Dear Insiders,

When the German Dorint Hotels & Resorts makes invitations to a press conference, many journalists respond agitatedly: The hotel group remains intimately bound with the memory of its former majority shareholder Herbert Ebertz, which explains why Dorint often faces much more intense scrutiny than other hotel companies. Not entirely fair. Ebertz has gone and the old burden has been cast away. Yet, journalists less intimate with the industry remain sceptical. Accordingly, Wednesday's conference was a real challenge for Managing Director Elke Schade to explain why, despite slumps, Dorint has reported good operating results.

The problems faced by Dorint today are no different to those of other hotel companies. Almost every company is having to re-evaluate or renegotiate its contracts and both owners and operators remain challenged. Dirk Iserlohe, Managing Director of the Dorint parent company, appeals to this sense of fairness and demands lease reductions for the fourth time. His demand, however, won't come unrecompensed. He's prepared to concede a lot. In spite of all adversity, Iserlohe is fully behind Dorint.

Long-term thinking is also what it's about in Bad Ragaz in Switzerland. There, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz will open Europe's first "Spa Suites Hotel". The classic Grand Hotel has created a design refuge for the lifestyle-conscious younger guests. And with it comes a modified wellbeing concept. The owners have also created a public spa on a 5-star level - a truly unique addition.

The new Kempinski hotels in Slovenia and Croatia are also the essence of luxury; not true of their surroundings. General Managers are also struggling against many smaller everyday problems.

In Moscow, the famed hotels Rossiya and Moskwa have hit the news for illegitimate tenders and missing millions and Saudi Arabia next year expects eight million pilgrims .... This - and more in the smaller news articles.

Pleasant reading!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The rumour about Starwood's interest in the insolvent Golden Tulip Group and the brands and agreements has already been floating around the industry for two weeks now. Admittedly, we also thought solely of Starwood Hotels at first. However, it is Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital, who is in the process of analysing the group via due diligence and aiming to announce whether he wants to take it over or not by next Friday. This coup would increase Sternlicht’s budget and medium-class brand network to more than 1,000 hotels and 82,000 rooms in 40 countries! Barry is pressing ahead once again.

Moreover, several weeks ago, we dealt with the issue of whether a franchise group can become insolvent or not. We asked a legal expert of Hospitality Legal Group for a precise description of all those questions arising in the course of insolvency of property owners, operators or franchisors. Today’s answers, based on German law, although somewhat dry in legal terms, are highly interesting.

In many articles and talks over the past few months, we have heard again and again that hotel groups aim at communicating personally with their employees in Germany. The same phenomenon is showing up in Asia. HR specialists of major hotel chains in Asia described their creative ways of getting the "message" to their employees.

Technology expert Carolin Brauer also sends a message to the Internet portal providers in the final part of our Internet portal series. They have to upgrade their websites and IT systems if they want to benefit from the enormous sales potential of the offers of leisure hotels.

A survey carried out by Munich University about the support quality of IT companies awarded Micros-Fidelio at its best. Our site hospitalitySolutions describes the success story and how Micros-Fidelio managed the optimisation of its after sales service.

A lot to read and learn today! And lots of mixed news.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Figures and evaluations by the experts at the first "Commercial and Hospitality Real Estate" Forum in Paris with regard to hotel financing are hardly encouraging. Prospects for this and next year in the least remain rather gloomy. In addition, once more the industry’s high risk factor strikes back: Banks will probably start listening to the hotel industry only after the remaining sectors have recovered. All that becomes even worse thanks to the fact that many banks have laid off their hotel financing experts. Thus, the hotel industry seems to be back on the horns of the old dilemma. Macy Marvel, professor for hospitality research at the Hotel School Lausanne, summarises the current situation from an international perspective.

Leisure marketing of hotels is reflected neither in the GDS nor in the Internet portals - a true dilemma! The second part of our series on Internet portals explains the reasons for this and provides some suggestions for portal operators to help them take full advantage of this business potential.

Furthermore, we have summarised the most important trend news from the IMEX MICE fair in Frankfurt dealing with budget or trends, and in a spa hotel in Austria, we came across an ingenious idea, which involves guests crawling on the floor... From time to time, we will present you with creative and innovative concepts to enthral guests with under the keyword ”Seen on the road”.

