Dear Insiders,

When it comes to their holiday decision, this year, twice as many Germans as last year are hesitant. The large core won't be held back though. "More than half of the population will still travel," Prof. Martin Lohmann reports happily for this summer. In the "FUR Travel Analysis" in May, he added further questions to the representative survey in order to investigate travel behaviour in response to corona. Today, we have the first results exclusively for you.

So finally some good news! The mood among consumers seems to be excellent! Well, not quite, as Fred Fettner found out in a detailed conversation with the renowned analyst: Those who have booked will set off by car, as they did 30 years ago – without a guilty conscience as regards the environment, but with a keen awareness of high hygiene standards. Very few people are afraid of contact with strangers...

Within the industry, the pleasure involved in travel raises the mood, but economic worries continue to weigh heavily – in Germany, Austria and of course in Italy, which has been placed under even greater strain. Luca Boccato, CEO of HNH Hospitality, based in Venice, describes the hardships of life in the shadow of Covid-19 and also complains about 'economic support' which has failed to support. Of three packages, only one has any effect, and it's slight. Massimiliano Sarti presents these packages in detail today; No. 3 is just a few weeks old.

Luca Boccato also complains: We have to find out why our industry is not being listened to! That makes me sit up and take notice. Does hospitality have the same image problem everywhere? Where are the lobbyists? What kind of industry is this? One that is experiencing the biggest crisis in its history and yet can’t even organise a demonstration? Surely it can do more than gasp "please please" and accept the decisions of virologists and politicians that are driving its head first into insolvency?

From Monday, 15 June, the borders in the EU and Schengen area will open again. But travel to countries outside of this region will be restricted: Travel to more than 160 countries are to remain "blocked" until 31 August. The "pulls the rug from under hundreds of medium-sized companies," Jochen Szech warned yesterday, President of asr – the alliance of independent travel companies. Germany has more infections in total than some other countries, he criticizes sharply – and now plans take legal action against the Foreign Office. Finally a man with courage again! The global restart is tough.

Surveys of both operators and investors now give an impression of the asset class 'hotel' in free fall. Advice for the industry is to pull itself up by the bootstraps of digitalisation and sustainability.

This year, Expo Real Munich could make a significant contribution to this. It will be "hybrid" – with a much smaller presence on site in Munich and conferences by livestream. The date of the event has also been postponed to 14-15 October. The trade fair presented the new concept, and the final green light is expected to come from Bavaria’s state government and from public health authorities on 20 June. HospitalityInside as stand organiser plans to continue to fly the flag of the industry at Expo Real. More on the Expo Real this our page 1.

Digitalisation certainly works, even on a small scale, as I found out myself during a visit to Ahaus in Münsterland. There, the software company Tobit is using it to network its Smartels as are restaurateurs and the city... A real laboratory that delivers real results – exciting.

Corona also accelerates the mega-chains' handling of digitalisation. This development is increasingly becoming a differentiator, even for global hoteliers. At the 3rd HITT, Accor-COO Europe, Duncan O'Rourke, and Jamie Cole, Senior Vice President Global Channels at IHG, will initiate the discussion on "Acceleration on the digital frontier". Thanks to virtual format, we still have room for you. All information and registration at www.hitt.world.

Enjoy reading today, where its all about the ups and downs of travelling. With tourism and the hotel industry caught between heaven and hell.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

This is how I imagine the "apocalypse": The inner voice says that the state is just distributing the last funds. The new economic stimulus package of the German government, presented on Wednesday, encompasses 120 billion euros. But who will get how much? And more importantly, when? Everything is open again, not defined clearly, even though we got the first clues late yesterday evening. The tourism associations such as Dehoga mainly criticise the periods and the amounts, which are much too modest. Again, this smells like acid rain, which will probably just delay some of the pending bankruptcies…

The Austrian state is also being criticised in a survey initiated by ÖHV's President Michaela Reitterer. In an interview, she says today: Some businesses have already received first loans and tax deferrals, but many have obtained nothing yet. The equity capital is already shrinking, in three to five years, nobody will have any money for investments. Therefore, already in 2023, the market adjustment will start in the tourism country of Austria. Fred Fettner has done some in-depth research in a second article.

