Dear Insiders,
Our idea to launch a special-format Think Tank was met with great interest. Many thanks for that and for the many positive conversations which have provided us with yet further impulse. Today, we can reveal the programme contents and the prices. Bookings are possible as of immediately! Early birds will be happy, and our subscribers receive special terms.
Aside from this, we are pleased to present two important pillars of the HITT Think Tank. One is the moderator. We have secured Tim Davis from London. He was responsible for Commercial Development and Information Technology on the Hilton Management Board for nine years. The other one is our main sponsor. Here we are pleased to get Sabre Hospitality Solutions on board – a company which already 22 years ago established the first innovation lab and who shares our idea of HITT with special conviction.
Things are coming together, please find further information above the programme on www.hitt.world. More on the event can also be found on our Page 1.
The German Dorint Hotels are making a new attempt: After 15 hard years of restructuring, one of the oldest German hotel groups will get a new face: CEO Karl-Heinz Pawlizki has won Joerg Boeckeler as COO, now the two former IHG managers will rebuild the company – as a solid German full-service group, without gimmicks and lifestyle pomp. The investment backlog is to be resolved by the end of 2020, the expansion by franchise has already begun and there will perhaps be even more brands.
Dirk Iserlohe, the hard restructurer in the background, has therefore achieved an important target: to make the group competitive again. I know nobody who has teetered on the edge of his own grave for so long without falling in. That deserves respect, even if not everyone in the industry manages to get along with the sharp former Dorint shareholder and today Chairman of the parent company as well as they could.
At a Serviced Apartment congress in Amsterdam, Sarah Douag asked why investors in Europe are rather cautious, whilst in the US capital flows so freely in this segment. Interesting. At the same time, she was introduced to two completely different business models – Short Stay from the Netherlands and Becar Asset Management Group from Russia. The Dutch are placing their bets in this long-stay segment on short term, and the Russians are thinking about mega apartment complexes in thousands of units. If these extremes continue, the Serviced Apartment bloom will soon fade and disappear.
But why should we think about it so much? This question has been posed recently by me. Nobody wants to venture an answer as long as everything is positive. Luxury travel is booming again, even if in slightly modified form. Germany posts the best tourism results of its history, Ibiza now bans Airbnb & Co. And the banks are still granting more loans for more hotels, a current Europe study shows. So what?
The 230 school students from Vienna who organise the Theaterhotel next week do not know the different shades of the industry yet. They simply love and live hospitality and want to see something good. We support these young talents by a media partnership.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
Motel One opening party at the new hotel at Berlin Alexanderplatz... It is the tenth hotel of the budget design group in the capital, and with 708 rooms, it is the largest of all. The hotels are getting bigger and more colourful – and they are highly profitable, as CEO Dieter Mueller revealed. The formula for success consists of a well-conceived mixture of location, size and design. Thus, 708 rooms are not the limit.
Yotel is another lifestyle design group with a limited service character. Now it is multiplying itself via YotelPads – buildings that include mini apartments for long-term guests. An app is the digital key for use of services and access to experiences in the on-site community. What can be adapted from the basic idea? Yotel wants to know. And we do, too.
Motel One and Yotel are doing well. Medium-sized Austrian businesses are not. With their highly involved OEHV industry association, they are currently analysing the conditions: who or what is to blame for continuously dropping profits? Erich Falkensteiner, member of the Falkensteiner supervisory board, considers the political nagging partly exaggerated. He worries more about employees than politics.
The news section covers a lot of movement on the market: Choice Hotels is moving its global reservation system into the cloud investing 50 million dollars – a novelty within the industry. HRS is making the check-in procedure a lot easier with a new idea. Amsterdam and seven other cities want to force Airbnb and other P2P platforms to hand over data to the authorities. It could work out with the help of the EU. Prince Alwaleed from Saudi Arabia is free again, but seemingly only in exchange for a lot of money ... Time will tell whether he will be allowed to continue work without restrictions.
Four weeks ahead of ITB, there is an initial extract about worldwide travel trends. And Amex is looking into the crystal ball regarding business travel as well. Optimsim anywhere. A shiny award was handed out for the "Hoteliers of the Year" in Germany.
When putting together today's issue, I had the feeling that everybody is just testing their limits and/or moving in extremes. Obviously, this is the only way to celebrate success - or defend oneself. It seems that there is not much going on with a "happy medium" anymore.
This is also why you need to learn from the big ones. Our joint seminar on "space efficiency" with our colleagues from hotelbau will take place in Munich on March 19. Motel One will also be among the speakers. Do you have it on your radar? Programme, fees and application link can be found on our first page.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
The annual OEHV Congress was this year one of the most political for a long while as it sought to cement the demands of Austrian hoteliers. The new young Federal Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, was also in attendance. He was cooperative, promised to repeal the VAT increase from 2016 and, amongst other things, installed the new department "Sustainability and Tourism". Whether this will solve hotel-sector specific problems faster remains to be seen. In a country like Austria with its large tourism sector, the question of staff recruitment remains a core issue.
All the same, operators and investors are not deterred: Bed giants such as Marriott and Motel One are now also storming the small city of Innsbruck. The local matadors are working out their best poker strategy here. Fred Fetter summarises the OEHV Congress and the background to the developments in Innsbruck for us.
After we last week described what over-tourism looks like, specifically in Mallorca and Latin America, our second article today focuses on cruise ships. They spew out thousands of passengers into ports and cities for just a few hours and have been identified as a major problem. The smaller the destination, the worse it is. They don’t benefit the locals at all. Studies are already putting prices on the damage and are recording the global suffering of the destinations. Yet a solution to the problem appears to be a challenge for everybody.
It can only end in a limit on the tourist numbers. Last Sunday, I experienced over-tourism first hand at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Already at 9 o'clock in the morning, the large courtyards will packed full with loud tour groups, the limitless selfie-mania of the visitors slowed all progress through the grounds, which is why by 9:30, the first tourists began to sit themselves down on the steps in the shade of the temple. What a scene!
Whether Innsbruck or Bangkok: It’s booming everywhere. And wherever overcapacity has not yet arrived, it will soon be created – because it will continue to boom. The sector is focusing only on economies of scale, profit maximisation and displacement competition. In 2008, irrationality and greed were just as pronounced as today. And the current super performance figures from the global hospitality sector will only fan this behaviour further. All regions apart from the Middle East boomed in 2017.
Now that HNA intends to sell its stake in NH, Sarah Douag has taken a closer look at HNA's problems. Airbnb remains on track for growth, though in the background things are crumbling, currently in its home town San Francisco. And the Italians are meanwhile analysing what the new financing law has brought them.
Yesterday, Deutsche Hospitality officially confirmed Thomas Willms as CEO. The long-standing Starwood top manager started last June in Frankfurt as COO. hospitalityInside.com predicted this leap seven months ago.
This and more in a new colourful edition today, with a look at the broader picture.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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

