Dear Insiders,

An extremely moderate and stressful year is coming to an end. What remains is a tourism sector that finds itself in total chaos without fault, without consistent travel and vaccination rules, even without vaccine and still without reliable perspectives. Mistakes and confusion in the political hotchpotch are drawing on everbody's last bit of energy ...

In the past 12 months, I have expressed my resentment more often than ever before and also received more feedback than ever before. Particularly during lockdowns, Fridays became a telephone day for exchanging thoughts with you. I would like to thank all of you, dear readers and users, both known and unknown, for the constructive-critical dialogue this year, which motivated us all at hospitalityInside to go on.

In the course of my career as a journalist, I have never reported this negatively for such a long time. But this is why we still refrain from issuing any fake news and painting an exaggeratedly positive or negative picture. The world is the way it is.

I also drew energy from many background talks with CEOs, interviews with foreign hoteliers, exchanges with lawyers, bankers, developers and many others. The great thing about this colourful industry is that optimists never die. Even Covid won't manage that.

This is also why this final issue of 2021 will contain as little corona as necessary and as much future as possible: we talk about the Metaversum, our new life in mixed realities, so that we will no longer want to connect with one another but rather disconnect. Travelling is becoming more precious and hotels could soon live without walls. Such news come from 2b AHEAD, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut and the futurologists Matthias Horx, Andreas Reiter and Horst Opaschowski.

Moreover, Covid turned out to be a booster for the robotics industry: service robots have thus arrived in the hospitality sector at enormous speed. We have gathered examples of these automated helpers – from cleaning robots to kitchen robots to automated barkeepers. This development can no longer be ignored. By the way, some Germans are already showing enthusiasm for "cultured meat", also called "lab-grown meat".

In pleasant contrast to this future is the concept of Six Senses. The wellness pioneer is now a sustainability pioneer. It demands a revenue share from every investor that is only used for sustainable activities. Or the deal is off. In most resorts, guests experience chickens, ducks, goats and camels and enjoy fresh produce from the property's organic gardens. A cosmos that brings return. And of all the ESGs, it has the "S" - Social - in focus. An interview with CEO Neil Jacobs, who is transferring this spirit to urban locations. 

On January 1, 2022, the taxonomy of the real estate sector will be taking effect resulting in a new year with lots of changes for investors, developers and operators. Deutsche Hospitality introduces its new franchise model and Preferred Hotels hope – just as everybody else – that there will be significantly more international travel.

MRP Consult took a compact look back and into the future. In the meantime, Italy is struggling with tightened requirements when it comes to entering the country, and Germany provided the legal requirements for additional strict measures last week ...

hospitalityInside won more new subscriptions this year than were lost, we successfully realised our 4th Think Tank and a successful joint stand at Expo Real. This is why we are very much looking forward to these two anchor events next year – together with you! And we want to say a big THANK YOU to all our readers, business partners, event participants and sponsors! We highly appreciate your loyalty!

After 22 months of intense corona reporting and a plethora of work in the background, we and our team will enjoy a longer Christmas break to replenish our energy. We will be back in the office on January 10 and our next issue will be published on January 14, 2022.

A Merry Christmas – stay healthy and optimistic!

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team

Dear Insiders,

For weeks now, I have not met a single German hotelier with anything positive at all to say about the old Merkel government. Just in time for Christmas 2021, the industry finds itself pushed to the cliff edge once again. "Business has become brutally tough... Authorities are using hoteliers and restaurateurs as a means of public control..."

These are statements in our article today about the 2G+ rule. Turnover is tumbling very fast, yet almost every hotel group wants to avoid closures. A snapshot: Deutsche Hospitality, HR Group, Ruby Hotels, B&B, Premier Inn and Dorint report. 

Fortunately, in Austria, the lockdown ends tomorrow. Yet the sector's re-opening will be staggered. Totally illogical here is the following: Vienna, with the lowest infection rate, will be the last to open, but hotspots such as Vorarlberg and Tyrol will be the first. The federal states with strong winter seasons are using their power to the fullest: Economic interests take precedence over health. Fred Fettner reports - also on Switzerland, whose winter season is also just starting to falter again.

