Editorial
Dear Insiders,
IHIF as well as ITB Berlin are still finding their customers but a change has become evident: the events have become large and rigid. And in addition, there is the high entrance fee at the investment conference. In the last few years, some people have turned their backs on the ITB. Over time, it has increasingly become a contact trade show. Therefore, this year's minus – 11,000 fewer trade visitors – cannot only be attributable to the strike at Berlin's airports last Friday. We are media partners at both events, and at both events we listened to the visitors.
At IHIF, I was granted a 30-minute solo interview with Sébastien Bazin, who admitted self-critically that AccorHotels has no DNA for sales, and operations have to be improved.
At the "ITB Hospitality Day", it also became clear that the chain is serious about the transformation into a lifestyle corporation: at the hostel panel, the brand Jo&Joe cut a fine figure next to Meininger and The Student Hotel. By the way, all panels of the hotel conference are now available on YouTube and at full length! You will find the link on our page 1, as well as the written summaries of the individual panel talks – every Friday from today.
Prior to the ITB, we journalists were invited to a preview at the new Motel One Upper West Berlin. It will open on April 14. With this 582-room hotel, the budget chain from Munich raised the bar even higher regarding design. At any rate, the "One Lounge", located on the 10th floor, which is equipped with Italian design furniture exclusively, has more atmosphere than the entire Waldorf-Astoria Hotel directly opposite.
IHG talked about its new focus on F&B for Kimpton as well as about its mid market brands; in addition, our News Mix today contains more news from Berlin.
The happiness of Deutscher Ferienhaus-Verband about the "green light" for holiday apartments in residential areas has been put into perspective by our legal experts in the meantime. Christie & Co provides current performance figures for 6 German top cities. Maritim Hotels had a weak total performance in 2016, just as Bavarian police officers showed definite shortcomings while controlling the passengers of a long-distance bus. My colleague Fred Fettner – a victim of the strike at Berlin's airports – was on the bus, shaking his head. What a marketing for Germany!
Last but not least: "After the ITB" means "before the Expo Real" for HospitalityInside by now. Our trade fair team has already started planning the joint stand "World of Hospitality" in Munich. Interested parties will find the conditions with one click on the respective banner at our home page.
Nevertheless, on our start page you will find a link to the new video about the ITB joint stand "World of Hospitality" in Hall 9a/108, about our partners and guests. Enjoy the video!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
On Monday morning, just on time for the start of the investment conference IHIF, AccorHotels officially announced a new joint venture with the Turkish Rixos Hotels. We already reported about it three weeks ago. In any case, Bazin continues his shopping trip.
In Berlin at IHIF however, a pure party atmosphere prevailed. "The most sexy party girl" was and still is Germany. But market surveys forecast a good year 2017 for all of Europe, despite any Trump, Putin, and Erdogan messages, and low interest-rates are pushing hotel financings forward.
The atmosphere at the ITB is also positive. From the very beginning, the trade show had full halls. The industry "is flying" – in the real estate segment as well as in tourism, in a global boom, which is only slowed down in some regions.
The financial and economic shock of 2008 has been forgotten, 2017 will be as great again as 2016... Elections? Oh, yes, this rings a bell. But this is the only keyword, which makes the party girl Germany pause for a short moment.
Today, we are picking up on a few important pieces of news, but more will come next week with more background information on both events. From IHIF our team directly went on to ITB – and I focused on the "ITB Hospitality Day". ITB plans to upload the videos of the individual panels today - please click on the link in our ITB ticker on the front page! The discussions have been exciting again.
About today's edition: AccorHotels' transformation is still keeping us on our toes. One year ago, Sarah Douag talked to Romain Roulleau, Head of eCommerce and Digital, about the development of von accorhotels.com – and now again. Last year, AccorHotels learned the following: volume is good, but they are moving on to quality now.
Concerning the world of investments, Beatrix Boutonnet describes the topic of REITs today. In the US, they are already very popular in the hotel industry; in Germany, this special type of real estate share is still eyed suspiciously.