This is bitter news, more indicators for the approaching "end" of an industry, which is simply supposed to make people happy. Against this background, the race to open the borders seems even more cynical: Because Germany lifted the travel warnings for 31 countries on Wednesday, Austria lifted all restrictions at the same time and spontaneously – with the exception of Italy. What uncoordinated chaos in Europe – not a single trace left of the former "union". The driving force behind all this is not sense or reason but the pressure of earning money in the summer as the governments' horns of plenty will not be sufficiently full to save all. Everybody can feel it. See above.

Given these circumstances, I do not understand why the hotel industry does not impose a surcharge for hygiene. Every hairdresser does it, the railways and airlines will do it without talking about it! Sylvie Konzack describes the creative and committed fight against the virus with sprays, spray mist and UV light, and the hiring of new hygiene and lobby managers to win over the trust of travellers. I permit myself to comment on the industry's lack of courage.

We are heading into a different kind of summer, where one event will follow the next, developments might be overhasty and then stopped again rigorously. In the next few weeks, the entire world will be looking at Europe – the largest experimental field in tourism of all times concerning corona. A region with various cultures and disciplines, with millions of people keen on travelling and one single virus looming above all and everyone.

Our goal is June 23: The day of our virtual Think Tank. And as an appetizer for the 3rd HITT, I'll serve you some insights from our "retail" session, where the shopping mall expert Dr. Volker Kraft of the ECE Group will discuss online and offline sales as well as digital sales increases with Langham Hospitality  and Sabre for 90 minutes. A fascinating continuation of last year's lecture on retail brands. Have a look on page 1 and sign up at www.hitt.world.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Around this weekend, hotels are re-opening in many countries. But at what cost? Everyone who opens gives the impression of being a dying swan… Too much turnover to die, too little to live on. The Dehoga survey among the newly opened German restaurants is frustrating: 78% of the businesses achieved a maximum of 50% of their usual turnover in the first few days.

But where is the rescue fund? Even the German Hotel Association does not seem to believe in a rescue from Berlin any longer. In yesterday's blog, IHA's Chairman Otto Lindner und Managing Director Markus Luthe enumerated the obstacles: The aid is said to be arriving in July now – which is too late. Once again, the money flow will not be falling on the businesses with more than 249 employees – and will thus not reach the majority of hotel groups. The targeted non-refundable aids do not even cover the leases and rents in many cases – the debt keeps growing. We quote from the IHA blog.

Tourism depends on politics and virologists. Minister-Presidents are fighting their battles at the costs of travel agencies and restaurants/hotels. And the balance is lacking: a life belt for TUI and Lufthansa, but water boarding for hospitality? Until today, politics has not understood the business models and does not see the domino effect a collapse of broad structures in this industry will have for recipients of lower and medium income, mini jobbers and many helping family members. Every effort has been useless, time is running out, the bankruptcy clock is ticking.

Now everyone is looking forward to June 3 and Angela Merkel's next statement. She will decide whether the German travel warning will be prolonged or cancelled. The summer season depends on this in large parts of Europe. Germany's neighbouring countries are acting much more pragmatically ... In the report on the EU borders we briefly summarise the status of hotels in an overview by countries.

All that remains is to look ahead: In the business travel segment, we are certainly pleased with the latest news that there will be a Frankfurt Book Fair in mid-October. That's a good signal, there is movement in MICE and business travel, subject to conditions of course.

On the positive side: Travel managers see no reason to put hotels under pricing pressure, Sylvie Konzack found out – and thus the opposite of what HRS recently tried to suggest to the industry. With regard to hygiene standards, one travel expert says: "Hotels are not a risk during the journey." Nevertheless, the experts know that this entire segment will face dramatic changes, most strongly through virtual meetings.

It's time to cut out some dead wood: The city of Amsterdam is once again taking a bold step forward, led by its mayor Femke Halsema. It is putting its marketing budgets on hold and only wants to target the "right" type of tourist: no more cruise ships in the city, no more Airbnb, no more drunken tourists ... From over-tourism to no-tourism: The city is now cleaning up which does not appeal much to the hotels.

