Editorial

Dear Insiders,

This week's code is REVO. These 4 letters have been worrying many people since last Friday; they fuel emotions, and people are waiting for positive signals or at least some information. Exactly one week ago, the largest German and pan-European hotel operator, Revo Hospitality, filed for self-administered insolvency. The telephones were ringing nonstop (no e-mails!) as I heard from nearly all conversation partners this week. However, no information from Revo.

This week, we were able to collect only a few facts, and we can publish only a little. However, it is more important to prevent bashing of the entire hospitality industry right now. In our article, Hotour asks the market to remain calm and patient. The restructuring of the 140 affected companies could take until fall or even winter, as it can only start on April 1, after the current "pre-insolvency phase" of three months. In addition, we talked to the Napp Group (R+V) about rental and lease guarantees. 

The Revo story hasn't been transparent; it is rather complex and chaotic. But everyone is entitled to learn from mistakes. Therefore, hospitalityInside will question this large insolvency and the behaviour of other stakeholders step by step in the coming weeks. This disaster is a great opportunity to confront the industry with itself. Please share your Revo story or your reflections on the industry with me.

Dear Insider,

Welcome to the 21st year of HospitalityInside. Thank you very much for your congratulations on LinkedIn and your praise for our 20th anniversary! Every Friday, we provide you with news and background information. For the first time, Revo Hospitality did not respond to our questions. Fact is that COO Jonathan Mills and Chief Developer Martin Stegner left the company. And the Pullman Schweizerhof in Berlin, whose planned sale we reported on December 19, is no longer bookable on Booking and the Accor website. But there are other reasons for this.

Blackout in Berlin! 45,000 households were without electricity for four days. That was a New Year's shock. And a learning for the Berlin Hotel Association. The hotels wanted to help those affected (even more), but the city only informed the public on the last day that it would cover the costs of hotel accommodation. Long live bureaucracy. Susanne Stauss researched the background and learned just as much about tricky insurance issues.

The snow is white, winter sports guests are transparent, and the future of alpine sports is bright. Thanks to a large-scale study, the resourceful Austrians know that the season can be successful even with less snow and significantly more winter sports enthusiasts from the USA. "Winter made in Austria is going on a world tour," enthuses the head of Austrian Tourism, who is hoping for higher prices. Fred Fettner was closely following the latest analysis and future plans.

Dear Insider,

After such an exhausting year, I wanted to give our last issue today a more relaxed tone, but then sober reality caught up with us. This week, Union Investment put the Pullman Schweizerhof Berlin up for sale and intends to part with the tenant Revo Hospitality, the largest white-label operator in Europe. The operator is already taking legal action against the termination and plans not to move out. I have spoken to everyone involved. Positive: An experienced hotel manager joined Revo a few weeks ago as Chief Transformation Officer. Will she be the new CEO? Ruslan Husry continues to work intensively on consolidating the company. 

Negative for Treugast, regardless of current events: The Munich-based consultancy had removed Revo Hospitality from its investment ranking at Expo Real and commented on this. It has now signed a cease-and-desist declaration against Revo Hospitality.

The rumours will abound again today. Stay cool! Use the Facts & Figures as a guide. The German hotel market is under more stress than it has been for a long time, for many reasons. The result: more opacity, less credibility. The fast-paced media, but also PR agencies pushed into a corner, contribute to this. My colleagues Susanne Stauss, Sylvie Konzack and I have found examples. 

Dear Insider,

The German operator market is currently buzzing. For months now, we have been seeing a steadily growing wave that is driving smaller operators in particular into the (supposedly) safe haven of the large white label operators. Susanne Stauss asked well-known and very active hotel consultants: Who stands out in the market? Which operators are in demand? Which operators have lost out? Where are the opportunities? Do we need so many brands? Is there added value for international franchisors in micro-locations? Our questions have been answered: Hotour, Nemis, Härle Hotel Solutions and mrp hotels. Their analysis is critical.

Many in the industry have been following the changes at Steigenberger Hotels with raised eyebrows for a while. A restructurer has been on the case for a year now: Dr. Stephan Hungeling. Hospitality is new to him; he judges the industry by efficiency, not from rumours. He is currently weeding out unprofitable businesses, but Steigenberger will continue to grow healthily from 2027. The first synergies with the Chinese parent company H World Group are already taking effect. This starts with significantly lower procurement conditions for all hotels in his area of responsibility, EMEIA. He beams. He has even more plans.

Dear Insider,

Tourism is a cash cow, easily milked by European governments. They have already sharply raised taxes for the hotel industry and airlines or have announced it for 2026. It just keeps coming. Two glaring examples: France wants to introduce an extra VAT of 33% on luxury goods - no more popping of champagne corks. And the British cry "Taxed Out". Passenger tax will rise again by next April, while the 20% VAT for the hospitality sector will remain. This has destroyed 89,000 jobs in the last nine months alone, UKHospitality says. Only in Germany does the VAT on food appear to be being rolled back. 

Investors and operators have already switched to other markets due to the cost explosions, and the hotel market could freeze over, at least in areas, after such a cold tax bath. 

At the end of the day, it's all a question of proportion: The US franchisor Choice Hotels no longer wants to expand in the United States, only in Europe and EMEA. In a mega-interview spanning ten pages, Ricardo Losada Revol, Senior VP International, and David Beers, CEO EMEA, stress: They want to write a new chapter in history with Europe. They are stepping on the gas, already taking over entire hotel bundles in individual countries; only Germany is on hold - too expensive. 

