last week. 

Investors still not in the know as to how real estate projects are put to best use will probably be interested in the most recent publication of PKF hotel consultants in Munich: They have issued a manual for real estate evaluation. That not every real estate investment is so financially sound - however much it may appeal to the vanity of the investor - is explored in our article on Schloss hotels.

We hope to have provided you with enough reading material for the next couple of days.

Till next Friday,
yours Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, send your comments to maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insider,

Welcome to our "trends" edition! Where ever you look, changes in markets and in people can be observed.

Trends in investment circles: In Britain, tendencies towards the stock exchange are slackening. That is: hotel groups listed on the stock market are being privatised and the trend of recent years is making a turn in the opposite direction. Blackstone takes over Wyndham -  the trend of US investors swallowing up more and more hotel companies is taking stronger hold. And exactly how strong the cross border trend in the hospitality business has become can be seen in Rezidor's announcement to finance its new African hotel projects with government funds from northern countries.

The trends in the wellness sector: Austria's most successful wellness hotel, the Hochschober in Carinthia, has been wrapping culture and moods by wellbeing treatments for over ten years. Now it has extended its product palette to include an authentic Chinese tower and adequate treatments  - and all that exclusively for its hotel guests! A sense for new trends seems to lie in the blood of the family owners. Capacity filled up to 98% is the reward for a peek into other markets and honest dealings with guests.

The trend in tourism: Low cost carriers change their destinations. The first part of the report, published in the previous edition, showed the resounding success for Carinthia, Austria. Only in Hanover and Cologne-Bonn is there still some uncertainty as to where additional passengers using the cheap airlines are residing. This, however, only confirms a long identified trend: Austrian tourism experts are well ahead.

Enough gossip. It's all in this week's edition.
We wish an enjoyable read and a successful week,

Yours Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, write to maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Readers,

Moving managers and new products dominate our headlines today: Yesterday, hospitalityInside learned that Arie van der Spek, InterConti’s COO for Europe, no longer shares the group’s new structure. NH Hoteles' Managing Director Operations has stepped down as well. Apart from that, Starwood is introducing a new design budget brand on the market and Four Seasons seems to be selling off its "secondary hotels" in New York and Chicago. 

We are always up to date, but in this particular issue, we have succeeded in doing so especially well. And, as you can see in all three articles mentioned, we have managed to bring to you precise additional information of relevance to the industry from the companies – or to analyse market rumours. 

And with this issue, hospitalityInside proves again: We are a magazine that likes to report from a European point of view, but nonetheless keeps an eye on the international market as well. Stanley Ho, a big name in Hong Kong and Macau, will give the former Portuguese exclave a kind of superlative flair resembling Las Vegas with his construction project. On the other side of the globe, in the Caribbean, hoteliers are confronted with a totally different type of Moloch: The new entry regulations the USA has announced will cause its tourism industry damage in the billions. 

One of the focal points  of today's issue is the low cost carriers: Do hotels benefit from the "no frills" boom at all? Our editor Ute Rotter has analysed the effects on rural and urban regions: In the first part, we highlight Carinthia in Austria and Stockholm, while next week, hospitalityInside will direct its attention to German cities. How do Hanover and Cologne-Bonn benefit from the boom? 

Enjoy reading,

Yours
Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief

Please, write to: maria@hospitalityInside.com

 

Dear Readers/Users,

As of today, June 3, we offer our financially oriented readers a special service: Each Friday – always in the afternoon – we will show the stock market prices of those international hotel chains of importance to the European market. Thus, you can observe on a weekly basis how the share prices of Accor, Hilton, InterConti, NH or Sol Mélia and others have changed over the past week. This service is possible because of our cooperation with the international consultancy HVS in London. As of today, HVS’ European Managing Director Russell Kett is enlarging the editorial pool of experts. Please note as of today: You can read our new issue every Friday, as you are used to doing - the stock market prices will only follow in the afternoon.

Another interesting news related to financing and investments: Yesterday Accor opened a new Dorint Sofitel in Berlin – and that was already the last hotel opening of the French in Germany this year!

Unusual news from Chicago: Hyatt has initiated a limited art edition for its guests. As art is often a trivial matter in the hotel industry, we put our main emphasis on it today, offering you many different angles regarding marketing, investments and insurances.

The articles about the switch of the Spanish hotel group Iberostar from a classical tourist hotel provider to a more diversified hotel group and the changes within the African Southern Sun group are the result of recent trips and talks as well. Our columns are peppered with further famous names: Ritz-Carlton, Trend Hotels Austria, Sabre, Berge & Meer. And more.

Enjoy reading. I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Yours,
Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Please, mail to: maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Readers/Users,

Concepts at selected locations decide over success or failure. Maybe, it is because of this that the British group Yotel refuses to give out information to the press. The idea of building cell rooms without daylight in expensive city locations may appeal to investors. That smells of yield. But does it also attract the guests? Nowadays, when it comes to budget offers, European travellers are definitely spoiled.

Why else would the young German chain Motel One bring even more atmosphere into its "cheap accommodations"? It just opened Germany`s biggest budget hotel - in the middle of a dull office city, but with bright rooms and a fire place in the lobby. Its hotels allegedly have a better break even than those of Accor. Therefore, budget and ambience are not necessarily contradictory.

Who says which concept is the right one for a certain location? Otto Lindner, himself a hotel manager and consultant, engages external consultants because of this. Avoiding mistakes is the motto of the conversion of an old colonial villa to a spa resort on Mallorca. He says: "The mix of make & buy is decisive!" 

Innegrit Volkardt, head of the well-known Grand Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, thinks the same. She asked the design genius Andrée Putman to design her new spa. In spite of this, the French lady is not to be blamed for the explosion of the construction costs from three to seven million euros. After nothing had worked out as planned, the result is one of most beautiful and, above all, most spacious city spas in the German-speaking market.

Behind concepts are clever people and ideas. The same is true of financing. If classical methods are no longer appropriate, creative financing models have to be developed. Make your guests your "shareholders"! Three hotel managers of middle-sized hotels did just that.

Neither creative nor clever is the kicking out of the Managing Director of HGA Capital Grundbesitz und Anlagen GmbH. Critics confirm: HGA already cut a bad figure during the scandal of Four Seasons Berlin. And because hospitalityInside is still young and this unprecedented case in Germany`s luxury hotel business is just recent, we looked up all the data and contract conditions in retrospect. A lesson for every hotel operator. 

Click through this issue and read into the texts. Again, this issue offers you more than I am able to touch on in our editorial. The "Current Issue" provides you with a quick overview.

Until next Friday
Yours Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Contact me: maria@hospitalityInside.com