Dear Insiders,
Very rarely has the industry been as turbulent and energetic at the beginning of the year – our flood of news, especially the mix, reveals: Investments, corrections and experiments are being made as never before. Falkensteiner, for example, reports about its crowdfunding successes, destinations about their boom, chains about their numerous developments and their desire, to try out new things again and again. The high-tech lifestyle group Yotel, for example, is joining the longstay business now!
In 2017, more than 1.3 billion people travelled, according to the figures freshly published by UNWTO. Unbelievable. But the number is growing… And the boom is a double-edged, sharp sword, as our reports about "Overtourism" describe in detail: South America craves for masses of visitors, but already has to cope with some bottlenecks; and last September, about 3,000 Majorcans went on strike against the masses of tourists.
By now, the chains no longer have to compete against other chains only but to fight on numerous battle fronts. A current study shows: Chains do not have the most increases in bookings but rather alternative accommodations such as Airbnb and boutiques hotels – and OTAs still, despite all hostilities.
Our correspondent Sarah Douag took a deeper look at Belgium where the market is recovering after the terror attacks in Brussel at the beginning of 2016. For 2017, the Brussels Hotel Association expects an occupancy of 70 percent. However, the middle-class hotel industry is the big loser here: In the last five years, 570 properties have had to close. Instead, more hotels are under development with more than 100 rooms and chain labels.
By contrast, Massimiliano Sarti's Italian dialogue partner Giorgio Palmucci, Executive Vice President at TH Resorts, is very optimistic. This group with currently 17 hotels and holiday villages is on an expansion course, has changed its shareholding structure, and is signing lease agreements now. And at destinations, which have not been endangered by Overtourism yet.

