Editorial
Dear Insiders,
I live in Augsburg, home to the world's leading robot manufacturer Kuka until 2016. A German company, typical of the nation’s Mittelstand. Then Midea arrived, a Chinese firm that offered ever more money to entice shareholders to sell. Eventually they buckled, and Angela Merkel gave her blessing to the sell-off of German expertise to China. Now Olaf Scholz is doing exactly the same with the port of Hamburg. It’s outrageous to sell even 24.9% of the port. Though Xi Jingping certainly has time: He will definitely govern longer than Scholz.
How is anybody supposed to find motivation in this permanent crisis? The Chancellor is throwing this country into a black hole. And we see a reflection of this in the hotel industry, even in our investment BAROMETER: "The subdued economic outlook" is what's putting the brakes on the hotel investment market - its impact is greater than the higher interest rates and even the Ukraine war and energy costs!
It is therefore all the more positive that the industry remains confident. The results of the HospitalityInside mood barometer, which we have carried out for years together with Union Investment and always run over the Expo Real period, can be found on our page 1 today. Subscribers receive the full evaluation in the magazine.
Perspectives come from Italy. There, 2022 could still be a record year for hotel transactions. Financing, albeit expensive, is still available, but new alternative capital providers are also emerging. Our correspondent Massimiliano Sarti has felt the new pulse.
And even in the difficult topic of ESG, which we also addressed last week, there is a future. But for this you need to learn a new vocabulary again: Madaster. A database for the material cycle. A huge topic for conversions! Who'd have thought that you can save money and even earn money with recycled scrap material. Sylvie Konzack learned more from Madaster CEO Dr Patrick Bergmann than he revealed during the Expo Real panel discussion.
In Austria, this summer outdid the 2019 numbers, but when it comes to winter forecasts, people are squirming. Will the day ski pass prices, which have shot up to €65, keep families and day trippers away? The Germans are expected to save the Austrian snow business once again, but I think it's wrong to base today's forecasts on the super numbers of winter 2021/22, when there was "only corona" and the wallet was still full. The energy monster is tearing a huge hole in that right now.
At the big chains, wallets are filling up again: Premier Inn, Accor, Hilton, IHG, Pandox, Scandic and Wyndham all made massive gains in their first half of business or Q3. Finally! Are things looking up? In spite of all the crises?
Probably not. But there are still plenty of new windows to push open, for example in the digital world, whose innovations we report to you today in our Digi News, and in our Market News, which shows that there are still many new hotels, brand transfers and changes of ownership.
Austria lost an important hotel patron last week: Dietrich Mateschitz, the man who made Red Bull big in Europe, earned billions himself, and poured many millions of that into tourism, hotel and restaurant business. Fred Fettner has shed light on the lesser-known tourist side of the late businessman.
I suggest: We all continue straight on our paths, look right and left, and search for trustworthy partners. Chancellors come and go.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Do you know how I feel when I occupy myself with the topic of ESG? It feels like learning vocabulary. First, you learn words, then you build sentences, but my counterpart does not understand me yet as I used a wrong word at a wrong place. But I just keep going through this nebula: At some point, I will find the correct word for the perfect phrasing.
Your colleagues are certainly able to explain to you, what articles 6, 8 or 9 mean in EU taxonomy language, for example. In panel discussions such as the ones at the Expo Real, you already got to know what parts of this gigantic set of regulations are valid or which ones do not make any sense. In addition, I think it is good to know that even leading people from investment, real estate and hotel operations admit moving through this topic with great caution. Everybody is learning vocabulary.
Therefore, the hints and clues provided by Theodor Kubak of Arbireo Capital, Karl-Heinz Pawlizki of Arabella Hospitality, and Andreas Ewald of Engel & Voelkers Hotel Consulting regarding their everyday lives are even more valuable for you. Here is one of the findings: Only hybrid lease agreements are suitable to integrate sustainability criteria.