The mood in many places is becoming increasingly aggressive and adamant. For 21 months, the sector has been knocked from pillar to post in a spectacular show of government failure. This much is now painfully clear. If the industry associations don't put 200 percent effort into this now, everything will come crashing down in the next few months.

Many feared the same a year ago, but now the situation is much more dramatic: Cash reserves have been fully depleted almost everywhere, repayments are starting and employees are disappearing. And all the while salaries, energy prices and inflation are on the rise. Problems are piling up to mountainous proportions - while revenues continue to be lost.

In moments like these, it's pretty much only the large corporations that manage to keep thinking about the future. We first reported in detail on Green Bonds in October, but have now gone back to Premier Inn - one of the bond pioneers - to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of this new method of financing. Chief Financial Officer Mark Sommer answered Beatrix Boutonnet's questions.

Among our news items is one about a new "ESG Book" that - launched from within the financial world - will in future meticulously collect "sustainable" data from investors and other financial experts. B&B explains why this budget brand needs three room categories, and, among all the loyalty programmes of the hotel groups, Global Hotel Alliance celebrates the premier for its loyalty currency, the "Discovery Dollar" - an exciting marketing idea for 800 hotels and 11 million members. TUI's annual balance sheet, personalia and lots of new market news in the mix round off this issue.

I wish you all - despite all the frustration - continued strength in this end-of-year spurt, and a great deal of courage.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

There will be no nationwide lockdown in Germany at the moment. All the same, a lockdown for the hotel and restaurant industry is not off the table! Behind the scenes, the federal and state governments changed their minds within 24 hours, are now readjusting the - just demonised old - Infection Protection Act so that they can individually decree regional closures, as Dehoga Managing Director Ingrid Hartges reports in our interview today.

All of this depends crucially on infection and hospitalisation rates - and so, once again, there is no predictable framework for business! And just in time for Christmas!

Following the political resolutions yesterday, Germany is now switching to 2G for the most part - and needs to extend it to 2G+ if the health situation demands it. Hotels and restaurants must once again hold their breath: In particular under a tighter 2G+ rule, no one can say how many guests and tourists it will stay at home. Mandatory vaccination for all is not due until February/March 2022.

As the industry's chief lobbyist, Ingrid Hartges must now ensure that financial aid, short-time working allowances and, if applicable, compensation for damages remain in place. The first half of 2022 is going to be pretty darn tough for the industry under all these political circumstances and viral uncertainties.

The same is true for Austria. The representatives of the associations are pushing hard for the end of the three-week lockdown. Businesses there are also in urgent need of liquidity. The mood is catastrophic, because many guests will probably leave for South Tyrol or Switzerland if the lockdown is extended. The chaos continues everywhere.

Still, we plough on and try our best not to sink into despair and frustration as a result of corona each week. We have other topics as well. The new corporate structure around Deutsche Seereederei has ambitious plans: As Managing Director Carsten Wilmsen reports today, as of immediately, no more non-sustainable hotels are to be built. Future partners will also have to support the new concept, which, among other things, relies on BIM and prefabrication; furthermore, the profiles of the three main hotel brands Arosa, aja and Henri Hotels will be changed. If it all works out, DSR would be one of the pioneers in the industry.

Incidentally, DSR is also tackling its existing properties in the process. Real estate professionals also like to call them transformational properties. A new market study has found that half of this type will be implemented as a mixed-use product in the future. It's a topic that will make waves in the field of sustainability.

Booking.com is also thinking about the future - but not in small steps, rather in seven-league boots and acquisitions. The OTA giant wants to market even more alternative accommodations, expand its hotel offerings with flight portal ETraveli and expects more business from the United States with distribution professional Getaroom. The hotel booking site becomes a travel platform. Booking is always good for surprises and acts fast, as we also saw last week in our post about the new "green label".

The reports in our weekly News Mix column keep coming as well. So there's still a lot of movement in the market - and an exciting future. Even if the mood is currently swinging permanently between panic and positivity. Keep your chin up!

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

In Germany, sheer hysteria clearly dominates as regards corona. One day after the future government presented its coalition paper, there remains more questions everywhere than ever before - also in the hotel and restaurant industry. Yesterday, in any case, things were happening almost by the hour, which also sparked hectic for Dehoga and its members. This morning, we were going to publish an interview with Dehoga Managing Director Ingrid Hartges, but at 6pm yesterday we collectively decided to postpone it.

