Dear Insiders,

The considerable increase in global competition is causing worry lines on chain hoteliers' foreheads. Karen Sheppard from IHG, Duncan O'Rourke from Accor and Thomas Willms from Steigenberger wouldn't be put off though. In the Expo Real discussion on the future of the industry, all three managers were firmly convinced that their groups would survive and, above all, that their brand strategies would prove to be the right ones. My response to this today is: let's wait and see.

The Italians are currently an unhappy bunch. Bureaucracy and the state are a cause of repeated annoyance, as is often the case in many other countries. Yet in Italy, it all seems a little more acute. Italian hospitality industry was recently "overlooked" when it came to the allocation of state incentives for the recruitment of new staff. Data put together by Massimiliano Sarti show how just how preferentially other industries are treated.

That things are becoming more difficult in the hotel business can also be seen in destinations where every chain simply has to be – Singapore is one example. Macy Marvel's visit to the Merlion city shows: It remains a hotspot for chains and is therefore growing, but performance is deteriorating. For me, this reveals everything: The market mechanism is always the same, whatever the destination.

This also applies to Austria, the land of winter sports, which expects a flood of new beds in the coming winter season. Yet most of these will be in huge apartment buildings with no restaurant services though. Aside from this, only a few classic hotels are increasing their number of rooms – and when they, then it's by adding apartments. So it’s even more cold beds once the cold season is over.

Here it’s good to know just how much purchasing power travellers from various countries have. A study has examined this across 42 countries. Lindner Hotels have now further refined their HR strategy based on their everyday experience and are beginning to make progress in finding and retaining employees.
Further news relates to the hotel market in Budapest, to what’s new in the digital world and in world of real estate/project development. Oh yes, and Leading Hotels have a new CEO, a lady!

We wish you a pleasant week!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
This edition brings further stories from Expo Real. At the hotel conference, Falkensteiner, Valamar, Hirmer Group and Marriott praised the potential of resorts in all their facets, from the classic holiday resort to glamping and private villas. Last Friday, the small but elegant newcomer Arborea hit the headlines in Germany. Their very first resort on the Baltic Sea changed hands, with RIMC as the new operator. This prompted us to ask – why it is so difficult to build resort brands? Hotour, Horwath HTL and the private hotelier Jens Sroka set out the reasons for this as they see it. It's the investors that matter.
As regards digitisation, both investors and operators must think carefully about the subject. Neither have very much desire for innovation. The parties still do not seem to be able to agree on who should bear the brunt of investment nor on how the cost savings should be shared once made. This was made clear at an Expo Real discussion with Hilton, citizenM and Art-Invest on Tuesday. Here, the sector is still predominantly conservative and small-scale in its attitude, or at least that's how it seems set against the motivating appeal of Drees & Sommer Managing Director Klaus Dederichs from Aachen; he once again urged a major rethink.
In the world of real estate, hotels remain popular with two new closed hotel funds. Meanwhile, banks are tightening their lending criteria for all types of real estate. At the same time, consolidation among the hotel groups continues: Generator Hostels just bought a mini-group. And as of yesterday the Swiss Seiler Hotels is now owned by Aevis Victoria, the parent company of the Victoria-Jungfrau Collection. And more is to come of the new pair of siblings.
And in other news: Kempinski reports the first personnel changes since Martin Smura took office and the IPK World Travel Monitor reports the continuing flow of tourists from Asia. So beds, employees and managers will continue to be needed...
And if it's relaxation you're looking for, take a look at our videos from Expo Real: on the networking event BRICKS & BRAINS and on the Joint World of Hospitality Stand. Enjoy these direct links or go to our article on the front page!
Last but not least: In the last issue we described the current Treugast Investment Ranking. Due to an error in the Treugast documentation, B&B Hotels was mentioned as a potential relegator: They are one of the potential climbers! We would like to make that clear here.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
The Expo Real in Munich once again saw a record number of participants with many parties going off around the event, also for the hotel industry. Yet the celebrations take place on a cliff edge. It all feels very much like 2007/2008. Many indicators urge caution, but the run on locations and projects continues unabated. We've been listening to experts and interviewing hotel groups: Everyone is aware of the risk of going over the edge, but hardly anyone is changing their behaviour – it's a run of lemmings.
At the Expo Real hotel conference, Robin Rossmann of STR presented facts and figures from a different perspective to show that the industry is veering off balance: He pointed to overcapacities and to the decline in RevPAR as well as to the disruption from India and China, who have knocked western giants like IHG and Accor from their top spots among the world's top ten hotel chains.
The news that everyone talked about the most was the announcement of the cooperation between Investor/Developer/Operator 12.18 and Kempinski Hotels: Both want to realise a total of 20 hotels and resorts by the end of 2022 – at least in large parts. CEO Martin Smura steps of the accelerator: He wants to deliver fast. It's also positive news after he announced in the German business newspaper "Handelsblatt" last week that Kempinski would lose 13 contracts. When and for what reason these hotels will go and which ones they are, the group did not want to tell us. I ask myself here: So why does a CEO first do his company down? So the 12.18 news looks better?
The lion's share of the new Kempinski projects will be resorts. Here, things are very much in line with the trend: The upswing in holiday resorts continues, as Treugast shows in its ranking and forecast survey at Expo Real. We have also collected other news from Expo Real in a separate news mix. Today, a first impression on our page 1, more next week.
The exhibitors at our joint stand "World of Hospitality" were also very busy at the fair. We were very pleased to see "full house" and the many top-class guests at "Bricks & Brains". The discussion at the hotel conference was much more animated than in the previous year – another sign of the highly competitive pressure on the market. It seems everyone felt the need to explain more.