And everybody needs to talk more to everybody! Much more! Good communication between investors/owners and operators increases efficiency. This was the finding of my colleague Beatrix Boutonnet from a panel discussion about contractual adaptations and this motivated her to describe the importance of speaking to each other among you Excel sheet freaks. People, who speak clearly, appear convincing and transparent, and can modify the vocabulary during negotiations more easily.
I can see that the first ones among you – bored by my words – are already beaming their Excel tables to their screens! The topic of communications is not as trivial as you might think. The Motel One Group just received an offer for its first hotel in New York because of this topic.
The consumers do not need to learn to talk but they must learn to keep their promises. Tourism scientists are slowly detecting signals that the consumers are ready to pay more for sustainable travel. The willingness to pay CO2 compensations is increasing. Eco labels in hotels, however, fail to have the desired effect.
This week's announcement of KlimaLink is praiseworthy: The new association, comprised of 22 travel companies and associations, wants to define a uniform standard for the definition of the CO2 emissions, and this for all travel providers, also including hotels.
On Wednesday, I visited the new Scandic Hotels in Munich: chic, nice, cosy and sustainable. Actually, such concepts should be located right in the city centre and not in the outskirts, even if this is part of a mixed-use quarter. Whether the ITB Berlin 2023 will be able to take the leap from the virtual world into the real world again or not, remains open after this week's press release. Renowned destinations are returning with a stand, but information about the hotel world is not available. Didn't this industry used to be one of the trade fair's pillars!?
Four Seasons has a new CEO – we have to wait and see if he is able to force the hotel expansion. The HR Group in Berlin dismissed both Managing Directors of Success Hotels; the mutual trust was no longer existing, they said.
You will find these topics and more, with many facets and background information, in today's edition! As always, we will provide you with the latest market news in compact form.
Finally, this is our last call for the participation in our Investment BAROMETER! Next Monday, we will be closing our autumn survey! The evaluation will then be ready next Friday… So please click here!! Just two minutes of your time for more insights and more communication!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
It takes a week after Expo Real before you really notice how contradictory the hotel industry’s current situation is: Transactions are at a standstill, development is advancing at a snail's pace, banks are refusing finance, but hotel yields are rising. All the same, the hotel has now been downgraded to risky again - as happened in 2009, as Prof. Christian Buer points out today in his commentary on the current Q3 transaction figures. Operators are just consolidating among themselves or making hot expansion plans; many are still basking in their super rates, though others are already looking anxiously at their gas meters.
The trick now is to read between the lines or pick out the subtleties from the discussion rounds. Today we have summarised two important sessions at the Expo Real for you. On the one hand, there are hungry investors with clear exit concepts, but even in the crisis they still encounter self-confident and agile operators. The latter are nevertheless aware of where their interest rate limits are, where their own asset management is lacking and why they are still pushing ESG to the back of the queue. Pro-Invest Group, Soravia, EY and Seetel Hotels made for fascinating questions and answers that focused on and questioned the value of capital.
The other discussion round brought together owners, operators and lawyers in the form of IHG, Motel One, MHP and Jung & Schleicher. They all drew important lessons from corona, satisfactorily resolved their lease payment dispute 80% of the time, so that they now - together! - are looking to tackle the next issues: even more flexible variables, cap clauses, shorter contract terms and contracts with negotiation clauses. The latter "force" the parties to talk to each other when things get tight. You see, it does work!
It's the small things that now pave the way to the future. And I see from these two discussions rounds alone how much the hotel industry has professionalised in real estate and finance between 2009 and 2019. The larger operators have done their homework and are now negotiating on an equal footing with investors and developers, despite all the burdens. The operators have also become more self-critical; that suits them well.