The likelihood that the previous day's statements might not be true today was/is high. The magic number of 100,000 corona deaths in Germany was clearly exceeded yesterday; it puts an ugly but clear face on the drama.

And at the same time, it wraps federalism in the huge shroud with it: Egomaniacs run riot in this country; finding uniform ways out of the crisis seems politically impossible. 3G, 3G+, 2G, 2G+, 1G - and every single announcement comes with countless exceptions across the different federal states. It’s quite simply a farce - no longer comprehensible and above all no longer controllable!

The current power vacuum in Germany could lead directly to the next lockdown for everyone. If the Christmas and New Year business falls away for the second time running, it will spell the end for an untold number of operations.

The contempt politicians show for this industry is incredible: In its 177-page coalition paper, the future government devotes a whole 14 lines to tourism. The words "hotel" or "gastronomy" do not appear once in the entire paper.

I am still amazed at how positive and target-oriented the hotel entrepreneurs are. Three hoteliers from Germany and Austria report on how they are handling the 4th wave as well as on the renewed, massive collapse in bookings. This is now spreading to Italy: Within a week, 11 million bookings were lost there. Within hours though, the Italian government once again tightened the rules for vaccinated/non-vaccinated people.

While operators are struggling to survive, international real estate investors now see the opportunity to outbid national competitors in the luxury hotel segment in Italy with a lot of money. Massimiliano Sarti is torn: But crisis is also opportunity.

And that's exactly how far ahead Booking.com has thought. Sarah Douag took a closer look at how the OTA - which no longer enjoys the best reputation - checks the sustainability concepts of its 28 million accomodations. It sounds well thought out. And yet hotels don't pay anything for the new Sustainable Travel Badge. 57,000 hotels are already identified to get the label. The OTA ist just sparking a new competition.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

Austria's government leaves the hospitality industry hanging in the air, in Germany, the sector is a mere pawn between the old now caretaker government and the not yet confirmed new coalition. The 2G rule in Austria has brought with it a huge wave of cancellations: Half of bookings for the Christmas period are already gone. This is tantamount to a lockdown.

A real lockdown could threaten Germany again today if the frustrated voted-out CDU/CSU plays out its majority in the Bundestag... It's all on the line, the future of the industry hangs by a thread yet again. Prof Christian Buer comments on the current situation: "Déjà vu! Déjà vu! The drama loop continues."

Once again I can only shake my head in bewilderment at how short-sighted, incompetent and selfish politicians are. They're not promoting tourism and the hotel industry, they're pushing the sector off a cliff once again. In recent years many countries have longed for a leader like Angela Merkel; now we should borrow Emmanuel Macron.

France's tourism has come through the crisis better than most other countries, confirms the World Travel and Tourism Council in figures. How have they managed that? Sarah Douag explains how - along with a passionate president who believes in tourism and personally drives all players with a 5 point plan to reinvent tourism and hospitality and think ten years ahead. His message to investors: "I need your investment"! The cool Angie never spoke like that and the soon to be chancellor Olaf Scholz won't strain his tender voice either.

Many raised their voices at the serviced apartment congress So!Apart last week in Munich. In the 2nd corona year, the sector must take further hits, but it continues to glance curiously over at ever new concepts, to the new proximity to the residential sector and to the hotel chains chasing them down the extended stay lane. Sylvie Konzack summarises.

The hospitalityInside Investment BAROMETER, in cooperation with Union Investment, shows that the industry is basically on the right track, albeit with adjusted priorities. We would like to express our sincere thanks at this point to our partner. Investors have not given up on the asset class! A general summary can be found on our Page 1, subscribers and all who took part will receive the full assessment.

STR also confirms the Europe-wide upswing in the hotel industry with its latest data: All KPIs are moving in the right direction! Hirmer, the owner of Travel Charme Hotels, also wants to move things up: In the future, two other brands will sail under its umbrella. Hotel operator Edyn wants to stir up Central Europe with its Locke and Cove brands, with the friendly support of its parent, asset giant Brookfield.