In Frankfurt and Nuremberg, Adina Apartments Hotels opened new hotels successively – displaying its new lobby concept. But the rooms have also been enhanced: the kitchenette measuring only 1.8 metres in length sets the bar very high. And right on time for the 10th anniversary in Germany, there is a large pipeline available. I talked to Georgios Ganitis, Regional Manager Europe, in Nuremberg. And appropriately for the boom of serviced apartments, a new specialised booking platform in this segment is emerging: Livabout from Munich. This and more in today's news – have fun reading!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
It is that time of year: the tourism caravan has started moving towards Berlin again... We look forward to seeing many of you again at ITB and also IHIF next week. You will find our SPECIAL – fresh from the press – at 100 business hotels in Berlin, at the IHIF press table, at our ITB stand, at the ITB hotel conference, and at our ITB partners. But today, you are able to receive your copy of the online edition here!
Please visit us and our co-exhibitors at the "World of Hospitality" at ITB Hall 9/108. Our stand will be hosting the hotel groups Motel One and Premier Inn, the digital signature and IPTV specialist Macnetix, the digital content distribution provider Media Carrier, and the software developer NextGenOpti.
Should you not make it for the ITB Hospitality Day on Thursday from 10.30 am in Hall 7.1b/Auditorium London you can follow the discussions via live stream. You find the link on our page 1!
I prepared a white paper for the IHIF about transactions in the German-speaking market in 2016. You are able to download this document for free. You will find all information and links concerning ITB and IHIF on page 1!
You will definitely hear about today's topics in many other discussions in Berlin: smart start-ups discovered the "day rooms" as an additional source of profit and are marketing them in OTA style. Sarah Douag took a look into Day Use and others. It all sounds extremely smart.
Massimiliano Sarti shows that Italy experienced a successful year 2016, but could also have been even more successful. Spain, in comparison, made use of its chance. Experts are even pointing out first alarm signals for Italy. At least, an official strategy plan for tourism 2017-2022 has just been approved.
In China, "official" data do not mean much. They can still be amended. Our China expert Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Arlt explains the chaos of statistics on time for the ITB: How many Chinese travel to Europe? 10 million does not mean 10 million at any rate. Just as punctually, Messe Berlin reports that its premier trade show ITB China is booked out completely.
At the IHIF, the discussion will be about the most recent transactions in Europe and Germany as well as about new names in the market, e.g. about Gambino Hotels in Munich, which were able to secure a very sought-after property with 300 rooms at Ostbahnhof in Munich. Last night AccorHotels announced a new management deal with Brazil Hospitality Group, taking over 26 hotels with about 4,400 rooms in Brazil's major markets. For the IHIF, additional announcements are already showing up on the horizon.
Our team is out and about for you and will keep the news rolling next week!
See you in Berlin!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Not a week without Sébastien Bazin: AccorHotels' CEO loves scripts involving the powerful of this world. Now he is even helping a former French president out of his political minor role giving him the main role as a strategist in the transformation drama round about the biggest French hotel chain. Ça va! Yes, the two know each other well.
However, Bazin seemingly had to cope with a defeat regarding the bidding for the Canadian Luxury Retreats platform – Airbnb grabbed it. Annoying. 4,000 luxury hotels at one swoop – that would have been perfect for the group's own sales platform. Now he needs to put together smaller packages. All those unwilling to give away their luxury hotels should take cover. Revenue and EBIT figures covering 2016 – published two days ago – will further give wings to Bazin.
But there are also hotel groups that don't want to be swallowed, taking action by themselves: as reported, last week, Kempinski professed its future as an independent boutique hotel group via a shareholder change, and yesterday afternoon, Vienna House in Vienna announced a new 100-percent shareholder: another Thai company, backed by a listed billion-dollar conglomerate. Simoner, himself a former Kempinski top manager, knows the owners of its parent company BTSG from his days at Kempinski. Apart from that, the timeframe and the same focus were pure coincidence, he reassures us. But: the family operating hotels in Asia itself doesn't want to see Vienna House drown in the merger mash.