How can we emerge stronger from the Corona crisis? With less silo mentality and more agility, with permanent monitoring, which allows anticipating the vibrations of the future similar to a seismograph. Tim Davis of Pace Dimension, London, former hotelier and now a technology expert, explains why fundamental changes are now taking place and why top managers in the hotel industry need to train a new management muscle.

Tim is also actively taking part in our virtual HITT 27 days from now: Not only will he act as a moderator to guide you through the day, but he will also provide a more detailed introduction to the content himself. His impulse shows how the competitive environment has changed, what the new standards and opportunities are. Have you already seen the programme? www.hitt.world

In addition: Bavaria will allow trade fairs again from 1 September. This also means that the planning for Expo Real on 5-7 October continues. Talk to us about the new requirements and the solutions under the umbrella of the "World of Hospitality". More on our homepage.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

From empathy down to antipathy: Booking.com is under fire. The European puzzle provided by Sarah Douag is proof for this claim. The business lost 85% of its turnover of the previous year and has to fight a tsunami of complaints: customers who were not able to go on vacations due to corona, want their money back. Booking remains stubborn and continues to reject their request – Airbnb has already given in. In addition, there is competition from the French state: France wants to create its own, new internet platform for tourism, including the possibility to make bookings, of course. In addition, a class action case by 2,000 hoteliers is currently forming in Germany.

Within months, corona has encouraged trends, which would have lain dormant for years otherwise. One of the lessons learned is: People have to learn faster and react faster to short-time trends. Hoteliers are able to make their plan for July only in June. The forecast made in 2019 is useless. Therefore, the American AI specialist Tom Seddon has dedicated himself to the development of useful AI, which will generate more profit for businesses.

Tom made a career in the hotel industry – and he will be one of our fascinating keynote speakers at the HITT Think Tank on June 23. Today's interview is very gripping. You will find an excerpt on the front page of www.hospitalityInside.com. You will find all details on the HITT 2020 at www.hitt.world. Did you already register?

The Chinese will return! The renowned China expert Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Arlt is 100% sure about it. Those who are able to generate anticipation and show in concrete terms, how corona-safe travelling is possible as well as safe sleeping and eating in hotels, will win these customers back anew. This is a big opportunity for everyone, says Arlt, who has been travelling in China for 40 years and knows the Chinese culture very well. In addition, Stefan Leser, CEO of Langham, and Michael Henssler, COO Asia of Kempinski, describe their impressions.

Meanwhile, the German hospitality industry already suffered revenue drops of 45% in March – the April turnover could even decrease by 90%, according to the association. The promised emergency aid fund has still not arrived yet.

Dorint Hotels will sue in every German state that limits the operator's occupancy. Since Monday, the first case is pending in a court in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Bavarian hoteliers are able to book fully, starting on May 30, as announced on Tuesday.

Yesterday evening I spontaneously asked Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff, with his 16 Seetel Hotels on Usedom the biggest employer, how big the rush was since the opening for the locals on Monday and especially on yesterday's holiday, Father's Day. His answer "dance of death"! A few more people on the beach, but all day visitors. Eight rooms booked at Strandhotel Atlantic Hotel. The brewery, otherwise hotspot of the fathers, almost empty. From May 25 the rest of the republic may travel to the Baltic Sea. Then it will be exciting, because there are no more rooms available.

The processing of the corona misery has begun. The state of shock has been overcome. With the reopening, new perspectives are arising. The only thing remaining are mega debts and zero emergency aid.

Concerning the latter, politics have left the industry alone. There is no other industry, which includes all social levels of society in such a bandwidth – from dishwasher to top manager. Doesn't anybody see the importance of 2.4 million jobs, in Germany only?

We, for our part, will keep asking and criticising.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Germany is setting the pace for border openings in Central Europe. This week's decisions are eyewash: they mainly help commuters, but keep tourism at a distance until June 14. The summer business is not yet guaranteed!

It seems to me that some politicians are slowly enjoying their "new power": Who else would come up with the idea of demanding 5 square meters of space per person for meeting breaks? Social distancing is fine, but then you would have to rent half a ballroom for 50 people...