There’s little positive in another of our stories: The operator RIMC continues to defend itself against the hostile takeover and against false claims made by the real estate owner of the Seehotel Kaiserstrand in Lochau, Austria. Fun reading comes from the Lausanne Hotel School, EHL: It is dusting off its image and getting rid of its old-fashioned dress code. It is getting all sexy in unisex.

Despite all the turbulence - stay in good cheer!

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

The problem of staff shortages really does have many facets. During our research into the issue, the following sentence from hotelier Gerald Kink from Wiesbaden immediately stuck in our ears: Where within a very short time rents of €1,000 per room per month were accepted, which before were only €700, there is now no money left over to pay reasonable wages. That's quite a criticism.

Other hoteliers building staff accommodation might only be able to offer them to employees in three or four years' time. That's how long German approval procedures take. One hotelier managed to get 15 cooks from Italy on his own, but hiring foreign staff from non-EU countries is almost hopeless. German bureaucrats are brutalising the industry.

Of course there are two sides to every story, but the situation is really precarious. Why did it take a virus to make it clear that employees have been so badly treated for so long? Now, staff can't even be found for love nor money! The magic word is "work-life balance" and the buzz word here is the 4-day week, as already highlighted in our last edition. Our tour d'horizon through the employee malaise today touches on many other aspects and provides voices from the field.

The other big quandary of the moment is the lack of sustainability. But this is an area where the sector can still play a proactive role. It's not too late yet. Sarah Douag highlights options for the hotel industry following discussions at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. And these don't start with recyclable furniture, they start with energy!

According to one study, the accommodation sector needs to invest €868 billion over the next 20 years to reach net zero by 2050. This is roughly equivalent to the entire annual revenue of the global lodging industry... Courageous entrepreneurs, however, acknowledge: With a sustainable concept you can earn even more money than before! So off we go, with a whole lot of courage and regardless of all the burdensome mega-numbers!

The mayor of Amsterdam is also boldly leading the way: She wants a green city and a different kind of tourism. With a series of new and stricter regulations, the capital of the Netherlands is now taking aim at speculators, real estate investors, rental platforms and even hotel developers. Amsterdam backs up its words with deeds - and is quick about it.

Consider yesterday's announcement by the state-controlled Chinese hotel conglomerate Jin Jiang that it will now provide its own definition of sustainability for the entire industry to be little more than a joke. China, the world's biggest emissions offender, wants to give us lessons?

The Austrians have once again shown courage: As of this Monday, the 2G rule is valid nationwide. And starting from next Monday the state of Upper Austria sends the vaccine refuseniks into lockdown! It’s the only option. The 4th wave is already choking up the hospitals. Fred Fettner describes Austria’s ups and downs ...

Discussions about 2G are also growing in Germany, individual groups such as arcona as well as private hotels are imposing the 2G rule on their own initiative - and guests are rewarding it. Italy, on the other hand, is staying cool and doesn't see a lockdown coming: The Green Pass has proven its worth, also in the hotel industry.

You can find more interesting news from the digital world and from the real estate market. Even the small news articles have it in them today.

Stay courageous! Courage heals misery. That's eight times I use the word courage in this editorial. It really does bring us forward.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

The enormous media attention given over to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this week is certainly justified. A lot is at stake. It's all the more astonishing then that some heads of state continue with their dithering. But it's also disappointing to read in a WTM report that prior to corona, only 25 percent of 700 business leaders surveyed had sustainability as a their first priority on their radar.

Sarah Douag has filtered the hospitality-related news from this COP26 week and can't understand why the tourism industry doesn't want to tackle Net Zero by 2030. Even with today's technology and with greater collaboration, many things could already be much "greener," one critic claims. What is missing is simply courage and determination. Otherwise, it remains wishful thinking.

This is also the view of Wolfgang Neumann, who, as Chairman of the Sustainable Hotel Alliance, this week managed to partner with the WTTC/World Travel and Tourism Council: The SHA network will support this global body as a hospitality specialist in the future. It also calls on hotel investors and developers to become involved as "affiliates" in order to be able to accompany the hotel sustainably throughout its entire life cycle. You can read the initial information on this here with us today.

