Editorial
Dear Insiders,
The research carried out by our correspondent Sarah Douag can be compared to a leap into unknown waters: Her first blockchain article submerged her into the dark. She then surfaced to catch breath and went to a pure blockchain conference in Amsterdam. There she spoke to start-ups offering solutions in specific subject fields, e.g. how to check a person's identity, how to link locals up with each other, how to avoid intermediaries, how to track goods and products and, of course, how you can pay with blockchain. She recommends hoteliers to remain attentive and informed and even perhaps make a few tests. Take some time for this compact report.
Compared to this, Hammerle and Huber Hotels are much more familiar subject matter. These family names stand symbolically for committed hoteliers which have evolved into influential mini-groups in smaller destinations. Here, not only children and grandchildren help out, but the owners also have crystal-clear and strict concepts – like the chains. Fred Fettner talked with such multi-hoteliers in Tyrol.
Klaus Lengefeld has given his life to the subject of sustainability, and has assessed destinations and hotels around the globe in this regard. Today, he is an independent consultant and will question future concepts and initiatives for us. We begin with a comparison between sustainability standards for farmers and hoteliers.
Collaboration between hotel groups continues – fear of losing market share is enormous. Now, Louvre Hotels Group is collaborating with the luxury hotel group Lucien Barrière: Both want to expand luxury and attract Chinese guests. Egypt and Greece have this year ensured that tourism figures in Spain have stagnated.
Marriott Vacations is growing – just like Marriott Hotels – through acquisitions: The acquisitions of the Interval Leisure Group is now complete. This move is also newsworthy. AccorHotels has also officially concluded the acquisition of Mövenpick: CEO Olivier Chavy is thus no longer in office. He will now take a year off. The Germans too take too much time off and suffer – from leisure stress! This is the finding of a recent study.
On Tuesday, 13 think tank members met for the 1st post event at Sabre Hospitality in Frankfurt. The discussion surrounding the networked real estate and the networked processes in hotel operations was lively and very open again! Thoughts from the starter event in Berlin could be refined – and have revealed a whole range of exciting topics for the HITT 2019. We are sticking with it!
I wish you a good week, without work or leisure stress....
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Two deaths at the Hotel Aqua in Hurghada have revealed the turbulent media times we live in and how quickly a franchisor can get caught in the line of fire internationally. Press articles in tabloid style and a self-centred tour operator are not helping to calm the situation in this time of crisis. We asked a lawyer how a non-involved franchisor can avert damage from the company. It is still not clear why the British couple died in Egypt.
1+1=3. This formula stands for innovation, at least for Vienna House CEO Rupert Simoner. In autumn, the construction for the first tribrid brand R.evo will start in Munich. Behind the scenes, many discussions are taking place about how to meet the demands of the various target groups of hotel, living, and serviced apartments – via app, via chat, with an individual fridge and croissants, which can be bought at the bar and consumed in the hotel room. A first glimpse into a new concept.
Employer competitions? The business with the seals is flourishing. In the end, it is only about more marketing than substance, as Baerbel Schwertfeger found out. Scandic and Lindner Hotels explain why they participate nonetheless, other groups such as Motel One or AccorHotels are rather tight-lipped. The lack of talents fuels the business in HR, and vanity opens the wallets of hoteliers – just like with most awards.
These pieces of news also concern staff members: After a survey among non-academics, the so-called "Blue-Collar-Kompass" asks companies to describe the team spirit in job advertisements too. If the spirit is not right later on, 36 percent will quit afterwards only because of that. And the Italian Parliament has approved the reforms in employment law, as expected.
The Chinese, who are fond of travelling, set new records in the first half of 2018: 80 million crossed the borders, which is 16.4 percent more than in the same period last year. And Portugal experienced how direct flights to Lisbon caused the figures of Chinese arrivals to explode. Every mobile picture of a trip abroad increases the people's social media status; this is very important to the Millennials, as another survey reveals. Finally, there are new figures and statistics about chains and market developments in Switzerland: The pressure is growing.
Have a successful week!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
We launch into a busy autumn fully recharged after the summer break. 31 exhibitors will once again comprise our joint stand "World of Hospitality" at Expo Real Munich this year, with a destination represented for the first time. We are pleased with the new partners, the colourful mix and the loyalty our partners have invested in us for years. Important: The entire hospitality segment is moving – from Hall C2 into Hall A2. Our stand number is 240. The exhibitor names, further details, also on the conference programme, can be found on our home page and on the HospitalityInside exhibitor profile on the trade fair page.
