Editorial
Dear Insiders,
As the German federal government announced that it would compensate stranded Thomas Cook holidaymakers on Wednesday, the German Travel Association was meeting in Hamburg. There was relief on all faces. But the core challenge remains: "The big tour operators are the problem," DRV President Norbert Fiebig told media just before. Now, we have to talk again about the extent of liability. Fiebig would like to individualise protection from insolvency, as the German travel industry largely comprises medium-sized enterprises.
The package trips, in any case, appear to have survived: In good time for the conference – and in the run-up to the imminent elections to the board – the DSR had initiated a Forsa survey in November, under which the organised travel deal scored well. So the Cook didn’t spoil the broth after all.
There is no sigh of relief for the cruise industry though. The floating giants have come under intense pressure to improve their sustainability balance. The conference itself took place on a mega steamer docked in the port of Hamburg, the MS Artania of Phoenix Tours. Yet instead of pro-actively and purposefully addressing the topic through an open discussion on stage, the DSR ducked the issue. And the greater for it was the focus of individual speakers on the ship building companies: Alternative drive technologies already exist and more are in development. Those who today have commissioned the new ocean-going cruise ships and do not allow any room for alternatives during construction are acting irresponsibly.
A study examined 203 cruise ships on their routes through Europe and determined: 47 Carnival Corporation ships docking in Europe emit 10 times more sulphur than all the passenger cars in the whole of Europe. Macy Marvel has identified even more frightening facts from the study.
Two architects and one project developer answered our questions openly and explained why there will be more and more "rabbit hutch"-sized rooms in hotels in future: By this, we mean rooms compacted down to 16 sqm, which will in future also make an appearance in 4-star hotels. A new trend is emerging.
Our releases today draw further attention to the issues of cruise ships, emissions and tourism development and present, among other things, the new Online Subsidy Guide in Germany.
We also cast our glance far into the year 2020 and present partner terms for participation at the joint stand "World of Hospitality" at the Expo Real next October. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, in particular as regards customised spaces.
My first big date in January will be at HOTCO in Budapest – an investor and real estate focused conference for Central and South Eastern Europe. We support the event as a media partner.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Today, Saint Nicholas will not be able to tell us if a crisis is approaching or not. He prefers to distribute gifts – like the optimists in our article today. Susanne Stauss traced some of them. But first figures show that the wind is already changing in everyday life. First developers and operators are starting to change their strategies and concepts respectively.
This is also reflected in individual activities, as found in the news: Hyatt wants to rev up now concerning expansion, especially in Europe; Radisson, on the other hand, wants to focus on 16-sqm "compact rooms" starting now.
Smart thinking is in vogue, indeed: especially concerning mixed-use, sustainably and digitally interconnected. Investors are still lacking courage here, as the H3 Think Tank by Drees & Sommer in Hamburg revealed. Experts from Hospitality, Housing and Health Care exchanged ideas. All three asset classes are part of mixed-use quarters, whose vitality can only be controlled digitally in future – while saving costs at the same time. A female start-up founder asked the white-haired men, who are spoiled by success and yield-hungry, to test more and to learn more. And she is right.
Smart thinking knows no boundaries and does not stop at HR. You should start collecting HR data, the same way as financial data. Knowing the exact qualifications and performances of your own staff members will also have an influence on business decisions. HR data should be part of every meeting, says one business. The path towards this is via PPA, Predictive People Analytics. Baerbel Schwertfeger explains.
Accor sold half of its shares of Huazhu. We would like to do some guessing and look a bit further down the road to see what this means… Credit Suisse sold 8 hotels to Aevis Victoria – at strong discounts. Thus, the parent company of Victoria-Jungfrau Collection and Seiler Hotels now owns the InterConti Davos – the "golden egg". A big leap towards more presence in little Switzerland! Hopefully, European guests will keep arriving: In the last eight months, trips of European citizens abroad only increased by 2.5% and no longer by 5% as in the previous year.
Kempinski's CEO Martin Smura is expanding his executive board massively, as can be read in the personal particulars. However, the loss of the Kempinski Geneva to the luxury competitor Fairmont Hotels is painful as it happened right next door.
Have a good and smart time… Until next Friday!
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
When it comes to 'hotels' as an asset class, investors are warming only slowly to Italy. The transaction market, on the other hand, is flourishing and there are many good opportunities for the taking. Speaking at a conference, one investor now dared to say why he remains cautious: It's the country's old, rigid, legally fixed rules on contract that make it difficult to strike deals under Anglo-Saxon-style contracts. Massimiliano Sarti asked legal experts for their opinion.
Brand development does not come up against such limits. As ASAI shows, the new community-based hotel brand of Thailand’s Dusit Hotels, this business has quite literally become limitless and global. Thailand's leading national luxury hotel group is opening up to the next generation, as is happening within the family too: The junior at Dusit Hotels, Siradej Donavanik, son of Vice Chairman and Owner Chanin, made sure his research was global in scope. He analysed sophisticated and functioning lifestyle brands from Europe. ASAI thus presents itself as a valuable, sustainable and communicative brand. The concept is "glocal", global & local – set for expansion.