Enjoy your reading today!
Yours, Susanne Stauss, Senior Editor

Your opinion? susanne@hospitalityinside.com

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Dear Insiders,
The team of hospitalityInside wishes you a very Happy New Year – with fewer of the burdens and more of the happiness of 2017! 2018 will probably keep us all going in full motion: consolidations, cost pressure, frustration with OTAs, and technology trends in high-speed will give many top managers the feeling of being driven. Who is currently able to note down a strategy until 2020, a question I keep asking myself at the end-of-the-year review of 2017.
The first request merger – Barceló purchases NH – already burst in the first week of January. The nail-biter concerning the future of NH Hotels, which are controlled by Chinese HNA, continues. The Chinese people will not stop travelling in 2018, predicts our columnist Prof Wolfgang Arlt today: Instead of holiday makers, they will become holiday creators and go on discovery journeys.
What does it mean to manage "hordes" of holiday makers? My colleague Hans-Juergen Klesse investigated this topic in an unusual way – in the waste belly of a TUI cruise ship. And he also learned how to save tons of leftover food and money with only a few measures.
The real estate brokers experienced that there is more capital in the market than available hotel properties: For lack of assets, 2017 ended without new transaction records, in Germany and in Austria alike. However, the investors' desire for safe havens seems to be unabated, and this will increase the speed in the hotel real estate world even further in 2018. Also Amsterdam does not "benefit" from the hotel ban: The investors' demand remains undiminished.
One of the world's most famous and richest hotel investors, Prince Alwaleed, had to apparently exchange his "golden jail", the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, for a real prison this week; the drama surrounding the Saudi royal family and the Kingdom Holding seems to be far from over.
In the new year, the waves will continue to be high, socially as well as politically. Therefore, it is important to stay afloat in this wave pool, keep a calm head and to consider well, which wave to ride. Currently, all our vigour and lifeblood is flowing into the realisation of the HITT Think Tank, which we announced before Christmas and which will take place in June in Berlin. And together with colleagues from the trade magazine hotelbau, we will organise a one-day expert symposium about efficiency of space – How can creative hotel concepts be calculated? You will find more information about both events on page 1.

From now on, every Friday is hospitalityInside day again.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor-in-Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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

Dear Insiders,

Today, we end the topical year 2017 with a Kempinski story, which is not that uncommon at the moment: owner and operator are parting ways. In this case, the agreements for the Atlantic Hamburg and the two properties in Koenigstein near Frankfurt will expire in two years' time. Bernold Schroeder, the COO of the luxury hotel group, explained the background and Kempinski's strategy for the near future exclusively to us. Yesterday afternoon, the owner Bernard Gr. Broermann made public that he wants to start off into the future with Marriott's Autograph Collection.

Rethinking and reconsidering are in right now; therefore, the Global Hotel Alliance is presently focusing more on Europe. The association, which is based in Dubai, bundles 35 small and medium-sized hotel groups from all over the world; they share customers and technology via a common loyalty programme. This "sharing" model increases the number of direct bookings.

Why does 25hours have smart, nice and well-informed staff members? Is the lifestyle group doing something special concerning HR? COO Michael End explains the new sensitivity within the company and the training programme. And remains very matter-of-fact concerning the question about the career of youngsters: "Very young of age and a lot of responsibility is difficult".

Varied news about Booking.com's new chatbot, future rooms, Facebook trouble with the German cartel office and much more rounds off today's last edition in 2017.

For many in the hotel industry, a good but strenuous year comes to an end. Booming tourism and affluent investors at least put a smile on the people of Continental Europe. At the same time, many frowns are to be seen: in the back office, costs are rising mercilessly, for HR and technology alike. What does 2018 have in store? Very good that we don't know in advance.

We only know for sure: Expo Real Munich will be back next October. Thus you will find the new terms for our joint stand "World of Hospitality" today on page 1.