We are also pleased to be able to announce our next SAVE THE DATE: After the successful premier of the HITT Think Tank in June in Berlin, the second event will take place on 19/20 May 2019 – again in Berlin and again on the ship. You can register for this on the website www.hitt.world or send us an eMail. Our first HITT participants will meet at the beginning of September for the first post-even workshop... The community is working! Expo Real was sponsor partner at HITT and welcomes the fact that we will take up part of this discussion on digitalisation at the Expo Real hotel conference.
In addition to this, those with a special interest in China should make note of another date: On 29/30 January 2019, the first "marketing to China" Conference will take place in Prague. We will support the event as media partner. It will bring together experts from various sectors, East and West, to speak on digital marketing and eCommerce. hospitalityInside subscribers and HITT participants will receive a 20% discount on the conference price. More on this on page 1.
The Chinese are meanwhile part of day-to-day business, also in the hospitality sector. Their strategies are difficult to interpret, which is why Sarah Douag asked China experts why HNA cannot acquire Radisson Hotels whilst Jin Jiang can. That looks like Chinese chequers. We were not allowed to quote every source as various experts fear for their contracts and reputation when expressing critical opinions of the Chinese government.
Tim Davis, moderator of our HITT Think Tank, is himself a specialist for technology and digital economy. He will in future stand at our disposal as editorial expert. He introduces himself today by describing the digital maturity of the hotel sector and listing five technologies which will have or already have a great impact on the hospitality sector.
In the new The Student Hotel Florence, Massimiliano Sarti met the founder of the group, Charlie MacGregor – and learned more about how the young group conceives, calculates and expands its hybrid model. It has no problems with capital, quite the opposite.
And among our news this week there are certainly some that you already know about. As always after the summer break, we catch up on important news in order to keep our archive up to date. New today: Airbnb guests are flooding into China, conversely the Chinese are turning their back on the US. In Germany, the city of Hamburg has introduced a rule "contra Airbnb & Co", including some hefty penalties. Tourism will continue to boom, as the current statistics on the German market shows. This and more today in an especially full edition.
We again look forward to next Friday with you!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
This summer, over 13 percent more Chinese tourists will visit Europe than in the previous season. More and more come as individual travellers – and in future will only head to places where WeChat Pay, Alipay or UnionPay are accepted and where bookings are taken beforehand. Queueing in front of Neuschwanstein Castle for a ticket? That just provokes laughter. Those in this part of the world not accepting the mobile payments used in China will be scrubbed from tour lists. All experts agree here.
Sarah Douag describes who is behind the three payment providers, how their systems work and how difficult hoteliers are finding their incorporation. Louvre Hotels are the most advanced in their use, followed by Marriott and AccorHotels. Sarah also interviewed the Amsterdam-based company NextportChina about how Western companies can expand their online presence in China. Before the Chinese book their trip at all, they read about the experiences and tips from all their friends on the net. "Social commerce" is the magic word in this new game that is placing many western hoteliers under pressure.
And did you know? Conservatives spend more money on their status. Tests with luxury cars, eyewear, headsets – these products all revealed large differences to liberals. Empirical research in France now for the first time shows how political ideology determines the purchase of luxury goods.
And here the weekly AccorHotels news: Sébastien Bazin has acquired yet another brand – this time not in France, but in the US. Not a large, but certainly an important deal. At least he’s keeping his hands off KLM.
The twist in the Hyatt NH Minor game last week seemed odd: Just as Hyatt makes a 100% takeover offer for NH, the former buyer Minor International surprisingly confesses that it had purchased further shares in NH. Is that really coincidence? Hyatt is neither short-sighted nor naive. But it is always creative: Hyatt’s loyalty programme members can as of immediately fall back on the boutique hotel pool of Small Luxury Hotels.
Design Hotels, Hyatt, Meliá and Motel One have published their results for Q2 and H1 2018. Current figures are also available on the new hotel real estate transactions in Rome. And Horwath looks at the underestimated wellness hotels in a study, whilst HRS offers SMEs a free booking platform. Big news from the messenger world: From 2019, WhatsApp will introduce advertising and make companies pay for communicating with their customers.