Till next Friday!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
The hotel industry has no desire for crisis. Before the Expo Real, which starts on Monday, the sector makes an impression of unshakeablity. In contrast to other sectors, the sun is still shining on the hotel business, albeit with a few hazy clouds on the horizon. Several surveys confirm the positive "hotel climate". Next Friday, we'll know if it really was a show of backslapping or if the frowns have deepened.
As always, HospitalityInside is right in the middle of events in the hotel sector: If you don't know us yet, stop by for a coffee and get to know us! The "World of Hospitality" is once again larger this year: As well as the main stand, AccorInvest and GSH/Gorgeous Smiling Hotels have taken up special areas. You will find us again in hall A2 at stand numbers 140 and 040.
The profiles of our 29 co-exhibitors and the stand plan can also be found today in our brand-new Expo Real SPECIAL, which we describe on our website. It is, by the way, the 10th Special Issue, this year with a circulation of over 4,000 print copies, exclusively for Expo Real. You can obtain a copy of the magazine at the trade fair itself and in over 60 Munich hotels. Alternatively, you can click on the SPECIAL banner on our page 1, which is linked to the online magazine.
In this Special Issue you will also find the conference programme for Monday and the special panel on digitisation on Tuesday.
We also expect over 200 guests at the networking event BRICKS & BRAINS. Here, room could at times become tight, but the mood is, as we said, quite positive... See you in Munich!
On today's edition: At the Hogan Lovells Hotel Day in Hamburg in the middle of September, several speeches focused on the run on the cities. 300 cities generate 80% of added value worldwide. And the tourists still pour in... An issue that fits well with Expo Real, touching on sustainable urban development, mixed-use city districts and city-controlled hotel planning, as Hamburg is considering.
Mama Shelter also fits into this urban jungle. In the recently opened hotel in Lille, Susanne Stauss spoke with the owners, the Trigano family, about their success with standardised lifestyle. A concept with a bright design and a lot of F&B, which obviously brings a top profit.
By contrast, it was all about quality and long-term value at the foot of Neuschwanstein Castle: Two weeks ago, an Ameron Hotel, part of the Althoff Group, opened its doors there. Althoff Group is growing fastest with this upscale brand, but the first Urban Loft is now also under construction. Thomas H. Althoff describes the status quo.
Have fun reading today – and for those planning on attending, we wish you a pleasant journey to Expo Real!