It makes me all the more angry when the EU Commission gives in to airlines and no longer insists on freeing up seats, as was reported yesterday across the news agencies. So you can still cuddle up with coronavirus on a plane and shout at each other in the hotel? The airlines' arguments are brazen: If they limited capacity as demand for flights increases, they'll have even more trouble making money. At this point, the associations should quickly shout out in plain language! Are double standards being applied once again?

Thomas Willms, CEO Deutsche Hospitality, took us on a tour d'horizon through the corona themes. Although the group is debt-free, he is also very concerned about both group and business travel, which is not likely to pick up pace for a long time. He doesn't believe that under the current conditions and perspectives, a hotelier will make any profit this year at all. There will be no more growth as we knew it, he says. He prepared the 2021 budget with a crystal ball.

Along with the first re-openings, the marketing machinery has started again. Will the hoteliers be forced into price cuts again by OTAs or will they use this opportunity to price in additional hygiene measures, for example? The hairdressers are doing this right now.

The answers of Prof. Dr. Werner Pauen provide some orientation, although not all will like them. The former CFO of Accor and Dorint works as real estate expert and financial expert today. After our discussions about rents in the last edition, he states clearly: contract is contract. And those who are unable to reach an occupancy of 60% will only drag themselves from one emergency situation to the next. Therefore, it is most important to ally with all stakeholders!

We are providing you with a list of all current border openings, we updated the requirement sprees of the individual states in Germany, we describe the new "tavern package" of the Austrian federal government, and are surprised by a small table showing the decline of inns and bed & breakfast establishments in Germany.

Despite all, we are looking positively into the future – especially on June 23, with the participants of the HITT. Starting today, we will introduce different players every week – starting with Michael Struck, CEO Ruby Hotels, and Jens Gmiat, COO Zoku, who are conducting a discussion about the "new norms" in customer experience, and who took the first steps towards new operator models as young brand groups. You will find all this on our page 1 – and you are able to book at www.hitt.world. This event is pinning its hopes on in-depth content, competent initiators and new future perspectives.

On Tuesday, I will be able to gain some digital experience as co-host in the session about the first Hospitality PropTech Awards, awarded by the start-up platform GermanTech and its partner Union Investment. You are still able to participate in the three-hour event.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Germany breathes a sigh of relief: By the end of May, the hotel and restaurant industry will gradually begin to reopen – under strict conditions and with some differences between individual federal states. An initial overview. Restaurateurs and hoteliers are better prepared than virologists are informed about the industry. Statements made by Karl Lauterbach yesterday are damaging for business: He discriminates against the industry, refering to it as a hotspot of infection.

Despite the enormous relief as restrictions begin to be lifted, for five weeks now another vital question has been hanging in the air: Where's the bailout fund? The one which, after KfW loans, was supposed to flush cash directly into the accounts of smaller businesses? For five weeks now, this emergency rescue package has been mentioned only briefly, yet details are outstanding. By the end of May, the first ten thousand companies will probably go bankrupt. Over a million staff are already on short-time working: In February, this figure was only 173, Dehoga reports. Is Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier failing to keep his word? Is he afraid that other industries will then demand something similar? I fear that this rescue will come much too late or not at all.

Alongside this call, the distribution of responsibility for rent payments remains an issue. Now the Central Real Estate Committee has ventured a new proposal for state support – something that other countries are also doing, by the way, as we learned from the interview with Falkensteiner CEO Otmar Michaeler. Of course, there are also voices against such intervention and new proposals, for instance of a cash pool in which all stakeholders are to participate, including house bank and franchisor.

As a native of South Tyrol with his company headquarters in Vienna, Otmar Michaeler tells us what he thinks about the EU, about Austrians and Germans, all of whom are now squabbling over the closed border. If border restrictions are not removed, summer business for Austria would be placed in serious danger. And to make matters even more confusing, we have the term travel warning, which is actually more of a recommendation and has many loopholes, as Fred Fettner found out.

STR yesterday presented the latest performance data for the DACH region – all hotels in the three countries are now likely to have hit bottom so that things can now only get better from here, Managing Director Robin Rossmann comforts the industry. For Switzerland, which is heavily dependent on international guests, recovery could be a very long way off. Accordingly, a consulting firm has come up with a very unconventional proposal: Individual segments could be closed temporarily and later brought back into a stabilised market.
The fact that Switzerland is struggling too is also reflected in the vague responses given by Gstaad Tourism. The alpine destination is an international luxury stronghold and obviously nobody knows where to start at the moment.