Finally, the trend has an anti-trend! The hotel sector needs diversity – it lives from it ... We don't need any additional unisex lounges!
In England, the hard Brexit is shaking up hoteliers. The immense costs and disadvantages are becoming clearer and clearer. Experts and the British Hotel Association are pessimistic almost across the board. And Frank Marrenbach, CEO of the Oetker Collection operating the Lanesborough London brings up the following image with respect to the planned exclusion of employees: the best curry isn't of British origin!
Today, our legal experts analyse the difficulty in differentiating between residential living and Serviced Apartments in Germany – an important contribution in the context of this booming segment. Further news cover the 2016 balance sheets of AccorHotels, Choice and IHG, the stagnating room nights in Switzerland in 2016, and the EU Commission investigating against Meliá Hotels and tour operators.
And finally, we talk about three panels you should visit at ITB Hospitality Day on March 9, and the IHIF announced the new winner of the "Young Leader Award" in the run-up to the 20th anniversary: the young lady comes from Berlin. Enjoy reading!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Kempinski versus the wave of consolidation: despite "all those" who have stood in line to buy Kempinski in the past two years, CEO Markus Semer implied that the two associates from Thailand and Bahrain have opted for a long-term strategy focusing on quality instead of an ad-hoc sale generating short-term top yield. Yesterday, we had the "Breaking News" about the switch of shares between the two owners, while today Semer lists several arguments why Kempinski has a good chance as an individual boutique hotel group.
And where does luxury meet its limits? In other words with a smile: among budget chains that treat themselves to a "luxurious" appearance partly including the term of "luxury" in their name. Motel One is consequently pushing on upgrading its budget design provoking a discussion. 17 square metres and upgrading without limits? Who will tag along? Nearly everyone, as it seems. We explicitly asked Motel One, prizeotel, Ruby, AccorHotels/ibis, Super 8, and B&B. 2 and 4 stars are definitely closing the gap in terms of space, which is why developer GBI says: budget is not out – but subject to change.
As described several times, the Italian hotel market is experiencing major changes. But once again, my colleague Massimiliano Sarti ascertains – this time talking with experts of Horwath HTL – that important market figures are still strongly diverging. Chain and brand hotels, respectively, have selectively gained ground during 2016, but statistically speaking, private hotels still remain very strong. In summary, Italy continues to grow as many figures show.
Sébastien Bazin of AccorHotels has implanted the term of "growth" into the company DNA: hospitalityInside.com learned that the hotel group is obviously about to acquire Turkish Rixos Hotels. The luxury puzzle is getting even bigger!
And regarding technology, mergers keep going – now in the metasearch segment. New brand names are pushing towards Germany. In the meantime, Best Western is happy about the synergies of its European network consisting of ten countries: things are beginning to take effect. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Rezidor, and Wyndham have published their results for 2016 and the fourth quarter, respectively.
It was an exciting week between breaking news and news.
Until next week!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
If I was Trump, I would seal off my website just as Trump Hotels does. The media are unable to find downloadable pictures; there is no login, there are no contacts. Normally, this is standard among other hotel groups. The company does not return any calls. Therefore, we are very happy about the fact that all Trumps love to twitter and reveal their activities this way. However, the POTUS and his family empire are offending an increasing number of "watchdogs". Sarah Douag summarises the areas of conflict concerning hotels. We decided to label this article "Part 1", because sequels of this dramatic POTUS Soap Opera are probably guaranteed.
easyHotels once started off with full-bodied announcements, but then expansion got stuck. Now, easy founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou no longer has any influence and expansion is starting to roll again... The new Franchise Director Wolfgang Gold provides details and tries to enthuse new franchisees.
Renowned funds firmly believe in Greece's future in the tourism industry; the funds just provided 250 million euros for the further development of the Ikos/Sani Group. These brands are supposed to redefine all-inclusive on a luxury level à la Four Seasons and push the development of a mega resort destination.
This week, AccorHotels added another puzzle to its growing luxury brand empire, as revealed in an announcement, with Travel Keys. It is exciting to watch Sébastien Bazin buy and buy and only he seems to be able to see the entire picture at the moment. Marriott is also tattering itself: Of all things, the sensitive well-being brand Element will be provided with communal "suites" following the style of the Sharing Economy.