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
Our first article on the brand madness last week has already caused quite a stir among readers. And once again, they have responded with valuable input for another intense story. Today though, after the operators, we let the investors and financiers have their say. The message from them is more a plea for fewer brands – but with more substance. And one of them said: Operators would do better to focus on the essential problems of the industry... A super topic, great material for the discussions at Expo Real...
Following the Thomas Cook bankruptcy last week, news has broken every day. We have put together the most important information, of course with special emphasis on the hotel sector. Strange is: Thomas Cook refused offers of help from Mediterranean hoteliers. The resort hotels in Spain, Greece and Turkey face hardship as a result.
Small hotels fear for their existence, but TC CEO Peter Fankhauser has, as the British "Telegraph" reports, since taking office in 2014 earned the equivalent of around 9.4 million euros, of which 3.3 million euros as a bonus.
One would wish for a Greta against greed. In any case, the climate issue is now also giving mobility experts a boost - and hoteliers should also listen. Because if guests fly less and travel more by train in future, the pick-up service and mobility at the holiday destination will also change. Fred Fettner has listened to the discussion between the Austrian Federal Railways and the CEO of Austrian Airlines.
And in other news: Wyndham targets 10,000 franchises. Falkensteiner Hotels enters its fourth crowd investing round. At its 60th anniversary this week, Dorint Hotels thanked its investors for staying the course in difficult times. And job applicants complain in a study that employers do not state salary levels in their vacancy advertisements.
In our News Mix today, we see that the real estate sector continues to provide new openings and new brands. Plenty of topics for discussion in Munich then when, in 10 days’ time, Hospitality meets Real Estate again. But until then, some of us will step up a gear yet again. Before the Expo Real there will of course be another edition from us...

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
Brand euphoria is definitely a thing of the past as critical debates about the label above hotel doors have started all over the world. Only mega players cling to it, as they gave birth to these marketing products or adopted them themselves.
"Brands have a meaning – something sexual, fresh, and modern," says Sébastien Bazin getting worked up about his 38 hotel and new business brands. Operators and consultants talking to Susanne Stauss and me consider all that less sexy: There are profound reasons against brands, and some brands have even become victims of chains. But there are also reasons for keeping brands alive.
We asked 25hours, Design Hotels, Ruby, TUI Hotels, Choice, prizeotel and Hilton. Despite all criticism, experts don't give the all-clear: The current brand madness even facilitates mergers. Next week, we'll be talking with investors and owners about this.
On the investors' side, there is a similar madness going on at the moment: The ROI seems in freefall, but investors still pay astronomically high prices for hotel properties. Why? They love them. Like Bazin. Yesterday, Bulwiengesa presented its "Five Percent" study that also takes a look at the hotel industry – but without any emotions.
Macy Marvel will lead us out of these mistakes and confusions – to Southeast Asia: He analysed individual countries with respect to chain penetration. In this region, everything is about growth. Would anybody please advise Asians to take a brief look towards the West? Thank you!
You need to look deep down, if you are looking for the brand new "salary biography" of the hotel and catering sector. Up to the heights of Bad Gastein in Salzburger Land we will be looking at Travel Charme Hotels that have a bit more to tell us about their current projects. A big entrepreneur in Austria has a vision for Klagenfurt's small airport: He wants to invest 1 million euros including a hotel. In contrast, TripAdvisor is now into full transparency, shocked by the most recent judgement in Italy, which hit the company deeply. Reading how many reviews they get and how they filter them is, however, highly interesting.
And now we'd like to make you aware of our "Investment Barometer": Only a few clicks may reveal highly interesting facts about the hotel real estate market. Please take part in our survey accessible via this link. Our collaboration partner, Union Investment, and we thank you very much!
 