Corona is also driving digitisation, and the hot-off-the-press Fraunhofer report summarises where smart technology can already contribute to a resilient hotel.

And that brings me nicely to our HITT: At our – now virtual – think tank on 23 June, you can certainly learn a lot about the "new norms". Have you seen the full programme yet? Click on www.hitt.world where you will also find the new prices for the virtual version and the booking form.

Until next Friday.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Tourism is finally exerting public pressure: Demonstrations, letters, criticism… Germany's federal structure is hindering the hotel industry again: Individual federal states have found their courage now to open their doors, but Austria and Switzerland have already overtaken them. Instead, Germany is making itself very popular because it has just extended the global travel warning until June 14th and the country's top minsters are no longer in agreement. The hospitality industry has been left hanging, without any perspectives!

With all due respect concerning the health of people: This behaviour of the politics is borderline and shows no sense of responsibility. On the contrary: Suspicions about buddy business are arising again. Why should professional soccer players who earn millions be tested every evening and have close-proximity contacts in order to hold ghost matches? Why should this group be privileged? This would be antisocial and inhuman. Soccer players are not relevant to the system.

Our last edition caused strong reactions, we even received a letter to the editor, and from many emails and talks, I hear: "I'm going to join the next shitstorm"! The patience of many people has worn thin.

Therefore, the following is very important for associations and entrepreneurs: Please provide the politics only with concrete, practice-oriented suggestions! Our report about hygiene standards in hotels shows how it's done: Seetel Hotels on Usedom has been exemplary, Accor, Hilton, Marriott are showing their colours globally as chains with certifications, and in Bavaria, the Munich Hotel Alliance has proactively created very concrete checklists, we are allowed to publish today. The aim is: Create confidence among guests! And in the politics.

Fred Fettner reports how Austria is tackling the announced easing of lockdown measures and he fears: Hotels open, borders closed? Also, our editors in Italy and Spain provide us with a new update on financing and easing of measures.

On Monday, the ZIA staged its online press conference and issued a 17-page position paper around hotels and hotel real estate – a very good summary of the current state of affairs in Germany. A good gesture of the central organisation of the real estate industry. It has excellent connections to politicians. And together you are always stronger. In addition, more detailed assessments of the hotel asset class are slowly being made – the basic tenor is rather gloomy, but not hopeless.

There is still wrangling about the vouchers, but Susanne Stauss summarised the back and forth. Here, too, there is disagreement whether vouchers are a boon to tour operators and consumers alike, or merely an interest-free forced loan from consumers.

The time is running, the clock is ticking. Everyone who can get involved in politics should do so. Hotels and restaurants must reopen as soon as possible. It is the only chance against the looming wave of insolvencies.

Our 3rd HospitalityInside Think Tank goes virtual. The adjusted programme for June 23 can be found here online – and you can also book it starting today! Let's discuss in this digital conference the impact of digitalization: After all, we are all moving towards "new norms" at high speed: in the operating models of both established and young chains, in personalised customer journeys and with respect to generating a customised service quality. Much of this is probably controlled by AI. All details about the programme and rates at our front page and on www.hitt.world where you can register.

The date for Expo Real is in October, and it would be one of the first to be held again since the lockdown. The trade fair in Munich is working flat out to make its events crisis-proof: The real estate fair will take place, it was officially announced this week. You are also welcome to talk to us about the joint stand "World of Hospitality"; more on page 1.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

For weeks I've been amazed at how many of you, dear hoteliers, have taken cover. Rather say nothing and sail gladly into insolvency with reduced VAT? Motel One CEO Dieter Müller calls the current VAT reduction a "bad joke". What is the point of a revenue-linked, temporary tax reduction if there is no revenue to speak of? The German Hotel and Restaurant Association has still not managed to set a new course and solve the central problem: to get the emergency aid to protect against insolvency in time...

Speaking in an interview with me today, Dieter Müller explains his idea of a moratorium, which places the costs for all parties virtually to ZERO. This principle costs nothing and brings a lot. Even the German property federation ZIA has recommended it for the real estate industry. Our LinkedIn forum was filled with positive reactions to Müller's idea, yet his letter to the government's crisis team in Berlin goes unanswered to this day.