Motel One has quietly removed the small word "low" from its original subtitle "Low Budget Design" hotel group, and announced the next high-quality product improvements at the new Motel One Upper West Berlin. It should actually be becoming quieter with respect to Airbnb, but the last record fine of the city of Amsterdam affects the landlords first and foremost again and not the business.
The new Honestis AG bought Dorint Hotels, and officially leaves the former shareholder E&P behind. Worldhotels, on the other hand, were sold to an entirely new US partner; together, they plan to explore new paths in Europe concerning the MICE business. In Berlin, the German industry celebrated its awardees of the year; and from the human resources departments of several companies, new names are coming through.
And, finally: Today we can present the programme of the 2017 "ITB Hospitality Day" at ITB Berlin: six lively panels about hostels, automatization/artificial intelligence, food design, safety&security, challenging countries and metasearch. Have a look at our page 1!
Enough for today; enough to read, enough to be astonished at.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
Motel One's success story continues and CEO Dieter Mueller has no ambitions whatsoever to change anything at all concerning the strategy of this low-budget design group. Mueller and his wife Ursula Schelle-Mueller, Chief Marketing Officer & Design, still see a lot of potential through fine tuning of both the product and digitisation. How long does upgrading work at budget rates? Last week, I met the entrepreneur couple at the group's Campus hotel.
The story of Austrian hotels unfortunately drifts off right in the opposite direction. Surveys of Tourismusbank OEHT and Austria's OEHV hotel association drastically show: most hotels are barely able to survive. Only top-performing hotels were able to increase their results sustainably. 1,250 hotels ought to better disappear from the market. Now, the government is supporting financing once again.
The gap between theory and practice is wide. This was clearly the tenor at the first "Sustainability Roundtable" to which Invesco Real Estate had invited seven major chains. There were the practitioners, profit-oriented experts. And not all of them consider certifications reasonable, preferably relying on their own fair benchmarks.
A new European analysis based on the figures of 2016 defines winners and losers in tourism among destinations. The result was basically known already, but now it is supported by figures. Among other things, the new "snow sports hotel" category is to help ailing mountain hotels in Switzerland. The Airbnb start-up favourite is profitabl for the first time and aims at buying additional companies. In contrast, money is not an issue in a new, unusual start-up competition that everybody can participate in with their idea receiving expert feedback and know-how. And Four Seasons comes to the fore again with a few announcements. In addition, there are some interesting staff issues today – another colourful edition. Enjoy reading!
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
As of January, Austria has been free of the requirement for rate parity. Yet the discussion at the annual conference of the Austrian Hoteliers Association showed that private hoteliers are still very much dependent on the OTA giants. Also, more and more young companies are entering the market. Fred Fettner looks at the persistent pressure faced by hoteliers.
As far as real estate is concerned, things are more relaxed. Even experts meanwhile hunt for hotels as they do truffles. The asset class with its high yields currently has an appeal like no other. Beatrix Boutonnet took part in the truffle hunt at the BIIS Annual Conference.
For Elisabeth Guertler, the grande dame of the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, staff are the diamonds in the relationship with the guest. Now she's venturing the leap to a resort location, Seefeld in Tyrol, and will attempt to create there what has been successful in Vienna and Salzburg: a real luxury hotel among the spa resorts. She's investing 23 million euros in the Astoria Relax & Spa Resort set to open in June. I met her in Vienna, we talked about the project and about true luxury.
Our correspondents bring lots of interesting news today: The earthquake in Italy now appears to have put tourists off in more significant numbers; Spain has recorded a super year with transactions and the Fitur International Tourism Fair in Madrid presented a number of local news. In France, the next hostel brand is on the up, as competition to AccorHotels' Jo&Joe.
The CEO carousel at NH and Carlson surprised yesterday: is it a sign of the imminent merger of NH and Rezidor – as soon as the latter is also acquired by HNA? We will report as soon as the facts are clear.