David Etmenan, founder and CEO of Novum Hospitality, has never lacked in self-confidence, but he has also worked on himself and the Novum strategy: He is now shifting from quantity to quality, in small steps. He has adjusted the portfolio by 5,000 rooms since corona and implemented internal rebrandings to sharpen the brand profiles. He is also building up his own PropCo and wants to get out from the protective umbrella of the German Economic Stabilisation Fund at the end of 2024. "Our goal is to deleverage in a healthy way and then grow sustainably.”
Union Investment and mrp hotels have produced a white paper for resorts, there is a new brand ranking for Germany, and the EU wants to force short-term rental companies to register and disclose data before the end of the year. Did you know that drones can build houses like bees? That's worth a look.
Our photo animations from Expo Real are definitely worth a look - from our lively joint stand World of Hospitality and our relaxed networking event BRICKS & BRAINS with many high-caliber guests.
Last chance to participate once again in our Investment BAROMETER! Two minutes and you help to gain a better understanding of the world. You have your own opinion, don't you? Those who participate receive all results in detail.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The hotel industry has defied the crisis and showed its colours with about 50 exhibitors at the Expo Real in Munich. The industry did not show any signs of depression but was rather contemplative and concerned. The turnovers are good to very good in 2022, the inflation helps to establish higher rates; mostly, the bookings until November are very positive. This means, the glass is half-full!
However, the glass can tip over any time, but this applies to all industries. The waiting for a clear signal from Berlin concerning energy costs is wearing everybody down; the mental strain is enormous. As long as there are no political guiding principles, no financing is available for classic hotels. Investors and developers are keeping still. Serviced Apartments are more attractive, however, and are now overtaking the classics in hospitality.
Remarkable: After corona, the operators are moving closer together with their owners/investors. Moreover, the industry still has its fans in the financial world! So far, the market adjustment has only started among the operators. There are no insolvencies on the horizon yet.
Changes are only visible in niches and in the small print. This year, many people want to know, what the others are thinking what and what their plans are: Therefore, the panel discussions at the Expo Real Hotel Conference were all full or even over-filled; the participants listened so attentively and silently that you could hear a pin drop. More so than last year, everyone was looking for the exchange of information, even if the conclusion was in many cases: Everybody knows that the others do not know more.
Our exhibitors and other exhibitors drew a large crowd! For two days, the interest was very high! In addition, the Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Building, Klara Geywitz, was looking for collaborations with the entrepreneurs during her Tour d'Expo Real: She also stopped by at the "World of Hospitality" stand.
Because we all only returned from the trade fair last night, we summarised the basic mood concerning the hot topics of hotel financing and development today, and we bundled the latest, trade-show related expansion news. More will follow next week, in word and image.
We are even more interested in your opinion after the discussions at Expo Real. Please take two minutes for our current autumn survey. The Investment BAROMETER 2022 in cooperation with Union Investment is still running! You will receive all the results at the end... Vote - go directly to the online barometer here!
The hospitalityInside SPECIAL on Expo Real remains available online. Browse through the e-magazine here, which also describes the co-exhibitors of the World of Hospitality in a bundle.
Lindner Hotels is starting a distribution cooperation with Hyatt Hotels. The core brand Lindner as well as the smart sister brand me and all hotels are now part of the Joie de Vivre brand and are listed in the entire Hyatt system, including a loyalty programme. However, Lindner's clientele is mainly from the German-speaking countries. Does this deal make sense after all? CEO Arno Schwalie says yes.
With our two contributions about tourism strategies in Amsterdam and Israel, we are pointing out again two extremes in tourism: The Dutch want to keep away day tourists and over tourism with a tax of 30%, Israel is trying to double its numbers of tourists now. What is sustainable about the latter?
And there will be an abundance of other news ready for you, which is not related to the trade fair but equally worth reading.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The crises have many of us firmly in their grip, as they do much of this issue. With inflation in Germany running at 10 percent, the Federal government finally put the brakes on gas prices yesterday - on the heels of banks and economic institutes predicting gloom for 2023/24 that very morning. The German Angst is back.