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
Premier Inn is pushing forward. The aim: 300 hotels in Germany, and that as fast as possible. The Whitbread subsidiary intends to give Accor with its 380 hotels, and most probably others too, something to fear. A new head in the company has fixed the new strategy: "Mixed use is my thing," says Dr Michael Hartung, a professional from the construction and retail sector. He also wants partners from other sectors, not just the hotel industry. And from 2020, he will only accept partners with an affinity to BIM. The man is also a digital whizz. Premier Inn in the fast lane?
Young entrepreneur Ritesh Argawal at Oyo also thinks outside the box, but doubts have been raised regarding his integrity as a businessman. Law enforcement in India is now on his tail for unfair practices against private hoteliers. Sarah Douag's efforts to learn more have finally been rewarded and she discovered many more details about the start-up, which doesn’t have to be feared, but should certainly be kept under observation.
We also take a closer look at the beautiful world of holiday resorts in Austria. A small elite dictates quality and secures itself 50% of added value. The remaining resort hotels are left fighting for the other 50% of turnover. Not exactly holiday idyll. Fred Fettner lets the figures speak for themselves.
Fairmas' figures on current performance in Germany's top 6 cities paint a different, less optimistic picture to that real estate professionals are seeking in new construction projects. Taking both these short articles together, it looks more like dusk than dawn.
In Italy, the industry can be pleased that investors now prefer hotel assets to any other asset class! There's movement in the market. Chinese OTAs are becoming ever stronger and are likely to put pressure on US platforms. And at Hogan Lovells Hotel Day this week in Hamburg, I was amazed at how much investors and developers are putting the stops on sustainable buildings. Most are interested only in ROI, to the exclusion of everything else.
Last but not least, today provides a foretaste of the Expo Real conference programme, which on the first day of the fair will once again offer top topics, e.g. on hospitality hybrids in the micro-city, on cut-throat competition among chains, on resorts and holiday apartments, on asset light and HR. Take a look at the conference program at www.exporeal.net under “Hospitality Industry Dialogue”. An additional panel on digitisation entitled "Real Estate as a service" will also take place on Tuesday.
And with this, we launch our online survey again today, the annual hospitalityInside INVESTMENT BAROMETER in tried and tested cooperation with Union Investment. Join us! We are interested in your opinion. Or does the apparent current boom not make you nervous? You find all details on our page 1.  Participation is open to all, now and here: Click & Go! 

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,

Mountain pastures certainly belong to the most beautiful holiday destinations. A place of longing for city dwellers, with idyllic pictures of meadows, grazing cows and picnics in the cabin. After Salzburger Land, Tyrol is now also pushing this idyll into a marketing pigeonhole. In the professional jargon, the product "alm" sounds quite commercial. But it's a mega-trend, even if media report of "killer cows" and savage wolves in this context.

The beautiful landscape of Azerbaijan with its mud volcanoes, palaces and wines also stirs yearning. Bärbel Schwertfeger was there and discovered: Baku has a young, fresh face. We reported on Baku for the first time in 2012, since then the hotel business has become much more professional. The German hotelier Martin Kleinmann loves to make a difference – both at the national chain Absheron and as President of the ten-month-old Azerbaijan hotel association. The big goal: to achieve competitive standards like in the West.

In southern Europe, more precisely in the Ligurian tourist cities of Rapallo and Zoagli, a group of hoteliers are daring to resist the new "standards" of Booking.com. The OTA wants to make small hotels more visible through its Preferred Partner Programme, but promises something questionable and then rips them off with increased commissions. In Italy, this has made waves. Now, more hoteliers want to corner Booking.com.

The IT professionals and their big promises – they also stand out in a brand-new global CRM study. It revealed: CRM systems often bring with them excessive system facilities that even two years later are still not used. Professional hosts thus fall victim to IT professionals. Tables, figures and facts are clear. Help is also promised by the Hotelhero database, which aims to bring order to the chaos which currently comprises 500 software providers and 700 systems. How? We asked.

It’s also about buying and selling in our update on the wave of consolidation among hotel operators and changes in owning structures. We also have news from Meininger, Motel One, Interstate, Palladium and others. Meanwhile, the hotel market in Paris is a little more serene, having experienced a significant recovery. In Amsterdam, Britain's Prince Harry and other big names have committed themselves to a "green" initiative – with the giants Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Ctrip, Skyscanner and Visa. Together they are stronger. As of yet though, it's still only a PR campaign.

