Dear Insiders, The official position is still unclear, but Elke Schade will possibly leave Dorint Hotels. The exact reasons behind her possible departure and how the hotel group will move forward with restructuring are still the subject of speculation. Now, the Supervisory Board must convene and decide. The course for the Austrian Arcotel, on the other hand, is clear: Expansion – primarily in Germany. The small chain has streamlined its portfolio and is now fixed its attention on its bigger neighbour. Courageous! The consortium Global Hotel Alliance is also looking to fill gaps. At the moment, the group is very concentrated in Asia. Now, this is to change with new members. The second instalment on our series on the meta-search engine TrustYou today focuses on the advantages for hoteliers.Contrary to popular opinion, staff are still being sought in Dubai and surrounding region. A human resources expert explains why not everyone is welcome though. Also, yesterday Dubai's extremely high debts generated negative headlines!

Dear Insiders, How have you budgeted for 2010? The hoteliers we asked were as slippery as eels when it came to the figures - especially those listed on the stock exchange... At the moment, no-one seems willing to announce results or make concrete statements to the public.Accor doesn't have crystal ball either when it comes to introducing its long-stay brand, Adagio, to Germany. The potential is certainly there.The small group, Abba hotels, are also trying to work out their market chances. And for those finding Europe too small, there's always Africa: The black continent is increasingly being treated as a "secret tip".Two years ago, many hoteliers were full of scepticism when it came to the online evaluation portals. Now, a meta-search engine helps to gain an overview of commentaries from a whole range of websites.And read more about other notable events of the past week….

Dear Insiders, Marriott is slowly making a fool of itself. On Wednesday of this week, it presented its 18th brand. With this, they're even skimming off the private fish from the pond – the independent hotels. Bill Marriott would do better to ensure that he has his existing brands under control. After a few "nebulous" years, Kempinski again seems to have found its line of action. CEO Reto Wittwer and Europe President Gianni van Daalen explain their new focus on expansion and contracts. Behind Russian hotels, there are almost always very rich investors. All the same, the crisis has hit the market hard. The investment conference in St. Petersburg takes a look at the current situation. Europe's stability in the hotel industry is thanks to healthy medium-sized enterprises like the Romantik hotels; they have felt little of the crisis. Good understanding of quality and a strong feeling of responsibility towards the next generation paired with the courage to try new ideas - their recipe for success.A recent health study in Austria and Germany looks at a "healthy" perception of the market in a double sense. Hotels and destinations accord health better chances for the future than classic tourism.These and many more news, read more….

Dear Insiders, Hilton has to prove its patience as well at the moment, as defective steel is delaying the daring construction of two of Hilton's brands at the Airrail Center at Frankfurt Airport. Annoying, but it's too late to back out. The chain needs new flagships for Germany. In Spain, NH displayed its strength this week. For quite a while, it looked as if Hesperia, NH’s competitor, would swallow up NH, and now NH bought Hesperia. We looked into the details of this deal once more. Club Aldiana also thought that bigger presence strengthens power and market position, aiming at more power through more facilities in Austria. But the youngest hotel in the Steiermark region gets its financial power from subsidies. Since last week, Austria’s nerves have been put to the test anyway: Given that German hotels only have to charge 7 instead of 19% of value added tax as from 2010, Europe's leading holiday republic fears growing competition. The crisis is definitely causing a shift in the balance. This also affects relations between operators and investors as summarised in a highly interesting panel at the International Hotel Conference in Venice - highlighting Europe. PKF in Atlanta makes a(n) smug sides blow at the self-glorifying hotel industry. The consultancy has analysed that US hotel managers had ignored all alarm signals of the crisis and continued to blandish their forecast figures. Smile!

Dear Insiders, After many years of pressure, the new German Federal Government will be decreasing the VAT from 19 to 7 percent! This softens the European distortion of competition. German hoteliers should not complain too much. Complaining is relative, as pan-European conferences reveal. At the International Hotel Conference in Venice European hoteliers, consultants and financial experts came together. Their experiences in international markets sometimes sound brutal. The discussions about agreements and financing are the same everywhere. Today and next week, there will be more on this subject.Those who are looking for successful niches might be lucky with health hotels. Nevertheless, even here, development is slower that predicted. Read more about the status quo of the development of medical wellness from the investors' point of view.Concerning Arabella Hospitality Group in Munich, things are on the move again: Wolfgang Neumann, CEO of the hotel group in Munich since April, has set the tone for the future strategy. "Less is more" is the motto; partners and responsible managers will be strengthened.Online giant Expedia harvests global criticism because of its outrageously hard demands concerning Choice Hotels. In the meantime, hoteliers from all over the world encourage Choice to remain tough.