The team of HospitalityInside wants to thank all readers, exhibition and event partners for their loyalty and great support in 2017! In 2018, we would like to try out something new again with you, in particular with our new Think Tank, and make all of us part of the innovation in and for the industry. We are going into our 13th year with hospitalityInside.com and continue to keep an unwavering focus on quality, inspired by the encouraging online and offline communications with all of you.

Our next edition will be published on January 12, 2018; the office is open again on January 8.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems & the hospitalityInside team

Follow us on LinkedIn / Also see www.hitt.world

Dear Insiders,
Just before the end of the year, we, HospitalityInside, would like to share some exciting news: HITT – the HospitalityInside Think Tank, the first of its kind and the beginning of a series of think tanks on the subject of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence. It won't be a rigid conference with superficial content, but rather a relaxed though intensive personal talk with around 60 to 80 participants. And all of this on a solar-powered seminar ship in Berlin. And just as inspiring as it is new: Non-hoteliers provide the input and impulse, and we also include our sponsors with their special know-how. What’s more, we ensure "post-event communication" with the aim of establishing a "learning community". SAVE THE DATE: June 10-11, 2018 in Berlin.
Click here for our new  website HITT.world and register for further information. The programme is underway, further details will follow in January. If you’d like to know more, contact us at editor@hospitalityInside.com.

You can also learn more from our correspondents today. They've been following discussions on the fallout from Brexit, the contracting hotel market in France and the brand strategy of Romantik Hotels. All three articles reflect the massive waves washing over the European hotel industry at present.
In other news, France is now moving with greater severity against Airbnb, Pandox and Fattal are increasing their presence in Great Britain and Ireland, and Italy is already leasing hiking trails... In other news, France is now moving with greater severity against Airbnb, Pandox and Fattal are increasing their presence in Great Britain and Ireland, and Italy is already leasing properties along hiking trails... Accor sent Laurent Picheral from Paris back to Munich and from AccorInvest to AccorHotels - why?

Dive into our colourful new edition this week. Next Friday will be the last edition of hospitalityInside.com before the Christmas break.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
This week we have both big and small names alike. Peter Fulton, Group President EMEA, explained Hyatt's European plans to Susanne Stauss: The 42 hotels in Europe are to more than double over the next three years, primarily through new select service brands, Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. But so the chain's 5-star claim isn't forgotten, the luxury lifestyle brand Andaz will also set a high bar and colourful emphasis with culture, music and F&B.
Whether this will be enough to be able to keep up as an established chain in the global race forward? The competition is swelling, and above all getting more creative. "Alternative accommodation will become the new norm!" This was the message Macy Marvel took from London, supporting it with many facts on new brands and trends from the world of microtels, hostels and serviced apartments: Point A, Qbic, Z Hotels, NoCo, Bloc Hotels and Hub by Premier Inn are making brands such as Yotel, citizenM and easyHotels competition. And these groups are not old yet...
Names and concepts push markets: Rosewood Hotels will open its first hotel in Germany, in a Schoerghuber property in Munich, in direct vicinity of the Bayerischer Hof. Rosewood President Radha Arora wants to go right to the top, to the ultra luxury level – and announced further locations in Europe. He is happy – though Bayerische Hausbau as owner isn't quite. The legal dispute that has simmered for years between it and the Bayerischer Hof will not be finally put to rest until February.
This week, the Kempinski name was dismantled from the roof of the Bristol Berlin. The famous hotel will in future only be connected to the group through a distribution and marketing partnership. The owner company, Octavian, wants to continue to invest, but only gradually.
The OTAs can also keep pace with the current tempo in the world of hotel brands. Expedia and TripAdvisor have been working up Germany's IHA with notable court decisions and dubious warning badges for guests. And HRS has provided apartment owners access to Airbnb via its booking platform HRS Destination Solutions. The OTA, based in Cologne, simply adds its sharing economy platform to the existing channel manager lists.
Apart from this, this edition also includes ideas on real estate finance – and also draws attention to persisting uncertainties as regards the implementation of the EU Package Travel Directive in Germany and Austria.
But to finish off, something more motivational today: Pupils at the HLTW13 school in Vienna – all between 14 and 19 years of age – have turned their Theatre Hotels into the biggest school charity event in Austria over the last ten years. In February 2018, so it will be again. This time, the highlight will be a concert by the internationally renowned singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker. hospitalityInside.com supports the school's engagement with a media partnership. More on our Page 1. Till next Friday!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
40 percent more units in the Serviced Apartment segment by 2019 – in Germany alone. Such forecasts are staggering and they are attracting large operators more than ever now, especially hotel groups. Classical hotels and apartments for long-stay guests are quite similar – and will soon be comparable in room size too: The apartments are becoming smaller, counterbalanced, amongst others, by creative service offers and smartly designed public areas. Here, the small operators are up front. Figures and new ideas from the industry event "So!Apart" in Berlin.
Italy's thermal spas have stopped growing. They are old, tired and boring – therefore, they have to undergo a rejuvenating cure themselves. Experts in the country are presently arguing whether these legendary oases of health should focus on medicine or rather on relaxation and well-being in future. Massimiliano Sarti about the steaming-hot discussion in the thermal world.
Vienna and St. Moritz have been turned upside down recently – because the imperial backdrop of Vienna and the majesty of the Swiss Alps have managed to attract wealthy Indians to celebrate their weddings there. Congratulations to all hoteliers: The Indians have booked out entire and in some cases even several hotels at a time, and that for periods of days. Irrespective of this, in Ireland a sort of wedding OTA has been established, an online platform which aims to bring bridal couples together with suitable hoteliers, Facebook marketing included.
From the news: The French Maranatha group with 60 hotels is not a small group in the country, and it is in serious financial trouble. Good to know for everyone who wanted to sign a lease agreement before the end of the year: A growing number of investors are reacting positively to this form of agreement, as experts found out. More hotels are still needed as tourism continues to boom, according to trend figures provided from Pisa and by other market experts. And some good news from Switzerland concerning the winter season: Swiss ski passes are no longer more expensive than Austrian ones. However, this comparison is inappropriate in Fred Fettner's eyes.