With this diverse range of subjects, we say goodbye today before our two-week summer break.
Our office will be open again from 20 August, the next edition will be published on 24 August. Because then it’s Friday again.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Eleven months ago, Puneet Chhatwal left Deutsche Hospitality as CEO in order to take on a post in India; a position which is very much in the spotlight: He became CEO of the historic Indian Hotels Company Limited with its flagship brand Taj Hotels. The "German-speaking Indian" has since then been observed very carefully, as our Indian correspondent, Hoihnu Hauzel, reports. At the end of her long interview, we know: Puneet arrived to find lots to do. With a five-year plan as basis, he is now cleaning things up, in particular as regards distribution and digitization. He himself feels likely he's arrived, he is "at home", with Taj and his mother.
Europe and Israel will remain the home of the Fattal Hotel Group and its Leonardo Hotels for the time being. This week, Fattal Hotel Group presented the new lifestyle boutique brand NYX in its core market Germany. A relaxed, colourful and high quality concept that includes burger grill, cinema and music to entire guests and locals alike. The two top managers in Europe, Daniel Roger and Yoram Biton, provided additional facts and figures on the group's strategy.
The new world of work could also improve a lot if companies and employees could put aside old beliefs and define opportunities. The young generations have certainly expressed their demands; in a representative study presented today, Generation Z have revealed themselves to be the most demanding of all. The "beautiful new world of work" has still to be created though. The finding of the American consultancy association ISHC fits well here. According to a survey of its members, the hotel industry should change its recruiting process and invest more in awareness of the sector as employer.
In other news today: In Italy, after five years, new wage contracts have been concluded, in Spain, the KPIs confirm the continued upswing in the hotel industry, and American Express as well as the Global Business Travel Association forecast rising prices for 2019. AccorHotels, Radisson, Scandic as well as the Munich-based Schoerghuber Group/Arabella Hospitality present their current financial results, and last but not least we also have some personalia alongside the usual selection of small news in our mix.
We wish you a good week!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The keyword "Neigbourhood" is on everyone's lips, the 25hours Hotel Hamburg Hafenamt is now implementing the idea: Starting Monday, the boutique hotel will have a "Conciergerie" and young men in grey-chequered uniform to meet the wishes of guests and neighbours. From its own concierge box, the hotel now provides services – from babysitting and bike repairs to the "restaurant at home". However, the 25hours does not charge money for arranging these services. It is about anchoring the hotel brand in the head of the neighbours.
AccorHotels CEO Sébastien Bazin has placed the idea of neighborhood effectively in the industry over the last two years. Forerunner Claus Sendlinger and his Design Hotels have already talked about it intensively in 2011; our headline at that time was "The pleasant neighbour".
For years I have also been following developments in Qatar on the basis of our regular visits to the Middle East. After the World Cup in Russia ended on Sunday, Doha is now the venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was the start of my current conversation with Hassan Al-Ibrahim, Acting Chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority.
For the Qatari, however, the World Cup is only one component of a long-term strategy in which they rely on a diversified hotel industry, on eco-lodges and beach resorts as well as on cruise ships and business events. The tourists should experience the small country authentically; therefore meetings and experiences with locals belong to the program. For the otherwise shy Arabs this is certainly a courageous step. But Qatar must rethink – because the political dispute with Saudi Arabia and the UAE has not yet been resolved.
In Italy, too, the Italians believe, foreign investors should rethink and focus on a long-term strategy. The hotel operators, national and international, at least are pushing into the market – gladly also into the south, where the hotel gap is still large. Massimiliano Sarti has analysed the current worry lines – as well as the latest figures on the congress market in the country and the government's recent attempts to influence illegal layoffs and fixed-term employment contracts.
The EU is now also pressing Airbnb, just as Austria demands a nationwide Airbnb regulation. It is also incomprehensible in Germany that cities like Frankfurt agree to an automated tourism levy with Airbnb, but do not want explain how they control the levy. In New York, the City Council terminated discussion two days ago and condemned Airbnb to release the names or pay hefty fines.
With the slogan "Make Europe Even Greater" AccorHotels has once again set the personnel carousel for Europe in motion – and appointed five new COOs for five new geographical zones. This and more today, enjoy reading.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Five years ago the lean luxury brand Ruby Hotels was launched on the German market. Now its first hotel in Shanghai is under construction and the Munich-based company is 20%-owned by a renowned Chinese partner – and thus by a powerful entity around the fund Ocean Link and Plateno Hotels founder Alex Zheng. Just how Ruby will multiply in Asia without giving up its DNA is explained today by Ruby-CEO Michael Struck in an exclusive with hospitalityInside.com.