Though British hoteliers are also feeling anxious: 300 CEOs have written to the Prime Minister. One-fifth of the businesses will not survive. The association presents an action plan and is equally hopeful of a price cap. In France, unions are working with government on energy-saving measures that cost no money.
That sounds more pragmatic than in Germany, where special broadcasts and talk shows aim to outdo each other every evening well into the night. Even Germany’s generally more modest public broadcasters are now losing any sense of proportionality.
Sarah Douag describes the energy crisis in the UK and France in terms of facts rather than media hyperbole. All correspondents have researched how many hoteliers already demand an "energy cost surcharge" from their guests. €10 per night or only two? Whether Italian, Austrian or German: Here, most hoteliers are apparently showing sensitivity. They still want to welcome guests in the 4th quarter.
In any case, the energy crisis continues to fuel the employment crisis. Italy's luxury hoteliers are jubilant about a great season, but they will be short of staff in the future... "Disruption" must be priced into business models and HR strategies in the future, say tourism professors Celine Chang and Markus Pillmayer of Munich University of Applied Sciences soberly. They have been conducting interdisciplinary research into the HR spiral since the outbreak of the pandemic and are now formulating initial strategies for action. "There's no going back to the old days for the industry," they conclude in an interview with Sylvie Konzack about crisis resilience in HR.
In the coldly calculating real estate world, Macy Marvel sat in on an OpCo/PropCo conference in London to see if it currently makes sense to merge operations and real estate companies. Unbelievable what is now being discussed...
Positive is: Europe's companies want to gradually scale back their China activities and produce and sell in their own region again. Finally, an end to the globalisation mania! Consolidation, on the other hand, is not over. In Germany, there is now one less white label operator: Bierwirth & Kluth will be merged into a Dutch finance and real estate group.
At Expo Real - starting next Tuesday - we will certainly hear more rumours than news; quite a few will want to play with fear. Nevertheless, hoteliers are showing a fighting spirit; they do not want to sacrifice their life's work or long-standing commitment on the gas burner. That, by the way, is what I sensed and heard from the briefings on the discussion panels at the Expo Real hotel conference.
The HospitalityInside team looks forward to seeing many of you next week. You will find the World of Hospitality in Hall A1: Experience our joint stand in a new design this year! Do you already have appointments with our 15 co-exhibitors? Contacts and emails for each exhibitor can be found bundled on the HospitalityInside Marketplace! Just click on the company logos!
And last but not least: Our current autumn survey, the Investment BAROMETER 2022 in cooperation with Union Investment, is already up and running! In these exciting times, we need your insider opinion. Vote - go directly to the online barometer here!
In addtition: The hospitalityInside SPECIAL on Expo Real is back again! Online here as a PDF to browse through and in print at the trade fair at our stand. Or in the lobby of more than 50 hotels in Munich!
See you in Munich. I wish you every luck for your journey, with trains that roll and planes that fly!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
With Expo Real in Munich set to begin in just ten days, many insiders will meet again and are likely to have a lot to discuss: The need for discussion is as great as last year. Since our last issue, I noticed this at the Hogan Lovells Hotel Day as well as at the congress of the procurement company Progros.
Yet optimism sounds different. Notable at present are the nerves surrounding the enormous crisis, but no one wants to give up. And that's good!
Keep talking to your colleagues - at the Hospitality Industry Dialogue, at the hotel conference at Expo Real on October 4; we set out the programme today on our Page 1. And don't forget to cast your vote - for our 9th Investment BAROMETER in collaboration with Union Investment. The online survey starts today, also on our Page 1. Join us! We all need statements from serious market participants.
"Active with hands tied" is how I titled my article from Hogan Lovells Hotel Day today. It's a simple reference to the standstill to which developers in particular are currently condemned. When standing still though, one is better able to hear other sounds: So it felt good as owners, developers and operators alike eagerly and matter-of-factly discussed caps or contract adjustments.