Dear Insiders, The crisis is obviously inspiring investors to demand an increasing say in the operators' business. At least, this is a trend which was apparent in the panel talk about investor-operator relationships at the Expo Real hotel conference. Two other articles deal with the classic form of communication between management and employees today: the Shell oil company and a family-operated hotel from Austria reveal their favourite way of transporting information internally. An interesting comparison between rather dissimilar companies. The American bestseller author Joseph A. Michelli became acquainted with the major ordinations of this communication culture. After his book about Starbucks' coffee culture, he analysed Ritz-Carlton's service culture for one year. A recommendable book, even for industry experts. In our "Small Chains" series, we will introduce Commundo Hotels today, and in our colourful news mix, you will find the latest news from Austria, Switzerland, ITB Asia and about Holiday Inn Express.

Dear Insiders, Between the trade fairs we received an email from Frank Fiskers, CEO of Scandic Hotels, from Stockholm. In the midst of all the talk about investments and yields, he urges us to pause and reflect: in September, Frank participated at the Berlin Marathon and was able to win 20,000 euros with the aid of "his" sponsors. The money will benefit a school in Uganda. "It isn't just about business…", says Fiskers. Thank you for this valuable interjection, Frank!The panel discussions at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" during Expo Real, revolved almost always around money or the relations between moneylenders and money receivers. In this issue, we are also summarising the panel discussions concerning different contractis, conditions and yields after the crisis as well as discussions about missing standards and lacking of complete value chains when realising hotel projects.Peter Verhoeven is not yet able to reveal figures. The new CEO of Accor Germany faced journalists for the first time, at the celebration of the 100,000th Ibis room in Munich on Wednesday. Accor Germany is stepping on the gas again - to expand its economy brands.Dr. Florian Schuetz, Co-Investor of the International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef Bonn, is stepping on it as well. A second campus has been opened in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria and another one!On our "network" page, you will find a photo gallery and comments made by some of the guests who participated in our "Bricks & Brains" networking event during Expo Real. The feedback was very positive and we would like to thank our sponsors and guests for their support and visits!

Dear Insiders, Among the big international trade fairs, Expo Real Munich put up a good fight this year. The commercial real estate fair ending on Wednesday recorded about 21,000 professional visitors, which reflects a decrease by only 15% in comparison to the peak year of 2008. The the total impression we have been observing throughout the entire hospitality industry: quality and rationality are back. On our Network page, you will find a summary of the general mood, detailed reports on the trade fair and the Expo Real hotel conference – partly in this and in the next issue.HospitalityInside and Expo Real launched an exclusive networking event for top-level decision makers and men of action from the world of finance, project development and hotel operators. Regarding the Hospitality Industry Dialogue hotel conference, we will report on the two panel discussions about project development and hotels in municipalities. In addition, the Treugast consultancy published its Investment Ranking for Germany and Austria: several major hotel chains have been downgraded. Read more interesting news - enjoy!

Dear Insiders, The panels and speeches at the Expo Real Munich will certainly bring up new bare figures and hard facts. Hospitality experts will meet at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" hotel conference staged at the Special Real Estate Forum between 10 am and 5 pm. Winfried Holleis, an entrepreneur from Austria, had a bad experience with his engagement in Croatia, but nonetheless, the courageous medium-sized entrepreneur is venturing into a new project in Italy. It sounds like a poor joke, but it probably is not one: allegedly, more than 80% of the planned hotel projects are not realised in the Ukraine. The crisis has also led to decreasing revenue at Worldhotels, but at the same time, members demand a more intense exchange of experience and support in terms of purchasing and IT. The new Managing Director - in the office only for a few days - explains the most recent developments. More interesting news…

Dear Insiders, Yesterday, Hamed El Chiaty, the new owner of the Steigenberger Hotels Group, introduced himself in Frankfurt. A smart, wealthy man. In Berlin, the boom continues. A current real estate study reveals that their value is ten times higher than the value of the projects in 2008! The Americans are suffering heavily from the crisis; therefore Preferred Hotels are introducing a new design brand in the "lower 4-star category". The budget eater energy is being very frequently analysed first nowadays. Do you know the model energy contractors? In addition to that a full spectrum of highly-interesting news. Read more.