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The Munich-based Bold Hotels, on the other hand, are very much a local affair with a very targeted market. At present, only four hotels are in operation in Germany, but founder Wolfgang Kaefer is already beginning to diversify into classic hotels, apartment hotels/co-living and hostels. Kaefer is not reliant on investors to expand. He already has his own portfolio of 100 properties at his disposal and converts mainly residential buildings into value-for-money hotel products.
And in other news: In Spain, urban destinations in particular benefited from the general upswing last year. The boom in the Swiss para-hotel sector continues, especially in youth hostels and camping/glamping. The German Tourism Association has presented its measures for the National Tourism Strategy in Germany, but there is criticism about the one-sidedness of the paper.
And there's good news from ITP, the International Tourism Partnership: It will offer the first online industry training initiative against modern slavery – the initiative is open to all and anybody interested may participate! Other interesting news from the world of real estate, digitisation and personnel changes round off today's edition.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
After the insolvency, Thomas Cook will now be broken up step by step; many are interested in the hotel portfolio of the large tour operator. Currently, a massive reallocation is taking place – with TUI and DER Touristik leading the way, but also FTI Touristik, alltours and schauinsland-reisen. Macy Marvel summarised the changes.
It has been very quiet concerning the hotel activities of the Schoerghuber Group from Munich for a long time. Our request for an interview was repeatedly postponed in the last two years; today, the hotel subsidiary Arabella Hospitality finally provides figures and facts about the reassessment of the portfolio from 2010. The new COO, who has been on board since January 2018, also introduces herself in the course of the comeback: Martina Maly-Gaertner. After the surprising disbanding of the ArabellaStarwood joint venture in 2010, there were 22 hotels; currently, there are only 14 left. This way, Arabella is open for other brands and destinations.
Similar to the topic of sustainability, HR has become a long-burning issue. At the "Human Resources Tourism Summit" by Kohl & Partner, the "employer journey" emerged: The employer needs to immerse itself in the applicant's way of thinking, not the other way around. This applies for corporate presentation in the internet as well as the sensitive talk with the interested applicant, who wants everything to start with: authenticity and continuity of the business, an accommodation and a thank you. The standards have become high.
And what applies to hoteliers, also applies to tourism managers: They have to find new ways in marketing, too. Therefore, classical advertisement campaigns belong to the past now. Instead, social media and funny games are in vogue with the younger target groups.
Change is everywhere. Aroundtown and TLG will merge and become a European real estate giant; this has been initiated now. In Hamburg, Gert Prantner starts his third career along with two partners: With the new corporation Prantner & Cie, an internationally operating project developer for customised hotel and mixed use properties.
HolidayCheck won in court against a fake agency from South America: It is no longer allowed to sell faked evaluations, but the ruling in Germany does not seem to bother the agency; we asked HolidayCheck.
I consider the decision of the IOC to engage Airbnb as the main host for the Olympic Games from 2020 to 2028 to be scandalous. The outcry is there - especially from Paris, the host city 2024. It has already filed a lawsuit against Airbnb and threatens to withdraw. Also upon hearing the name Trump, everybody thinks of scandals immediately: His hotel in Washington is to be sold at a very overpriced rate; apparently, the company wants to cash in before a possible impeachment…
What a lively week… Immerse yourself in the current changes.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
I'm writing the Editorial from the So!Apart in Leipzig, where the atmosphere seems to be even more euphoric than at Expo Real in October: The Serviced Apartment industry is booming. Here, entirely new and unknown brand names are falling from the sky, venture capital is producing "new kids on the block" one after another. This is more or less funny because not much of this sounds sustainable. But never mind… By 2021, the segment is supposed to grow by 60%! Today is therefore just a short impression in numbers – more profound information will follow later.
However, I also note that not all serviced apartment players keep in mind whether they will be able to provide enough staff members for this new wave. Their advantage: extended stays need less staff. In the hotel industry, the situation has become severe in the meantime. Therefore, hoteliers such as Kornell Otto of SV Hotels are requesting specifically that boring and disdainful jobs be abolished and replaced by digital and clever technology. And Otto Lindner sums up: The shortage of staff members is forcing the development of even more smart concepts, but he hardly sees further growth as feasible when it comes to traditional hotel concepts.
As a result, the industry is staggering between boom and shortage. This also applies to the topic of sustainability, where Greta followers want to make everyone feel guilty at the moment and initiate actions and events everywhere. Greta should talk to the founders of the online start-up Tutaka: Their idea of providing hotels with ecological alternatives for plastics is good. They also learned that it is a tedious process, and it is a long way before you reach a completely ecological value-added chain.
But every step brings you one step further. Parkhotel Stuttgart Messe-Airport did everything right: It invested in a kitchen planning software, was able to save staff members, pay the remaining ones better – and in addition, the vegetable broth is now being calculated strategically and cooked right on time thanks to KI, without the production of any food waste. This was also a lengthy process, but General Manager Elouan Pêcheur is thrilled.