The world is changing only slowly and gradually though. The enormous momentum, driven by massive pressure to survive, may be reflected in devastating price increases, but not yet in digital support: For example, Progros and Prof. Christian Buer from Heilbronn presented a study on digital purchasing management in the German hospitality industry. There is still a huge gap between words and action. In this crisis, the digital adjusting screws could already help save more costs than negotiations for cheaper meat prices. But such a positive knock-on effects in their own operations are simply not yet recognised by many hoteliers and restaurateurs. They only see the current supply chain bottleneck "out there."
Soberness also returns to the figures from the world of business travellers: Both the Global Business Travel Association and the German Business Travel Association are putting the brakes on the euphoria, which has already begun to emerge in some areas: Things won't be rosy again until 2026 at the earliest. Until then, small steps count here, too.
London hoteliers, meanwhile, have outdone themselves: in their greed, as angry guests comment. In order to squeeze as much as possible from the Queen's funeral feast, hoteliers cancelled prior bookings and resold the vacated room for several times as much. And just as crazy is the fact that a couple from Vietnam allegedly triggered the recent IHG cyberattack.
Greek resort group Sani/Ikos has a new major shareholder, many executives are changing chairs, and Hilton is already planning hospitality suites for astronauts in the Starlab space station...
A bed in zero gravity - wow. That would be a real exit from this world of extremes... But unfortunately we don't have time to dream at the moment.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Hop, hop, Hopper... Playfully light, with carrots as currency and individualised price animation, the young booking platform Hopper captures its core target group: the users of Instagram and TikTok. Hopper offers flights, hotels, rental cars and apartments, in the United States it is already considered a super app and has been downloaded 70 million times. Now the carrot-coloured bunny is hopping toward Europe to load hotel groups' bed pools directly into its OTA system here.
Artificial intelligence guides the user purposefully through searches, prices, discounts and additional offers. Yet in truth, Hopper is a FinTech: The company sells "financial technology products" – "insurance packages" that take away every fear from Instas and TikToks for small change: from bad weather to a grotty hotel that they can move out of and relocate from very quickly if they don't like it. Hopper pays for everything. This too is determined by AI: It calculates the financial risk for Hopper and therefore the turnover. The company is worth 5 billion dollars.
The way we book travel is changing dramatically. But the desire to travel is the same. Thus, the latest WTTC figures demonstrate global victory over pandemic losses. And the World Travel & Tourism Council predicts another 10 prosperous years for the industry – with China, the United States, India, France and Germany as the big winners... "unless a global recession kills these predictions in the egg," Sarah Douag says, tempering the euphoria.
For many hoteliers, energy costs are indeed becoming a matter of survival. Massimiliano Sarti and Fred Fettner report three- and four-fold cost increases in Italy and Austria. If ski lifts, pools and saunas are then closed, it would take the resorts and the destinations down with it. But let's stay optimistic!
Positive examples are what’s needed! Prof. Wolfgang Arlt, previously known to our readers as a China expert, is looking for good ideas and projects from human resources and the social sector. He calls for more "Meaningful Tourism" – meaningful actions that make the lives of people/employees and all other stakeholders around hotels more valuable. Far too much focus is on the environment, real estate and profits, he says, criticising the bulk of ESG targets.
His interjection comes in handy today because this issue has become very numbers-heavy. This is simply due to the observation of the crisis and company figures. Hospitality high-tech hybrid Numa, for example, which pushes aside any traditional hotel metrics with its IT-based, nearly staff-less apartment model, put itself in the spotlight just before Expo Real by throwing success numbers around – unlike competitors. If I put Hopper and Numa side by side today, I see two models that no longer have anything to do with classic hotel thinking and development.
Here, I have only praise for the famous Munich Oktoberfest, which every year – steadfastly following the good tradition – announces higher beer prices: The "Mass" now costs up to EUR 13.80. Cheers! Let's go to the first Wiesn after the pandemic – starting tomorrow, until 3 October!
