Editorial

Dear Insiders,
Europe's first Peninsula hotel will today open in Paris. It's a long awaited milestone for the Hong Kong Chinese Kadoorie family, whose hotel collection consists exclusively of flagships. Peninsula's attention to service and innovativeness has even drawn the respect of Four Seasons and other luxury icons. The Arabian real estate company behind the new Peninsula in Paris, Katara Hospitality, is also making a good name for itself with its long-term strategy for premium assets. In the imposing Parisian hotel, two capital-strong and quality-oriented partners have now come together and they won't rest until the EUR 429 million investment begins to pay off.
Sarah Douag interviewed Nicolas Béliard, the GM for the new hotel, a Frenchman with experience with Peninsula. She also looks again at the hotel's rivals in Paris. Shangria-La, Mandarin Oriental, Le Royal Monceau Raffles and others.
That cost-conscious business travellers can find suitable accommodation is seen with respect to the developing market for serviced apartments. An overview of the projects supplemented by market facts and figures from corresponding studies in Germany.
Vegan is on trend - and hotels have to adjust accordingly. The demand for food without animal products has obviously been recognised by many very quickly, from top hotels to mountain chalets. Fred Fettner has therefore asked a number of Austrian resorts how they face the new culinary challenge.
Alongside Paris, we also look today towards Istanbul, also at the super figures produced by Russian travellers last year. Both markets are now suffering as a result of political turmoil. Marriott and Belmond have posted their quarterly/semi-annual results, Airbnb focuses on business travellers, and at Kempinski renowned GMs are switching between hotels in Berlin, Moscow and Budapest. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Since Monday, Design Hotels has been a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels. The decision was taken by shareholder resolution, the formal procedure is still not completed. For this reason Starwood cannot and doesn't want to answer the following question: What does the chain hope to achieve through the consortium? Christoph Hoffmann, with his 25hours Hotels a member of Design Hotels gives some food for thought…
The devil is in the detail, as is so often the case... This is true for the 11th Revised Edition of USALI. In a guest contribution today, Michael Regner draws attention to the small and often easily missed changes in the accounting standards.
The luxury expert, Claudia Roth, and I wanted to gain a closer insight into societal trends and for adjustments to operations at the first ITB webinar on luxury last week. It's no longer about USPs, but USEs - Unique Selling Emotions, despite the obsession with the Internet. I've collected a few basic thoughts here, and at the end of the article, included a link to the 60-minute YouTube video.
The German Hotel Association has lost in negotiations with the union for adjustment in preparation for the imminent statutory minimum wage in former East Germany.
In the news this week: NH Hotel introduces its NH Collection, Christie + Co sums up the transaction in the Austrian hotel investment market, consumers support Peer-2-Peer platforms and reject regulation, Starwood Hotels and Carlson Rezidor post semi-annual results and, in personnel news, there are some surprising changes among top managers. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
The sheer joy of Germany winning the FIFA Football World Cup in Brazil on Sunday overshadowed everything at the beginning of the week from the "victory flight" by "Fanhansa" and fan celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate, which had been copied in Lego bricks....
Staff at the German national team's hotel Campo Bahia in Brazil posed for photos with the footballers before they left, now they're just waiting for their personal pictures from the German Football Federation. This will be their only keepsakes from the event. During the team's stay, they were expressly forbidden from asking for autographs in the hotel. Just four weeks ago, Stephan Gerhard from Treugast reported on the difficulties faced through the construction and completion of the resort. Today, he describes last weeks' life and work "inside Campo Bahia" - alongside the German winner team.
On what do hoteliers spend money today? Purchasing companies know. Progros, Atlas and Hogast tell us today how the new generation of hoteliers calculates their interior purchases. Nice to hear: The "standard" room is finally passé!
In the European hotel industry, there are currently more than two million vacancies. Now, the "European Hospitality Skills Passport" is to help speed up the application process for prospective employees. HOTREC manager Isabel Sobrino Maté explains how the pass works for employers and employees.