The next big industry issue remains staff shortages. The pond in which hotels are able to fish is getting emptier and emptier. Fred Fettner describes the situation in Austria, where there is a lack of seasonal workers, especially from Eastern Europe, for the winter. 60,000 Hungarians alone are tearing a big hole. Even English ski instructors are in short supply. The call for global freedom of movement in the choice of workplace is growing louder. Politicians once again don't understand anything about the practical side of things - not even the fact that the peak season starts in December and no one wants to enter in the middle of it, on 1 January , when many deep-pocketed guests have already half left again...

Out of employee necessity, upscale hotels are now eliminating salad buffets and white tablecloths or closing two days a week. Far too few have the courage for the 4-day week, which Christian Grünbart introduced in his Austrian 4-star hotel three years ago. Even in German companies bound by collective agreements, this is possible from a purely legal point of view, one employment lawyer assures. Working four days and enjoying three days of free time - that works wonders, as the hotel owner reports, and with lower costs in the long run, too.

Theory and practice thus mark out this edition. Once again, we bring you a range of market news from across the whole of Europe, Hilton describes the profile of the traveller in 2022 in a report, the EU analyses the short-term rental market and the figures of Covivio, one of the largest hotel owners in Europe, underpin the upswing in the European hotel industry.

And what's next for the market? Tell us what you think - next Sunday, the hospitalityInside Investment BAROMETER 2021, again in cooperation with Union Investment, will close after four weeks. Last opportunity to comment on assets and contracts of the future. Just a few clicks - and you will receive the complete evaluation afterwards if you wish. Your answers will of course remain anonymous.

Have a good week. Till next Friday.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Dear Insiders,

The situation is good. And the outlook? This is the headline for one of our short news articles today, the title aptly describes the current state of the industry. After the positive summer trend, it's becoming increasingly likely that autumn at least will also be golden. Presumably also Christmas/New Year as well. But then what?

The Q3 reports of hotel groups make encouraging reading. Whitbread, the parent company of Premier Inn, announced that it will spend £23 million on pay rises and one-off bonuses. Who among the medium-sized companies will be able to afford increases on that scale?

Answers to these questions were already available at Expo Real: The only way to compensate for the lack of employees and rising costs is through higher prices plus digitalisation and automation. Small and large hoteliers have indeed understood this by now. Overnight they have learned to love digital and demand revenue management tools, open PMS, solutions for easier bookings...

And even for BIM, Building Information Modeling - a tool that ensures total transparency for your new-build project, right down to the last incorrectly laid cable in the wall, allowing complete error-free work in the end. Hotelier Martin Kemmer from Place Value described it at the Expo Real, Premier Inn and Soulmade were also enthusiastic about this tool. After all, it ensures buildings can be copied faster thereby speeding up expansion plan - even for wooden hotels. In another discussion, Ruby, apaleo and Hotelbird also describe how technology is helping them to become more efficient and save money.

Much of what that nebulous word 'digitalisation' previously meant is now becoming more precise, more practical, more pragmatic. Feel your way forward, every step, even the smallest, is a step into the clear. It's the technology that will save your bottom line, not the euro saved on the kilo of meat in procurement.

Over the next 10 days, the US and Thailand will once again open their borders to international travellers. Two names synonymous with popular destinations, for business and leisure. China, an insider told me this week, also plans to end its no-covid strategy in the spring. Everything is moving again.

The Austrians are already stepping on the gas: Their winter season needs to be a success this time around, if only to make up for the total loss of 2020/21. Fred Fettner's article shows: There, too, only strategic planning, clear rules and technology help to ensure that guests have a good time so that they are happy to pay. That's the goal, nothing else. New tech tools along the way are definitely allowed.

And last but not least, we now need a last push from you for the hospitalityInside Investment BAROMETER! There are only nine days left, so click here and answer the multiple choice questions with a click. Or don't you want to know which property classes are attracting most investment and which types of contract will be most popular in future?
 

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Today, we take another look at Expo Real and what real estate and financial experts think about the industry: The still attractive German real estate market also ensures that hotels keep their feet in the game without becoming game commodities.

However, investors and banks are counting on operators to reflect hard on their concepts and to actively support asset management. "We must look ahead with humility," says Martin Schaller of Union Investment - a phrase that all stakeholders are likely to place over their next meetings as a motto.

The Dorint Hotel Group has already shown humility with tough restructuring in the 15 years in the run up to corona. It is therefore all the more pleasing that the current figures and booking trends give the group every reason to hope for a good start to the new year. CEO Karl-Heinz Pawlizki reports.