The day after, just as reliably, Expo Real starts – with less beer and more business. The fair has grown to 7 halls. The hotel marketplace in Hall A1 is also bustling. The World of Hospitality with two stands welcomed one more exhibitor this week. This means that 16 companies with over 80 employees will be represented at the stand this year. More on our Page 1.
As the WTTC figures show, tourism will continue because people see travel as an elixir of live. I would have liked to have had two drops of this elixir yesterday, too. In today's photo you can see me writing on the floor in the corridor of an ICE train between Berlin and Hamburg. That's what it looked like in the whole train. The reason: the original train was once again cancelled due to operational damage. All passengers travelling to Hamburg had to change to an already overcrowded ICE.
This is mobility in collapse, in the middle of Germany in 2022. It is no longer an exception: I heard many dramas of this kind at the Hogan Lovells Hotel Day in Hamburg last night. But we have to change it again! All of us together. Make travel great again!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Even Rupert Simoner wasn't aware until a week ago that Wyndham would be one of the other partners in the deal with the German HR Group. HRG CEO Ruslan Husry, at any rate, is getting serious about his announced high-speed expansion. He is driving things forward from German to European to worldwide group. The new business triangle between HRG, Vienna House and Wyndham, sealed two days ago, now brings HRG to 145 hotels and 20 signed projects.
The deal itself implies changes in shareholdings, real estate changes, a brand sale, a franchise agreement and a convoluted ownership and operator structure. And all this between four countries: Thailand, Austria, Germany and the United States. This isn’t the sort of deal you can get your head around in two minutes. Ruslan Husry, Rupert Simoner and Dimitris Manikis, Wyndham's President for EMEA, gave hospitalityInside the details exclusively yesterday.
The upcoming Expo Real in Munich and the Oktoberfest before it set the ideal stage for the industry to discuss such developments. In any case, the advance bookings for the "Wiesn" are already cheerful. And beds that are not filled now are guaranteed to be filled last minute and at good rates - despite the ever-increasing mountain of beds in Munich. According to our little survey, it's already a case of "Let the Beer Flow!"
Our Austria correspondent Fred Fettner also discovered exciting things: The lockdowns during the corona crisis have improved the GOP of hotels! Or have companies like Verkehrsbüro Hotellerie, Falkensteiner or Harisch Hotels been "over-subsidised"? For the first time, the Austrian development bank ÖHT and Prodinger have thrown together hotel figures from two different sources to find out.
There are signs of trouble as regards swimming pools today: In Switzerland, their closure is being advocated due to the emergency situation as regards natural gas. Is this a hint for the politicians in neighbouring Germany? The Germans have already been threatened with new mask and test regulations in autumn. Has the government learned nothing from two years of corona?
STR shows which European hotel markets reached 2019 levels in July; by contrast, the figures on air travel within Europe know few superlatives. On the other hand, Arabella Hospitality, MHP and Warimpex are finally pleased to report strong figures for the past financial year.
Striking is that business travel associations will in future require hotels to include the carbon footprint with every offer etc. It is still only a position paper, but who or what can be trusted today?
A few weeks after the vacation month of August, the chaos of daily life has us back in its grip. Nothing can be planned anymore. But everything is doable. Also good things.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Today, our meeting floor was exclusively occupied by hotel operators, said a lawyer this week en passant: Consolidations are the only thing being negotiated. This was confirmed by the four specialised solicitors we questioned afterwards. They clearly see the emergence of an explosive cocktail. Primarily affected will probably be fair hotels, upscale hotels and small operators. And just like during the corona crisis, there are flashes of disagreement between landlords and tenants, this time caused by the heating obligation, amongst others.
