Editorial

Dear Insiders, Helmut Kohl was enjoying a piece of apfelstrudel when Michel Maass, Chairman of Kempinski, told him about the imminent sale of the company in1992… Next week, Michel Maass turns 70; he was the “silent number two” next to Karl Theodor Walterspiel. He also dedicated his life to Kempinski and he has now revealed details hardly known up to this time.Foreigners are still highly interested in German hotel groups today and even more so in German hotel real estate, as shown by the analysis of Christie+Co and CBRE Hotels. The two authors Peter Hinze and Susanne Stauss have visited Thailand in the past few months talking with top city hoteliers about the impact the upheavals have had on the country. The good news: tourism is recovering.Yesterday, Accor presented its – absolutely positive – revenue figures for 2010. A Kempinski manager privately invested in the alpine village Almdorf Seinerzeit. There are further staff issues and everybody's Berlin schedule is already attracting increasing attention: Cornell and EHL are inviting their alumni to a reception and a breakfast. - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, We wish each of you great success in the New Year! And we hope to contribute further with precise information, analyses and trend tips. Today, our editorial experts – renowned consultants from Germany, England and the USA – have a look back and forward. Their statements reflect the spectrum of the industry challenges. Moreover, two trend research institutes have caught the future in headlines. A statistic proves that national and European hotel groups expanded in Europe in the last decade faster than global players. Nevertheless, Europe firmly remains interesting: Now, after the acquisition of Nikko and JAL Hotels, even the Japanese Okura Hotels have this part of the world in their strategic focus. Social media is booming, but the US-stock market supervision and opinion polls are also slowly getting a feel for the negative sides of Facebook and the like. Of course, there are also new personality news in the New Year and for the members of the Historic Hotels of Europe, there is anticipation: The consortium will come together for its first unlimited meeting in Saint Moritz. hospitalityInside will be present.Should you be interested in the new hospitalityInside projects, have a look to the starter page of our website. There, you will find more information and the deadlines. - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, After a turbulent 12 months, our impression is that 2010 has for many hotels been much more difficult than expected... We will give more details here in our annual review 2010 in January. Today, in our last edition of 2010, Munich-based Consultant Dr Joerg Frehse takes a critical look at movements on the investment markets, primarily on the Anglo-Americanisation…In contrast, we also bring you some lighter reading – on hotel shops. The tills are ringing towards Christmas. The spectrum of these shops meanwhile reaches from large boutiques to lifestyle shops with milk bars and the small stores. In early 2011, the ITB and thus the 6th "ITB Hospitality Day" will take place. hospitalityInside will be exclusive media partner for the 6th time and will organise topics and participants – the programme and first guests are already fixed. In April, we will also be at the "World Tourism Forum" in Lucerne as media partner…About Solutions today: Our partner hotelbau interviewed Hans Rudolf Woehrl for the January issue. Following retail and airline business, he steps into the hotel industry now. For us too, a dynamic year is drawing to a close. We are grateful for the recognition and respect we have meanwhile gained within the industry and which is an incentive for the entire hospitalityInside team to continue to be there for you every Friday also in 2011… The new year will also bring new activities: Have a look at our first page, at the announcements about the 1st ITB hospitalityInside Special and the details of the 1st hospitality joint stand at Expo Real 2011! I would like to say a heartfelt thank you here to all our readers, friends and supporters, as well as to our staff here in Augsburg as well as to our freelancers in other editorial offices, to our editorial experts and to our translators – and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Chains are not the only ones that come up with new brands, private hoteliers like Harald Ultsch from Innsbruck also have “ideas for new systems”, create new brands and even hire top designers such as Philippe Starck. TUI also created two new hotel brands for 2011. Also, tour operators are currently competing for exclusivity and target groups – for me, these are simply two new euphemisms for increased cutthroat competition. Today, three spa experts take a look at the status quo of spa development about 10 years after the big boom.And last but not least we take a look back on 75 years of Swiss tourism statistics, a piece of Swiss history. Of course, there is also lots of other interesting news.And how do you create synergies from sustainability, design and guest orientation? On our “Solutions” microsite, Siemens Hospitality shows how hoteliers can put their product in perspective and create an atmosphere of well-being and even save energy in doing so. Immerse yourself in the new hotel LED world.We won’t say goodbye yet for the Christmas holiday, as hospitalityInside will be appearing on your desktop next Friday one more time… - To the full editorial.

Dear Insiders, A little scepticism remains, though the outlook for 2011 is good: Investors are again buying hotels. Our colleague Beatrix Boutonnet provides a snapshot of the current state of play. Matthias Buchholz too, Consultant with Kohl & Partner in Vienna, draws his own conclusions – on the development of health tourism: Expectations have up to now not been fulfilled! For this reason, he provides reason for thought with five theses. Managers are dismissed or go "voluntarily". The reasons for this often include more than physical exhaustion. Franz Josef Koenig, an expert for System Management and the former Accor Manager Marc Hildebrand describe an industry that has lost its balance. The victims? Chain hotel managers. Helmuth Herfurth has left a chain in order to set up his own group: Advena Hotels. Nevertheless, he's still proud in the knowledge that it was Hyatt that recognised his skills. A Managing Director will presumably resign from Dorint Hotels today, and Leading Hotels present their new focus… - To the full editorial.