In our "Digi News" and "Market News" you will find many more interesting short news about hotel openings, financing and digital topics. A colourful edition, again just as colourful as the industry.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
The holiday season in Central Europe is coming to an end, and we too are back in the thick of it: Today, Macy Marvel shows in detail how Jin Jiang and Oyo Hotels are shaking things up in the ranking of the global top ten hotel chains; a list which has seen very little movement over the decades. Now though, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, Accor, Choice have indeed had to cede their positions. The trend: In future, the hotel world will speak Chinese. The next big chains from China have already fought their way up to positions between 10 and 20 in the ranking.
And again it is a Chinese company that's changing the tour operator landscape: Fosun has brought Thomas Cook under his control. Sarah Douag researched the details. That too will be a new chapter...
Banks and payment providers are fighting on another front: against credit card fraud. The hotel industry will have to step up here too as the fraudsters know all the weak points in online payment. Hotel groups describe their toughest cases, Susanne Stauss has researched tips and contacts to prevent fraud.
And Greta Thunberg continues her fight. First against the ocean waves on the way to New York, and today with her protest banner, striking in front of the United Nations... She was greeted on the water by the UN with 17 boats – as a symbol for the 17 UN "Sustainable Development Goals". Fred Fettner also investigated the activities of tourism providers and destinations in the Alpine region and in so doing saw much change at a mere snail's pace: "In three decades of discussion of sustainable travel in the Alpine region, tourism has made only homoeopathic progress," Peter Zimmer says, the experienced sustainability consultant at Futour.
Marriott is now building its own platform for all-inclusive resorts – even the smallest niche is to be occupied. This is also a sign of the now fierce competition between the global giants – see above. And after many other chains, a hacker attack has now also hit Choice. Switzerland is pleased about a slight increase in overnight stays in the first half of the year, just as IHG, Marriott, Motel One, NH and Orascom are pleased about positive six months in their balance sheets...
In our very long News Mix today you will also find news from the period in which we were away. This ensures our archive is up to date and also allows you to catch up after your holidays. The current market situation is also evident here: EasyHotel is in the process of being taken over, but founder Stelios Haji-Iannou is still defending himself.
From now on, we will be there for you every Friday until Christmas and we look forward to your comments and suggestions. The hotel world certainly is heading towards the end of the year with mixed feelings. The time of reliable superlatives is over.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi offers a fantastic beach and a lot of hot sand, but the city is not yet quite the tourist hotspot, despite its high-flying cultural plans. A single star museum, the Louvre, is not enough to make an impression, and at the beach there are only five of the 29 hotels originally planned. The destination is bobbing along slowly. A director explains why; Bärbel Schwertfeger wrote it down.
Fred Fettner listened attentively as Austrian industry movers including Susanne Kraus-Winkler, former HOTREC president, and others reported that they were renegotiating the use of hotel stars with online giants such as Google. Both sides are striving for a uniform solution to ensure "hotel stars" are credible and able to shine both online and off. Exciting.
And finally Martin Löcker was in a chatty mood. The COO of UBM Development AG in Vienna aims to position the company as the largest hotel developer in Europe. Big chains are its partners, and that's how it's to stay. But the hotels are getting bigger and greater emphasis is placed on that little bit extra. Competition is giving quality a boost. A good plan.
Our news today describe the relaunch of the faded IHG brand Crowne Plaza, TripAdvisors' new love for destinations, the European Court of Justice ruling on Facebook's "Like" button and how companies can stay on the safe side in this tricky case. Accor, Hyatt, Radisson as well as the Italian hotel groups HNH and Starhotels have published their quarterly and half-year results.
And last but not least, we include an update on the HospitalityInside activities at Expo Real: with more exhibitors and a 'Save the date' for our networking event on a different day. All of this can be found on our Page 1.
Our team will be off now until Friday 30 August, with the next issue. Before then, we allow ourselves a holiday break. The office will open again on 19 August, also in preparation for the upcoming relaunch of our website. The editorial team will definitely be back in three weeks' time with exciting new content!
Happy summer break...

Maria Pütz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world