Our fund expert Beatrix Boutonnet has long followed the controversial fund initiator Anno August Jagdfeld. She takes a closer look at the decision from the Higher Regional Court in Cologne which two weeks ago refused to initiate main proceedings against Jagdfeld. The accusations were of fraud and embezzlement in connection with the Fundus Fund 31. She explains why Jadgfeld can't really claim a "first class acquittal".
In other news, hotel real estate transactions came close to record levels last seen in 2006/2007 over the first half of 2014. And according to the EU, tourism across the whole of Europe should continue to blossom this year... All awaits you in today's colourful edition. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Even the quarter final match couldn't keep guests away from attending a talkround on luxury last Friday in the Nassauer Hof Wiesbaden. Once per year, hospitalityInside invites an exclusive circle to open exchange of ideas. Football played on the TV in the background, in the foreground, thoughts were focussed on "finding truffles" in the high-end segment.
Our conversations with the directors of the Dolder Grand and Baur au Lac in Zurich sat well with this. Mark Jacob and Wilhelm Luxem reported on figures, renovation - still sufficient potential to be able to stand apart from the new 5-star competitors on the market.
Another man will leave the world of luxury: Rupert Simoner, Senior Vice President Europe for Kempinski Hotels and GM of the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains in St. Moritz will succeed CEO Dr Andreas Karsten of Vienna International. One thing is odd though: Karsten announced two weeks ago that he was leaving for "private reasons", though he continues to work for VI as a contracted consultant for financing and projects – as well as Managing Director for the VI's German subsidiaries ... now, is he in or out?
Development specialists are always in demand, the hotel real estate market is in a constant state of flux after all, as the talkround of PKF hotelexperts in Munich revealed. At present, the Chinese, the restaurant business and secondary markets are shaking the hotel real estate scene in Germany.
And in the news this week: The biggest Czech player CPI has bought the boutique hotel group Mamaison and therefore ventures a step into Eastern European neighbouring countries. In Austria, the High Court has provided a severe knock-back for airbnb & Co.: Residential real estate may no longer by rented out as holiday home.
You can still secure a place on the joint stand "World of Hospitality" at the Expo Real in October. There are still three months until Europe's leading trade fair for real estate and investments gets underway and the hospitality sector's presence is growing. The joint stand already sees a new participant record today, though still has space for further companies. All users will find the names of co-exhibitors on our Page 1. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Dr Andreas Karsten, CEO of Vienna International, spoke of an initial public offering and a hyper-dynamic expansion during an interview with us just two weeks ago. On Wednesday, the company announced that the CEO is leaving – for "private reasons". But it strikes me that the "for private reasons" wording has very frequently been the case with such news recently …
Florian Werner of the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel in Austria will not let off the hook overnight. The luxury hotelier has found his own strategy for survival in the mountains: The 87 room-hotel in St. Christoph on Arlberg/Austria is now building the highest art and concert hall in Europe 1,800 metres above sea-level! The individual hotelier wangled the interim financing for the 27 million Euro project at the last minute.
From art to music and literature: The young lifestyle hotels are making use of streams, the web and the cloud to connect with their hip guests through music. Ruby, prizeotel, Rilano and Starwood Hotels speak about the right music mix and their own radio stations.
Meanwhile in Austria, some resorts are utilising literary readings as a marketing tool and are inspiring a loyal guest crowd with this. Our author, Fred Fettner, introduces the different strategies surrounding books.
The sober subject of franchise is less buoyant, but very profound: Guest Author Christian Zerr describes the legal scenarios in crisis situations in the 3rd part of his series today.
Annoyingly: In France, the tourist taxes are to be increased to an unbelievable 8 Euro per night. Katara Hospitality has once again been active as an investor in Europe, Kempinski shrinks and grows, TUI and TUI Travel will merge. And there is news from the court about the funds initator Anno August Jagdfeld and the Hotel Adlon Berlin. This and more in today's issue of our magazine.