Otto Group is excited about Ruby Hotels and is therefore investing in this lean luxury group: Together, they want to expand into the US, amongst others, as Michael Struck revealed to us. In Berlin, the proceedings between funds initiator Anno Jagdfeld and the Signal Iduna insurance, which started in 2016, are being continued after a long break. He is chasing billions. Time for a résumé of Jagdfeld's list of lawsuits as well as questionable deeds.
Interesting personal particulars and many little bits of news round off this slightly sustainable edition: Cornell has a new sustainability report and Hamburg's NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra transformed the climate change into sound – as a variation of the original score of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"…
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Who's Huazhu? After the takeover of Steigenberger Hotels AG this week, this is the question on everybody’s lips, as I noticed in almost every conversation since the news broke. The CEO of the Chinese hotel group, Jenny Zhang, found time for our questions and provides you with first-hand information and comments. Apart from the obvious acceleration in the expansion of the two top Steigenberger brands, there also seems to be a basic consensus between the new partners on quality and standards.
The figures from Huazhu here sound gigantic, yet in China its 5,000 or so hotels still places it mid-field. Egon Steigenberger's legacy and the expertise of a solid German hotel group will now be transported to China. The deal's big winner is Hamed El-Chiaty. As a result of the sale, he will pocket many times the price he originally paid for the group.
And there's another interesting aspect to this deal to be found here. Huazhu has been linked to Accor through a cross-shareholding since 2014; in addition to this, both have also linked their loyalty programmes. Now, Steigenberger is also to benefit from this loyalty programme... Will they be vying for the same customers? It'll be very interesting to see.
And this news from Accor yesterday morning made it all the more tantalising: Accor will enter into a strategic partnership with Alibaba, Ctrip's biggest rival. What does this have to do with Huazhu and Steigenberger? Answer: The founder of Huazhu previously founded Ctrip... Is this going to strain relations between Accor and Huazhu? It's absolutely exciting.
We have other topics for you today too: Fred Fettner returns from the WTM London with the forecasts and consequences for the still-not-Brexit. Meanwhile, the British have become hesitant when it comes to making their holiday bookings. This fits with the results of the latest Deloitte Hotel Investment Survey.
Continental Europe remains cheerful though and sees hospitality hybrids and mixed-use districts as the next promising trend. They are the harbingers of the new urban neighbourhoods. Pre-requisite: The mix needs interesting people and many events as meeting point. The Expo Real discussion was lively.
Josef Brandhuber from SoReal Invest outed himself as a hotel investor with heart and soul. SoReal's new hotel fund focuses on B and C locations. The experienced hotelier and banker says why this strategy is worthwhile. On the one hand, he sees no shortage of supply in these locations, and on the other, he of course also wants growth, "but not at any price. Responsibility and sustainability, coupled with decency, are what I've practised over the last 25 years".
With pink washing machines in the mega lobby, the new MA Living concept aims to make its brand stand out among serviced apartments. The first details were revealed to the media on Wednesday, with the first two hotels set to open in Munich in 2020. This and more today in an especially colourful edition.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The "Bits & Pretzels" conference for founders and start-ups in Bavaria's Lederhose & Laptop capital, Munich, promised a lot and four weeks ago delivered exactly that with a mega celebrity: Barack Obama. Among other things, he criticised the tech giants and after outlining their influence on people issued the following warning: "You have to talk to those who are affected." Bärbel Schwertfeger was there at this 5,000 person event. Her impression was of little modesty and whole lot of self-congratulation. A celebration of company founders and start-ups.
Successful people often only learn modesty once toppled by illness, professional decline or other events. In these cases, therapists turn life coaches, as is ever more frequently the case in Chiva-Som in Hua Hin. The famous Thai Health Resort is one of the world's pioneers and reopens today after six months of closure for a EUR 28 million renovation. Luxury is now visible, though the therapies remain discreet. And soon a second Chiva-Som will open in Qatar.
Thanks to the ongoing boom, the hotel real estate industry currently knows nothing of quiet contemplation and self-criticism. Though asset light companies are again beginning to think about asset heavy strategies, as consultant Christoph Härle coaxed managers from AccorInvest, Premier Inn, Hyatt and Covivio to admit at the Expo Real hotel conference. Is this a sign of a rethink in view of the crisis?
All indications point downwards! Our current Investment BAROMETER survey, which we have conducted with Union Investment since 2013, shows that all indices have deteriorated: Expectations of one's own business, of the market, on development and of sales in the industry have all fallen. A summary is provided on our page 1. Subscribers will find the complete analysis in the magazine.
And in the news this week: Aroundtown and TLG, today already two giants, are working on a voluntary merger. If successful, this would give rise to one of Europe's largest real estate groups for office, hotel and residential properties. This is likely to stir up the market considerably, our specialist Beatrix Boutonnet believes. We also have news on the plans of King's Hotels Munich, on the use of tourism tax in Mallorca and much 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 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
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
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