At hospitalityInside there are no "alternative facts"... Whoever I spoke to over the last few days with regards to Trump's media bashing, everyone is appalled by his claims. I wish my American colleagues all the best in making it clear to this political newcomer exactly where the line is. For this reason I'd like to add a link here to a notable letter to US media which set out the rules of journalism to Donald Trump three days before his inauguration.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
What figures did last year provide, what trends will everybody have to pay attention to this year? Current surveys show that Austrians will travel more in summer, spend more and book earlier. The winter left the tourist destination Austria in a fix in December. January, on the other hand, will put things back in order with plenty of snow. Lots of Austrians believe in the persistent appeal of winter sport.
The Italians look back on a record investment year in the hotel industry and to a surprising development in the sale of Boscolo Hotels.
In Spain, chambermaids have long fought for fairer working conditions in outsourcing after many hotel groups deliberately terminated their contracts in order to immediately re-employ them through cheap service companies. Interestingly, a new protest movement known as Las Kellys has now grown up through social media.
Good news for hoteliers worldwide: Airbnb is by far not as successful around the globe as the portal would have you believe. STR has analysed hotels and Airbnb in 13 markets: In most of these, hotels achieved considerably better occupancy and room rates. Fitting here in our personnel news today: Chip Conley, the hotelier from Airbnb, has left the company.
Jean-Gabriel Pérès, the new CEO of Kerzner International, reported recently in Paris that he will not only push forward with the brands One & Only and Atlantis. We also have many small market news articles today in our news mix.
The mega industry meetings of spring are moving closer: "World of Hospitality", our joint stand at the ITB, gets a new design this year, introduced on our home page. The organisation of the "ITB Hospitality Day" is being finalised. New this year is our media partnership with IHIF Berlin, the International Hotel Investment Forum, which will also celebrate its 20th anniversary. Together with the IHIF organiser, Questex Hospitality & Travel in New York, we have compiled a white paper for this event; initial details today on our Page 1, further information over the coming weeks.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Dear Insiders,
The hospitalityInside team wishes you all a happy new year with good business in a more peaceful environment with positive news.
My review of the past year has become more of a comment: The centre points in the world of hospitality shifted considerably last year thanks to a wave of mergers. Chinese groups, Marriott and AccorHotels simply bought in size and dynamics in 2016. That was courageous, but not really innovative. Up to now, the top dogs have only adjusted their expansion targets at high speed. Private hotels and smaller groups should therefore carefully watch the top dogs. The consolidation among the giants provides new opportunities for the small. But for this, new courage will be required on their part!
2017 will bring movement, clear words and more togetherness, it is stated in descriptions of the Chinese Year of the Red Fire Rooster, which will begin on 28 January. It will demand and also encourage those who maintain an overview...
Here we are exactly right with our new China column: From today, Prof Wolfgang Arlt will provide regular contributions and an intercultural bridge to the Far East. He has been travelling to China for more than 30 years, he built up the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute in Hamburg and was recently appointed by the UNWTO into a group of 500 globally leading tourism experts. He will analyse both tourist market statistics as well as provide explanation with regard to the peculiarities of Chinese travel behaviour. To kick things off, he has chosen a soft topic: No Chinese food for Chinese travellers please!
Elisabetta Fabri, CEO of the Italian Starhotels, also goes into the new year full of courage: In an interview, she explains how she wants to expand outside Italy and will bring external investment partners on board in future. At present though, she is at loggerheads with her brother Francis.
The transaction results 2016 for the hotel investment markets Germany and Austria are now available: New incredible records were set with the last quarter! The results confirm the enormous pressure on capital to find a safe haven. In other news, hoteliers in the Brussels region have meanwhile thankfully received a tax gift, agreed at the end of December.
We also summarise the European mergers officially completed at the end of the year or which will soon complete. The new year also means lots of job changes, both in the international hotel industry as well as among consultants.
We look forward to again bringing you interesting topics in 46 current editions and two special publications in 2017. And as always, we will also keep an open ear for your ideas, concerns and problems throughout 2017.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com