At the ready for talks at the trade fair, he had the 2020 Annual Report in his briefcase. The report is a transparent account of the past year with market figures, Dorint facts and comparative graphics. Almost an historical document of the entire run of the pandemic, also available for our readers today.

Sustainability came up in almost every conversation at the fair: ESG and EU taxonomy have now penetrated deep into everyone's consciousness. The changes now hurtling towards the hotel industry, begin again in the investment and real estate industry, with "Sustainable Finance" - and so today also with us with an article about Green Bonds.

In "50 Shades of Green," Beatrix Boutonnet, our finance specialist, explains what it is and whether it makes sense. The first hotel groups are already looking at this new form of finance.

The final Business Travel Analysis of the German Travel Management Association VDR provides sober reading: Figures from 2020 confirm beyond doubt that business travel will shrink permanently by 30%.

But hotel players continue to believe strongly in the future of travel: The Italian TH Resorts wants to quickly transform itself into TH Group and become the second largest tourist operator in the country. Hilton has found the digital key to multi-room bookings with one click, and a new trio comprised of a hotelier and two non-hoteliers venture forward with the new Big Mama Hotels brand. We round off this issue with interesting personalia and further market news - AND with a call to take part in our annual Investment BAROMETER!

Now in particular, just after the Expo and the many conversations with colleagues and business partners and even more so after this multi-faceted issue, surely you have an opinion on the yield from individual property classes and on contract forms? Just one click on this link and you can start immediately.  Anonymously, of course. As participant you can order the detailed results.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

I’ve never seen so many happy faces in a crisis! Expo Real made it possible this week, the "hotel family" was able to come together once again. The restart was a success. And the message from the hotel industry: We've survived! And we will live on!

With around 30 exhibitors - half as many as in 2019 - it held the flag high for the entire industry - and higher than expected. Hoteliers have already had their first positive talks with banks and investors. Exhibitors and visitors alike praised the quality of their discussions and the less hectic pace in the halls. And the trade fair was also pleased to welcome 19,200 participants - more than expected.

The aisles were very busy on Monday and Tuesday, even with many last minute appointments. Five minutes before the start of the hotel conference, the Forum was still eerily empty - by 10 a.m. sharp, all 80 seats were occupied and the last few were already lining up at the back. And it stayed that way the whole day.

In the magazine, Susanne Stauss and Sylvie Konzack have summarised the discussions about operators and creditworthiness, about hotel real estate in the stress test and the new diversity in hospitality following the pandemic. Both these contributions are a current reflection of market woes and market trends.

From everything, I discerned a new, unexpected background: Self-criticism. Hoteliers, investors and developers described their pandemic fears, their hesitations, their worries, their solutions. They were realistic descriptions and clear affirmations in favour of change.

How do you feel about the current market situation? Tell us! Visitors as well as subscribers will find access to the current hospitalityInside "Investment BAROMETER" in cooperation with Union Investment on our page 1 as well as here. How do you see the changes in the real estate classes directly after Expo Real? Take the survey here.

Today we are not only summarising Expo Real, but all our events in September and October: from our HITT Think Tank in mid-September to our current impressions from our joint stand World of Hospitality, as well as the Expo Real hotel conference and of course our networking event BRICKS & BRAINS, which started with an “explosive atmosphere", quite literally:

One hour before the start of the event in the new Adina Werksviertel Munich, the 84m-high hotel tower had to be evacuated: An aerial bomb had been found on the neighbouring property. As well as overseeing the guest evacuation, the fantastic Adina team managed to move the entire set-up including food for our event with 120 guests to a safe alternative location 100 meters away within 45 minutes! 88 guests still managed to make their way through traffic chaos, roadblocks and police checks. The last ones walked the last mile, one switched from the taxi to an e-scooter...

What an appreciation for the event, what a cheerful mood, despite the hardship! The bomb was defused, the mood remained excellent and later everyone went to the Adina for a guided tour of the hotel... HospitalityInside says a big thank you to EVERYONE, but especially to the Adina team with Matthias Niemeyer at the helm !!! This industry rises to any challenge! We've always felt it, now we know it.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief 

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com