With this, Struck implements a further piece of his vision; for what's happening on the German market at the moment though, all you need is a little skill. Horwath HTL Berlin has calculated RevPAR scenarios for the 7 top locations in the overheated and oversaturated hotel market Germany. A few things could begin to tumble here... The sector should therefore get ready! The consultants at Hotel Affairs recommend: analyse, adjust or exit!
Such thought experiments won't please some people, as the transaction figures from the large brokers yesterday confirmed big and expensive hotel deals in the second quarter. The German market stays hot! So why predict doom?
Tourism-dependent countries like Austria are much more sensitive and must question lots of things. Professionals there, for instance, don't like how tourism's contribution to the economy is calculated. Calculations carried out on a volume basis under the motto "the more the better" are now beginning to be questioned. The existing system does not allow international comparison. Professionals demand new and more sensitive indicators.
Marriott is now testing facial recognition, a new Spanish company wants to predict online customer behaviour... As regards guest analysis, more and more things are being set in motion. AccorHotels breathes a sigh of relief: They have now merged their different loyalty programmes for their luxury brands and also announce a new element. The Austrian budget lifestyle brand Harry's Home continues to expand, now also by way of franchise. And purchaser Progros is increasingly turning into a consultancy and now also project manager.
We wish you an exciting week and exciting reading.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
Digitalisation is turning employees into throw-away goods. The fear of losing one's job means greater insecurity, increasing project work means more stress. This puts health at risk. "This is even true for highly-qualified IT experts in Silicon Valley, e.g. in the gaming industry. They work themselves almost to death until the game is finished. Then, a new team is put together," Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer criticises of the meanwhile dramatic trend. Companies protect polar bears, but not their own employees! Baerbel Schwertfeger returned to interview the inconvenient expert who two years ago complained to us of the misinterpretation of disruption.
If you read Sarah Douag's article on the first European Sabre Exchange Event in London last week, you'll learn a lot about the new tools the tech company intends to keep ahead with. It is working towards ensuring the guest experience takes place in real time – by ensuring that the guest receives his or her personalised offer ad hoc.
Hotel assets have finally made their way into the heads of the real estate giants! At the recent German real estate summit, the sector was praised, also because it is helping to push the trend towards increasing urbanisation, e.g. with extended stay and serviced apartment offers. Beatrix Boutonnet reports.
AccorHotels can be relied upon! The French hotel group announces new hotel concepts and makes headlines almost on a weekly basis. "Flying Nest" is the name of the shoe box surrounding the bed which is now celebrated as new pop-up brand. Have you noticed that almost every AccorHotels innovation – like this one again – is the result of collaboration with French partners? AccorHotels meanwhile has its fingers in many pies – now also in neuromarketing! Yesterday's headlines said: Now they're taking the pulse of their luxury guests in order to find out what these want... WOW. What have they done up to now? I will once again have to take Accor's pulse...
Austria's pulse is racing because the government has again cut VAT to 10%. At the same time, hotel transactions are again rising in the Alpine country. The global Serviced Apartment market continues to grow, and Dorint Hotels – boosted by more capital from its parent company Honestis AG – is able to look forward to expansion; Honestis Chairman Dirk Iserlohe reports the details and Dorint presents its new Director for the Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden.
This and much more in this week's edition; as the first half of the year comes to an end, we also have lots of news on job changes. For the coming week, I hope you can find a few quiet minutes to think more about your employees and less about polar bears…
Maybe next week we'll know more about HNA and Radisson Hotels. Now the Chinese suddenly want to sell all shares. The tragic, fatal accident of HNA's co-chairman Wang Jian in the Provence, France this week certainly does not contribute to speeding up the processes. The 57-year-old fell off a 15-meter-high cliff while taking pictures. He held 15% of the HNA Group shares.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The UNWTO has just announced that tourist arrivals have again beaten forecasts for the first four months of the year - in particular in the Asia-Pacific region, immediately followed by Europe. UNWTO had expected 4-5%.