The heated crisis situation is not easy on anyone. But Rob Hornman, CEO of Flemings Hotels from Frankfurt, remains calm. Because the group has consequently relied on "the private" factor. In addition, new F&B concepts are already improving the turnover. Last summer, the group gave up four hotels "proactively" and has been gaining strength since then. By 2026, it wants to double its portfolio. And also operate foreign properties under a white label.
Those who know Frankfurt well will keep a close eye on Flemings: The bank metropolis still remains a tough ground in the third corona year. But sometimes, courage gets rewarded, just like it did for Samih Sawiris in Switzerland. His vision to transform the dead Uri Valley around Andermatt into a flourishing holiday paradise, proved successful. Now, he is transferring the destination resort concept to the next valley and into the neighbouring Canton of Grisons, where the population is migrating as well. Experts are regarding the projects much more positively now. In the meantime, Sawiris has already invested over one billion Swiss francs in Andermatt.
No less than two extensive reports today deal with the data and digital technologies without which neither climate targets can be reached nor real estate operated in an economically viable way. What is positive about them is that the companies clearly affirm the transformation process, but both data quality and data silos act as brakes.
In our Sustainability News section, we talk about positive developments regarding sustainability. In Switzerland, a newly founded energy alliance is trying to help hotels. The hotel association is among the founding members.
HolidayCheck exposed itself as superficial. An analysis of its hotel evaluations reflected the increasing lack of service. When hospitalityInside asked for details, the company refused to answer. Our evaluation for this: zero stars, thumbs down!
Staffing news and our mixed news on the hotel market make this issue complete once more.
We wish you a week full of positive news!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
A summer break refreshes one’s strength. And strength is something we need more than ever in these crazy times. The realist in us sees new developments threatening our existence every week, the optimist in us designs the future and motivates the team. A difficult balancing act for managers.
Decisive entrepreneurs take action - without knowing the exact result, but trusting in their previous strengths. That's why there is no Excel sheet for what the Ruby lifestyle group decided Tuesday night. CEO Michael Struck, his management team as well as Ruby shareholders have agreed to a fundamental change of direction in Human Resources: Ruby will massively upgrade the status of its employees, introduce a 35-hour week, make everyone's working hours more flexible, allow workation in other European countries, offer a whole range of additional benefits and will finally give employees a share in the company's profits. Wow.
Personnel costs are shooting up. Obviously. "We don't have to do all this, we want to," Michael Struck says, commenting on this internal "epochal decision". He reveals the details in an interview with me. He is thinking far into the future. He doesn’t want to fail because of the current crises and cost increases, and rather wants to continue conquering the world, with Ruby Leisure Hotels.
Austrian hoteliers are currently thinking more locally. Some of them have discovered alternative energy sources on their doorstep. Some are already energy self-sufficient, others are on their way. Fred Fettner has found rural hotels like city hotels that already keep their energy costs well below the hotel average with photovoltaics and a wood chip plant. For some it was just luck, for others it was sensitive pioneering behaviour.
Hoteliers in gas-dependent countries are facing an autumn of worry, and in Germany confused politicians are only making the mood worse with their reformed Corona Infection Protection Act. In Austria, hoteliers have to hold their breath when politicians discuss whether to activate snowmaking systems in the winter...
Our reports take a look into both the past and the future: at the huge drops in franchise fees in the U.S. during the Corona years, at the new priorities of consumers worldwide, at the half-year financial statements of IHG and Hyatt and the crowdfunding of Falkensteiner... And in addition, after a two-week summer break, we also bring your the most important market and real estate news and personalia.
Yesterday's latest news: The expansive HR Group from Berlin continues its shopping spree. It has acquired the Austrian group Amedia Hotels. HR did not respond to hospitalityInside.com's question about the deal; however, an owner of Amedia Hotels confirmed the deal.
From now until Christmas, hospitalityInside will be there for you again every Friday, reliable as always, with a lot of background information and positive examples that will hopefully help you to keep the balance in everyday life.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? editor@hospitalityInside.com