Dear Insiders, With every new CEO, a new future begins – also for Steigenberger. Arco Buijs, who I met this week, made a very confident and competent impression. He gave a preview of Steigenberger's future. By contrast, owner Hamed El Chiaty grants little insight into his future planning – up to now he has not come out in public with his commitment to Steigenberger.Because Thomas Althoff finds it more difficult to expand with his 5-star gourmet hotels than with the 4-star business hotels, he has now modified his Ameron brand...Google is taking the world by storm with many "trailblazing" innovations – with respect to Google Streetview, though, there's hardly been a ripple in the industry.The "bed tax" will be a headache in future too; creative people at the recent travel managers' meeting relabelled it "mattress toll". It sounds funny but is a politicians' revenge on the back of an entire industry.Marco Nussbaum is already practising the future: He lives social media every day. Now, in order to inspire and transfer interest to his colleagues, he will report regularly - and exclusively for hospitalityInside.com - on short episodes from his day-to-day on the Web… He greets you today with "Good Morning, Social Media!" - To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Hilton Worldwide now believes in the announced opening date of its two Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn hotels at Frankfurt Airport. In July 2011, the construction disaster of the “Airrail Center” on top of the ICE train station is finally to come to an end. One of our articles thus deals with just this particular construction disaster while another one covers Hilton Hotels. Olivier Harnisch, VP Operations, talks about the Squaire’s “brand package”, Hilton’s new preference for cluster hotels and synergies. A current survey about hotels among individual travellers shows that 3-star hotels are the most wanted category of all - and that hotels are almost exclusively picked and booked online.Time and again, it's all about synergies just as with the Asian hotel groups: They are slowly feeling their way forward from East to West, hoping for synergies. Susanne Stauss asked the big Asian names about their current state of expansion. Furthermore, there are exciting staff developments at the Capella Hotel at Lake Woerther as well as at Steigenberger and Leading Hotels. - To the full editorial...

Dear Insiders, Today, franchising is our main subject with three contributions. We are accessing this matter more deeply by means of a survey conducted among large franchisors and franchisees; banks, consultants and auditors have also commented on this agreement and relationship pattern. The statements made by the "big names".Two weeks ago, German BBG Consulting published a critical chapter on the subject of costs and benefits of franchising – including a calculation example. We asked Martin Bowen, Franchise Developer at IHG, to comment on the consultants' contribution. The third focus contribution today describes how franchising "feels" from the guest's perspective.Last but not least, a subject, which should be interesting to all: how much are Twitter and other social media being used at events? A study shows the result.Moreover: the Louvre Group and Warimpex are finally launching their budget hotels, the Austrians are getting rid of their trade fairs, and a personnel shuffle is taking place among Dorint's general managers… - The full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Over 1,000 Berliners booked a hotel in their own city last week. The creative campaign by Berlin Tourism Marketing was introduced to boost "domestic tourism". On a global perspective, however, Europe will still find it difficult to achieve the record figures posted before the crisis. Trends from the WTM in London and the Pisa Convention of tourism experts.There is still scepticism with regard to the unexpectedly dynamic recovery of the tourism sector. The situation in the real estate and hotel market remains volatile!Just how difficult it can be to earn money is illustrated in a further article on the marketing of Vacation Ownership models. Anyone looking to step into this sales machine must be able to withstand pressure. By contrast, one particularly circumspect entrepreneur from the Bavarian Forest doesn't wish to allow any pressure to build up at all. From its very inception, he's been keen to have the Bio Kids' Resort planned and constructed with regard for sustainability. And of course, like every week, there's also a range of interesting news articles.- To the full editorial…

Dear Insiders, Dubai is finally becoming an affordable destination. And since the start of the crisis, more and more developers and operators have dedicated themselves to the budget and mid-class segment. The segment is growing. Today, each hotel category tries to participate in the business of their counterparts - this is what Asia’s luxury MICE hotels have learnt. A panel discussion at the ITB Asia mentioned some findings, while further talks explain the new heyday of Singapore.Our “Small chains” series aims at drawing attention to some less well-known names. In complete silence, some highly successful groups are on the rise, such as Star Inn. Travel Charme belongs to the rather modest players on the German-speaking resort hotel market. I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of its new hotel in Kleinwalsertal, Austria. The Ifen Hotel, a true hotel legend, has been reborn. Sustainable success results from details, not from standardization.The dismissal of Gilles Pélisson, CEO of Accor was already rumored in Paris this summer. But the true reason behind his departure is hard to find out. Furthermore our „Solutions“ Partner hotelbau presents the new mega project at the Frankfurt airport, where operator Hilton will occupy two hotels. - To the full editorial…