Today, the pre-Christmas season begins… Have a good start! If you are still looking for an exceptional present: The entire hotel world presented to you in a box by a hospitalityInside subscription…

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

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Dear Insiders,
Sustainability is a long way off from being a sustainable issue in the hotel industry. As far as hotel real estate owners are concerned, the profit motive still dominates. Hotel operators will have to put pressure on owners in future though. Why not build in an environmentally friendly way based on new models right from the very start? Have you already heard of the "material passport" or the cradle-to-cradle recycling approach? Drees & Sommer – and others – are already betting on it.
The International Tourism Partnership has the objective of pushing sustainability across the sector internationally. The partnership, which includes 14 global chains, focuses on making water consumption and CO2 emissions measurable and is developing programmes focused on combating youth unemployment and on the promotion of human rights. For example, the hotel industry currently accounts for around one percent of global emissions.
For this reason, today’s edition includes no less than three articles on sustainability. In the background, much is in flux, as we experienced on the Expo Real panel, at the 2nd Invesco Real Estate Sustainability Roundtable and from ITP Chairman Wolfgang Neumann. Neumann personally, cares a lot about staff. For this reason, the former Rezidor CEO this week took on a further suitable job: He was appointed Chairman of the Hotel School The Hague.
Back to real estate: The hospitalityInside Investment BAROMETER Autumn 2017 has been evaluated. The current sentiment in the hotel real estate and investment sector remains good. Demand pressure on A locations does not mean that C locations become more attractive though. An initial summary can be found on our Page 1, further details can be found in the magazine, and all who took part have already received the full assessment.
And in our news this week: Barcelo CEO EMEA Raúl Gonzales spoke to us about the takeover offer for NH. Prince Alwaleeds Kingdom Holding has obviously lost the confidence of the banks after his arrest in Saudi Arabia. And hotel groups based in Barcelona have now chosen to move their headquarters out of a restive Catalonia and to Madrid. Airbnb, as business savvy as it is, is now focusing on the sector for disabled travellers; at the same time Morgan Stanley has stated that the platform has reached a saturation threshold.
This and more today in an especially varied edition. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com