Overtourism therefore remains a hot topic. The buffeted island of Mallorca has now set the course – towards luxury and quality tourism. Susanne Stauss reports on old town villas and finca hotels, magnificent hotels without golden bath taps, but with a whole lot of charm. This attracts a very different sort of tourist than seen at the nightlife area "Ballermann".
Travellers are becoming more demanding everywhere. The buyers of large bed contingents are also finding this out. Two important incoming professionals, DTS and Eurotours create travel packages for mega clients from their base in Western Austria. Here too, everything is becoming a lot more complex, including short-term bookings, Fred Fettner has found out.
Italy looks forward to a new super season after a mega travel year. The problems remain the same though. Hoteliers' chief complaint remains the immense tax burden, which meanwhile consumes up to 70% of income. Massimiliano Sarti once again listened patiently to the industry association Federalberghi and was told of the small progress.
Italy's Costa Smeralda is the home of some trophy assets par excellence. The owners are now embarking on a million-heavy facelift and fine-tuning exercise of the four hotels and are also investing in the infrastructure of the paradise once created by Aga Khan.
The fruit still hangs high for the German Dorint Hotels, but with its turnaround after the years of crisis, the 4-star group can again hope for rosier times. After many years, Dorint again invited journalists to a press conference on Wednesday. It’s good to see that the new manager duo Karl-Heinz Pawlizki and Joerg Boeckeler – unburdened by the group's history – have just rejected an excessive lease offer on the hotly contested Munich market.
Hacker attack on Fastbooking: Hundreds of thousands of customer data have been hacked on AccorHotels' booking platform, it became public yesterday. Sarah Douag spoke with Fastbooking on reaction and defence. The hotel industry is one of the "soft" targets.... It can affect anybody any time.
The French network of small hotels, Logis, is a big name in France because of its presence with 2,200 members. In Germany it's just 20. Now, the new boss wants to close the gap and at the same time is also focusing on Spain and Great Britain.
The EU Package Travel Directive, which enters into force this Sunday, has annoyed lots of people, especially the Austrians. They have not been able to enact legislation to implement the directive into domestic law on time for 1 July. Business travel life is less complicated. Never before have German companies spent so much on business travel as they did in 2017. But: All in all, there are fewer travellers and fewer overnight stays inland. In the News Mix: Fattal Hotels officially confirmed the takeover of the Dutch Apollo Hotels yesterday afternoon; we had announced the deal.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world
Dear Insiders,
The colourful fountains in the hotel's own lake are 30 metres high at Kempinski Gravenbruch/Frankfurt – the Dubai Fountains send their regards. Yesterday, the water, light and colour spectacle was activated. The new attraction can be accessed publicly.
Data and especially the flood of data are pushing hoteliers over the brink … But they can no longer do without them either. The Vice President & Chief Technologist at IBM Watson from New York differentiates between quantity and quality of data and encourages people to learn more about them. The synergies become apparent quickly, also in the hotel industry. And he advises inexperienced hoteliers, which technology they should use at the beginning. Rob was also the source of inspiration at our HITT Think Tank in Berlin, two weeks ago. This was the ideal opportunity to ask this top-class and rarely available expert some questions after the event.
Since June 1, AccorInvest and AccorHotels are officially separated. Laurent Picheral, Deputy CEO Europe & CEO Central Europe with AH, wanted to explain some details about the new role of AH only afterwards – which you will be able to read today. AH provides recommendations now and is no longer an operator. The employees and the outside world have to realise this from now on.
Because of the topicality, we have to take a close look at AccorHotels today. Bazin, a big fan of Airbnb, opened a backdoor to the sometimes hated and sometimes loved rental platform: Airbnb and the channel manager Availpro started a partnership for the distribution of boutique hotels. Availpro is a subsidiary of AccorHotels. The hotel chain provides its statements, but we have our own thoughts concerning this topic.
If Alexa for Hospitality is to move into hotel rooms now, what will become of privacy in these rooms? Most media hype the initiative launched by Amazon and Marriott; we, however, remain more reserved concerning this digital hospitality assistant after we did our background research.
A novelty in the much sought-after and highly competitive market of Serviced Apartments is a rate radar now. At Austria Trend Hotels, a new and expanded management body indicates an upcoming expansion; and some new figures about how World Cup tourists are stimulating the Russian hotel market during the World Cup.
Have fun "deep learning" – to put it in tech language …
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
Follow us on LinkedIn / The Think Tank www.hitt.world