Müller appeals to politicians, also in view of the emerging social unfairness in society. Currently, Motel One is losing EUR 20 million in liquidity each month; unlike many others, the group still has an equity buffer, but in relative terms most other companies are suffering in a similarly dramatic way.

Germany has many good, analytically strong and creative entrepreneurs. They just need to be heard! This is why Frank Stauss, a highly respected political advisor and campaign strategist in Berlin, explains to us today why Dehoga is not making progress in government circles: "The industry is always screaming doom," he says, referring here to the industry’s current tax belly flop. Instead of submitting concrete plans for the reopening, they arrive with the same old rants. "These radical neo-liberal views just don't find support today, not even in the CDU..."

Another of our articles today looks at demands and ideas on how to limit the financial disaster in the economy. Meanwhile, a tug-of-war has begun between politicians and companies about the exit plan. The voices from the tourism industry are becoming louder and more demanding. The politicians and virologists stand opposed. You can tell: We are now entering the hot phase of having to weigh up the demands of health security and economic sacrifice.

Who will be able to get their business back up and running and when? What the German government is thinking here can also been seen from the – well prepared – charts of the Competence Centre for Tourism, which also calculates revenue expectations. Yesterday, it published its second "recovery plan": Compare it with the first one released on 9 April!

We also bring you topics beyond the corona crisis: We introduce new, young brands in the Serviced Apartment sector – and most pipelines are also full to bursting. But corona will also be an endurance test for them.

The crisis is also forcing us to adapt: We have decided to give our HITT Think Tank on 23 June a digital format. This way, the topic of the future digitisation will not fall by the wayside and even more insiders can participate! We look forward to it. We have placed initial information about this on our page 1, more will follow next week, when we will have adjusted the programme and the prices. It will not be a boring webinar, I promise you.

Stay strong! And speak your mind! It is time to overcome the corona paralysis!

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The German hotel industry is currently losing approx. EUR 750 million in revenue with each passing week. Landlords and finance partners expect rents and annuities of at least EUR 500 million each month, and 250,000 employees are already on short-time working. The whole episode is becoming more intense, and even this week's improved credit terms are still not sufficient to stop larger hotel groups slipping through the cracks.

Hotel and real estate associations are trying ever more desperately to make it clear to politicians and banks: Beds lost in March cannot be occupied twice in June! If Berlin government fails to come up with further improvements to its support programmes, the sector will run headlong into mass insolvency. Experts estimate the risk of insolvency in the travel industry at 40%, more than twice as high as in the economy as a whole!

It’s for this reason that the pressure to relax restrictions is increasing in many countries. Some are already taking cautious first steps in that direction, including Denmark, Norway, Austria and Czechia.

Worries and concerns are apparent in all conversations: If the economy is not gradually opened back up from May onwards, the humanitarian disaster will be followed this year by economic ruin even in rich countries and social unrest everywhere.

The tension is palpable. Dealing with hotels closed in this crisis is more work than operating them during normal times, Duncan O'Rourke, COO Accor Central Europe, stated in our interview today. Even the European market leaders would be pleased to see occupancy grow again, at least in June. Duncan doesn't even want to think about RevPAR trends yet. Of the 3,000 Accor hotels in Europe, around 2,200 are currently closed.

It gets even more depressing today when the still great transaction figures for Germany in the 1st quarter are compared with forecasts for the 2nd quarter and the now looming crash. The figures from the market report recently published by the German International Hotel Association for 2019 should be framed in gold.

The virus has the entire world firmly in its grip, as our summary flight over the Middle East shows. The virus scenario is repeated in almost every country in the same way, only with a time lag. And just as uniform will be the trend that follows: First, it will be local restaurants, cafés, bars and shops to begin to generate revenue again, then domestic tourism will go through the roof, while the recovery in business travel will be significantly delayed. The latter is again dependent on air travel and open borders - and on the confidence that travellers must again have developed by then. Trust and confidence will be the economy’s driving force.