On Page 1: The successful "loop" luxury travel trade fair has already announced its dates for 2015 and is already accepting registrations. hospitalityInside.com will once again support the event as a media partner. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
The first off-shoot of a promising "lean luxury" concept officially opened in Vienna this week. Ruby is the name. With this, creator Michael Struck takes his budget concept one step further in German-speaking Europe.
The brand complex with an H2 and a Ramada hotel with a total of 536 rooms at Munich Messe is in full operation now. The initial key figures are good. But operator Hospitality Alliance had more news on the new strategy last Friday: Alexander Fitz also announced a new full service-hotel brand, and another 350-room hotel for Munich and more about its own brands.
Warsaw still has lots of space for lots of hotels. Ambitious developers find the Polish market has a few peculiarities of its own though and banks are conservative - the second instalment from the 1st "Spotlight Hotel Investment Poland" conference. This article is accessible to all readers on our Page 1 – hospitalityInside was media partner for this event.
Our two legal articles today are reserved for subscribers: In the first, Christian Zerr explains the options for franchisors in Part 2 of his series on franchise agreements in Germany. In the second, our hospitalityInside expert for online law, Peter Hense, draws hoteliers' attention to a new law which, from June 13, has set out exact information requirements for online bookings and web shops. The devil is in the detail!
In the Méridien Brussels, things are playing out in a similar way to Davos recently. There too the leaseholder is insolvent. In the U.S., HotelTonight just presented its App as the new "door opener" to hotels and their check-in procedures, Oracle is to acquire Micros, Mélia's brand Sol has created new sub-brands. And more in our news. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
The "golden egg" of Davos, the InterContinental Hotel, has become a "surprise egg" since the lessee company filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago. After many insider talks, a bizarre bankruptcy puzzle has emerged. Credit Suisse's funds manager Lucas Meier resigned from his post this week. However, today's article will certainly not be the end of the story.
For Vienna International, the story has just begun: the Austrian hotel group wants to go public. After three years in office, CEO Dr. Andreas Karsten is bursting with self-confidence and pushing the company in all different directions. VI not only wants to own, operate and consult but also appear as franchisee for large international brands.
Against this backdrop, our article "Give and take" sounds rather modest: Dr. Christian Zerr, lawyer at Hogan Lovells, starts a three-part series about franchising today, which commences with the legal framework in Germany and the interests of the contracting parties in the franchise relationship. As management agreements are not very successful in Germany, operators are increasingly pushing franchise agreements. Will the keen interest remain in light of the legal framework?
Change of mood: did you know that wine tastes different when listening to classical music? At a wine degustation, two different worlds of indulgence encountered each other. Hotels are also able to offer their guests something special this way.
Everything is about enjoyment concerning the vouchers offered by a new online portal: however, no one wants anything to do with dubious discount portals. The operator GHM had doubts about the hostile hotel takeover of the Setai Miami in 2012, filed a suit and won against Lehman. Valamar will become the largest hotel group in Croatia after the fusion of several companies. US-based Interstate's appetite for Europe is growing. The global internet administrative organisation ICANN has swallowed a very large chunk: it awarded the hotel industry with the internet domain .hotel this week!
We are able to provide positive news for Europe's leading property and investment trade fair Expo Real in October: for the "World of Hospitality", 18 businesses have confirmed their participation so far; among them new exhibitors such as Azimut Hotels, Letomotel as well as Horwath HTL, and the Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group shows its colours for the first time at the joint stand in Hall C2. Those who want to be included in the official trade show catalogue as co-exhibitors will have to hurry – the application deadline ends in two weeks. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
Kick-off in Brazil! Campo Bahia, the base camp of the German national football team was barely finished for the opening of the FIFA World Cup 2014. The hotel consultant and operator Stephan Gerhard talks about single kitchen pieces, water in the rooms, headstrong employees and traffic chaos.