Dear Insider,

A roller coaster ride... That's what today's issue feels like. Depending on the country, the hospitality sector goes up and down. At high speed. Anyone who flies off at the curve files for bankruptcy. Those who take advantage of the upswing go public. In between, there is a lot of pressure and few opportunities.

Family-run hotels or small hotel groups often have an even harder time than chain hotels, and not only in Italy. Their plus is often excellent locations, their minus the hole in the till. Foreign investors, mostly private equity, are sniffing out many cheap assets from depressed families between the beach and the mountains, from hostels to boutique lifestyle hotels. And they see the new flight routes that are bringing more and more travellers to the land of the dolce vita.

Fewer and fewer business travellers are boarding planes in and to Germany. And the Serviced Apartment segment is feeling the effects. The ratio of business to leisure has completely reversed this year, and the volatility of the traditional hotel industry is now also affecting this type of accommodation, which investors still like.

Dear Insider,

The AI bubble will burst, the only question is when. Our author Sarah Douag put this sentence at the beginning of her article today. Why? The AI bubble is now 17 times bigger than the dotcom bubble, warns the International Monetary Fund. Critics also note that far too much money is being invested in the "AI" niche. Investors include tech companies from the hospitality industry such as RateGain and Mews, which have invested in takeovers, but Marriott, Accor, Iberostar and others are also investing in this field. 

Everyone is betting on growth, all around the globe. The biggest beneficiary of the massive increase in investment in AI applications and data centres is the American chip giant Nvidia. It was the first company to reach a market capitalisation of $5 trillion in October. By way of comparison: The GDP of Germany as a whole was €4.3 trillion in 2024.

If the global chip manufacturer coughs, the whole bubble wobbles. Fortunately, it was able to report positive Q3 results yesterday. Nevertheless, the heat remains. In this international context, Sarah's brand-new article today is a big win.

Dear Insider,

The US shutdown came to an end yesterday after 43 days. Hotels lost USD 31 million per day in the most important weeks before the festive season. Over 6.7 million overnight stays have been lost. Now the hotels are slipping, their liquidity is melting away. Many operators can no longer pay their fixed costs. Occupancy and revenue will only recover in the next quarter - if there is no renewed shutdown in January. 

Central Europe is in crisis for other reasons, while South East Europe is celebrating: The lust for leisure is rising in Albania (the second airport has already been built), Greece is all smiles and Croatia wants to become a year-round destination. Along with the superlatives come discussions about the first limits to growth. 

Germany also remains in demand - from foreign groups. CityBox Hotels from Norway, with only ten hotels in the Nordics, wants to integrate its budget brand into premium city locations. In all major cities. A portrait with Facts & Figures. And more from the north: The four-way deal between Pandox, Eiendomsspar, Dalata and Scandic is now official. It will be exciting to follow this integration. 

Dear Insider,

The image of the carrot in front of the donkey's nose hits a sore spot in franchise deals: Key money is not cash for self-service, but a loan that must be repaid. In addition, hoteliers are considering shorter contract terms and no longer believe unconditionally in the distribution power of franchisors and their brands. "We have to become more flexible, think in new ways," said investor representative Martin Schaller from Union Investment, calling on everyone to do the same. Hyatt, Maritim, Louvre and Borealis threw themselves passionately into the discussion at the Expo Real conference four weeks ago. Susanne Stauss reports. 

Raúl Gonzalez, CEO EMEA of the Spanish Barceló Group, is also putting a lot of energy into planning the European expansion. It will be clear and sprinkled with opportunities. It's now finally getting going, with the Central European countries first, with Leisure and a billion-heavy budget for the next three years alone. As regards the various contracts, he has his own view: Before he signs bad contracts, he prefers to buy real estate. I met him last week in Paris. 

The Amsterdam architect Sanne van der Burgh, who we have already introduced as a lively lateral thinker, has now presented "CarbonSpace" to Sarah Douag - a new carbon calculator that hoteliers and architects can use right from the start of the planning process. It is an open-source tool, free of charge and easy to use.  

Dear Insider,

Family offices like hotels because hotels also convey a passion for entrepreneurship, as well as values and lifestyle. That's why the family offices don't abandon them during the crisis. "They are always there and have never left," Philipp Linder from Hotour recently summed it up in a conversation. There are around 13,000 of these investment-minded asset managers in the German-speaking Europe, but they value discretion and avoid the limelight. This makes it all the more interesting what Beatrix Boutonnet found in a Family Office Real Estate Report. These investors are also broadening their perspective.

David Etmenan, founder and CEO of Novum Hospitality, has - as everyone knows - been connected to "the IHG system" for 1.5 years. Measures are slowly beginning to take effect, and slight increases in RevPAR are visible. But he still has to exercise patience himself. "We are still in the onboarding process." 84 hotels have been integrated so far. He feels that he is in good hands at IHG and is putting all the more energy into his new role as developer and creator of an owner-operator platform. He is now building up his own pipeline via Novum Real Estate. It is growing. He has passed his personal stress test.

Unfortunately, the German market is still undergoing its own version. And that's how it is for many managers in the endless wave of suffering. Employees often don't realise the stress their bosses are under, but they feel it. According to a study, 43% of them resign if their boss is of the authoritarian type.