On Tuesday, I watched the first purely virtual live hotel conference "Hospitality tomorrow": Allegedly 5,300 people were registered, and in the discussions I listened to for five hours, an average of 2,500 participants were online at any one time. More about the content soon, but important to me now is the message from this event: Firstly, you can get things - and thoughts - moving online; secondly, it does exist - the global tourism spirit and the common fight against the virus! It felt good to see this.

Have a good Easter break, enjoy short walks and switch off from it all. We will do the same, our ordinary Easter break will be next week, so we will be back on Friday, 24 April, with our next edition. Hopefully with more positive news.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

While the rest of the world is now fighting the coronavirus, China is getting back to normal. The hotel market is stabilizing at a low level, but now a huge project pipeline is already worsening the situation. And the first investors are already panting for distressed assets. Macy Marvel documents the decline and upswing based on numerous statistics and provides an outlook.

Various exit scenarios are now being discussed in Central Europe. Futurologist Sven Gábor Jánszky of 2bAhead records four of them, from a technologically controlled reset to the collapse of democracy. In the same report I have paired these drafts with facts worth thinking about: In addition, mrp Consult from Vienna provides well-founded calculations on various tourism markets across the world and with a view to the various target groups. Martin Schaffer's conclusion: Decisions must now simply be made with many unknowns.

The new, also extensively researched guide by Tina Froboese, Select Hotel Advisory Services, offers an orientation in the jungle of aid measures in Germany. It lists liquidity assistance and guarantees from all 16 federal states, including contact links.

Yesterday evening, following Hilton, Marriott and IHG, Accor also made an official statement on the crisis. Two thirds of the hotels around the globe will soon be closed. Despite this, or even more so now, Accor and its financially strong shareholders are now providing millions of euros to help medical staff and its own employees and partner companies in need.

So far, lessors and lessees have been less communicative. Susanne Stauss has nevertheless been able to talk to some of them, all of them were still saying they act in friendly partnership. "Off-screen", we hear exactly the opposite from the market: The tone between operators and owners/financers in general has become much coarser for a week now – since the legislator brought up the issue of rent deferrals. Dirk Iserlohe, CEO of Dorint's parent company Honestis AG, is the only one speaking in plain terms: The landlord thinks about his assets, the tenant about survival.

The Swiss hotel industry fears a collapse. A top-down projection from Monday, based on the estimated total annual turnover of the hotel industry of 10.2 billion francs, comes to a turnover loss of 2 billion francs. A wave of insolvencies seems inevitable.

In our "Snippets" today we have summarized useful information about the planned virus tracking, and in our News Mix you will also find – from today on – news that no longer only refers to projects and pipelines, but also to other commercial enterprises such as Airbnb.

Beatrix Boutonnet took part in a virtual hackathon under the patronage of the Chancellery in Berlin: Its goal was to track down ideas. One of them is a new voucher platform of the Sparkassen, a group of German savings banks, for small businesses like cafés, restaurants or bars.

Upselling is the keyword for Sabre Hospitality: they have now introduced their new retail hospitality tool, which helps to generate more sales already at the time of booking: You simply sell the hotel as an attractive destination and every extra gets a price ticket. The astonishing fact: One third of the guests would pay up to 50 euros more!

Digitization makes it possible. And even more, as Yotel CEO Hubert Viriot explains. Right from the start, the lifestyle group saw itself as a disruptor, relying on useful technology, few staff members and tech-savvy guests. Viriot spends 10% of his budget on experimenting with technology – and he still says: Business is not generated by robots, but by new open PMS and CRM!

Our interview with the Gottlieb Dudweiler Institute from Switzerland ties in with this: Its researchers see chatbots as perfect smart travel assistants. They will suggest restaurants based on your blood sugar level, or they will independently coordinate with other smart assistants for your next trip.

As you can see, there is a future! And you will need the knowledge about the digital trends after corona. We let the scientists and experts have their say as well as the pragmatic movers & shakers of tomorrow. Every Friday!

And another small note on my own behalf: This week I have contributed to a podcast for the first time. I exchange views with my fellow editors-in-chief Andrew Sangster from Hotel Analyst and Jeff Weinstein from Hotels about Corona. A first experiment for us, listen to the United Hotel Media Podcast.

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com