And once more the World Cup – 2022 in Qatar! It was the main reason for a 20-minute interview with Qatar's head of tourism, Issa Al-Mohannadi – enough to draw some core statements from him and get a bit more of a feel for the Arabian mentality. They are drawing up plans on paper in a professional way, as shown by their tourism strategy 2030. The kick-off in Doha is eight years away – team spirit is what is needed. And that is the actual challenge for the super rich emirate, whose managers have surely never met any hooligans and whose traditional country will be churned up by diggers and picked to pieces by the media ...
Diggers and cranes currently dominate the cityscape of Warsaw. Here, the 1st "Spotlight Hotel Investment Poland" hotel conference took place, attracting nameable investors and operators and thus demonstrating: Poland wants more! Local hoteliers partly criticized a politician in attendance. An initial summary of the status quo on Poland's hotel market can be found on our first page accessible to every user. hospitalityInside acted as a media partner at this event.
Speaking of partners, HR heads should consider themselves partners of their future employees and try to understand their wishes – paying a visit to blogs and social media once in a while. This is where employees relentlessly evaluate their companies. We will present you with tips from two longstanding hotel experts in book format.
And today's news: a report on franchising in Europe, Schoerghuber's hotel losses, Jumeirah's mega cash injection and poor PR performance, and more. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
The chains are becoming increasingly interchangeable – yet at the same time are increasingly falling back on private hotels. Now, Hilton has also launched a "soft brand". Curio does indeed pique one's interest, in particular because the very same interchangeable hotels would fit into this pool as into Marriott's Autograph Collection, Accor's MGallery or into Rezidor's new Quorvus Collection. One can only say to owners of individual hotels here: Accurately compare the fees and check system delivery!
Conchita Wurst, the man with a beard in a dress, recently won the Eurovision Song Contest. As a result, Eurovision will be hosted by Austria next year. Hotel rates are already going up.
The Austrians are very sensitive and progressive when it comes to tourist events and trends. Accordingly, a traditional cure hotel shows how to respond flexibly to changes in the market with a vegan fasting offer. This has brought the industry together with medics and researchers. Their findings have provided many ideas for new concepts in health tourism.
In the second instalment of our Arabia article today, Hilton, Carlson Rezidor and IHG report on their plans for expansion - above all in Saudi Arabia.
The InterConti Davos is insolvent. Only six months after its opening. Its plight is due to the leaseholder and perhaps also a few other parties. Who got their sums wrong? As I see it, this is a case of unbelievable unprofessionalism. This is far from Spain's hoteliers' wishes, they want to be more professional. They demand special regulation for the industry, in particular in view of taxation and costs. In Austria, Red Bull is visible as hotel industry patron, whilst tourist boards all but directly impede financially strong visitors from Scandinavia.
Results from the 2nd "Investment BAROMETER" by hospitalityInside.com and Union Investment are now available. Return considerations are the main driver of investment in hotels at the moment, ahead of diversification and security. The overall sentiment on the hotel real estate market remained good in the 1st quarter. The general trend is described on our Page 1 under "Market Check", subscribers can already read more in the magazine. – The full editorial …

Dear Insiders,
One side of Dubai that always excited me was how it always set trends and realised brave projects, for instance with spectacular architecture. From the flood of information I receive as a journalist, this time it was the futuristic plans for the new ME by Meliá that caught my attention.
From the perspective of hotel developers, the world appears considerably more sober. Dubai has meanwhile been inundated with hotels, now they have to push new regions: Their favourite country in the Middle East is currently Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom, which is difficult to access for non-Muslims, markets itself as the land of milk and honey... Dania Saadi asked regional heads of large hotel chains where they will empty their horns of plenty - and why.
Participation certificates: Do SMEs have a real chance of accessing capital in this way as an alternative to bank loans? Beatrix Boutonnet is sceptical. She provides a comprehensive explanation of the pros and cons of these little "preference shares".
In France, the government has waded into the court case against booking.com.; the Chinese have increased their stake in NH through Italy; Accor CEO Bazin comments on the mega purchase of 97 hotels and the Austrian spa specialist Schletterer is insolvent. And we comment on the rumours surrounding the IHG takeover in another way. – The full editorial …