This time, we have lots of news from Switzerland: The hotel industry met at the "Industry Day" and President Brentele made some intense appeals to colleagues. For the first time, there is a "Jahrbuch der Schweizer Hotellerie", full of figures and statistics, and in the course of the conference, people talked about last week’s sale of Oetker’s Park Hotel Vitznau.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

In comparison to bankers, hoteliers are modest creatures. A lot of work for relatively little pay - at least that's the way it is here in Europe. Large European groups this week allow us a quick peek into their pay structures and the CEOs comment on their remuneration. A discussion on fixed and variable pay elements. The pay structures of listed and above all American groups sometimes look more attractive.

For this reason, the supplementary report from the internationally active consultancy firm HVS is all the more interesting: Its experts have listed 31 CEOs of international hospitality companies by their salary in 2008. The bosses of Walt Disney, Marriott and the Morgans Hotel Group earn the most. See the details for yourself!

It's unlikely that anyone outside Portugal has heard of Dr Jorge Armindo Teixeira; at home, however, he's one of the country's most influential businessmen. The dissolution of the joint venture between Accor was for him the start of his own resort and boutique chain. In the background, casino-cash calls the orders. A small chain on which a close watch should be kept.

At first sight, the connection or merger of internet portal providers is anything but obvious. And so Carolin Brauer, Managing Director of Quality Reservations, today throws some light on a pretty dark subject and shows who is behind what name. This article sets the ball rolling on a mini-series of three articles on the subject of internet portals which will uncover why they have up to now responded only to the needs of business travellers.

Important résumés are found among the smaller releases this week. Enjoy surfing!

And have a pleasant week,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Mankind needs visions - and one of them is about to turn into reality: by 2011 at the latest, the first spaceship with six tourists on board will take off for space. The test flights are underway. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space travel company introduced the details and Germany’s first space tourist in Munich this week. Let yourself be taken away to unimaginable dimensions for a moment. But it’s really becoming reality: Now you can book your flights in travel agencies - via the "Accredited Space Agent"! With this in mind, the first "heavenly hotel" might only be a question of time...

In contrast to that, providers of conferences and seminars feel unimaginably bad. The third ”Meeting and Event Barometer” introduced at the IMEX trade fair in Frankfurt this week clearly proves the intensity of the crash the MICE segment experienced in 2008. The only thing still working seem to be extremes - and absolutely personal and flexible service.

People are also the focal point of the franchisor Choice. At this week’s European meeting in Prague, the American chain explained its new main emphasis: increasing the membership of the bonus programme, online marketing and employee training! Choice has turned its back on the master franchising principle as Steve Joyce, Choice’s new CEO, explained. By the way, he left Marriott after 26 years due to diverging views with Bill Marriott, as he has indicated in the meantime.

The management of the German National Tourist Board would probably also like to be heard - by the federal government. As marketing company of Germany as a destination, the German National Tourist Board drew the short straw in financial terms compared to the neighbouring countries of Austria and Switzerland. These are currently investing millions of euros in order to attract German tourists. And vice versa? Unfair competition is in the offing.

Another highlight today: hospitalityInside starts its first "GM weekend". Learn more about the optimisation of search engines and social media like Twitter. Not in a large convention venue but in a small group. Take precise support home! Your instructor will be your colleague - the eCommerce specialist of Marriott International! Your host hotel will be Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps.

Read this and many more news in today’s issue... Enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

"Location" is the keyword of today's issue. Since last week, the otherwise rather sleepy health resort of Bad Ragaz in Switzerland has become a much sought-after event location. The biggest European open air sculpture park is attracting hundreds of thousands of guests.

Locations play a much bigger role in the real estate sector. "The false evaluation of a location is a fatal mistake in the industry," warns Berno-H. Feuring, founder of the Feuring Group in Mainz. The "old hand" of the German(-speaking) real estate scene, whose company has managed more than 400 projects in the past 50 years, describes his view on the current economic crisis and its effects on the real estate market in an interview with hospitalityInside.com.

Exclusiveness of a location is a main sales reason for Kempinski Residences. The Swiss luxury hotel group is in the process of slowly becoming one of the world's important residence providers. However, Kempinski sets great store by the seriousness of its development partner particularly with respect to the interior relationship. In contrast to many other hotel groups, Kempinski insists that its development partner hold a "lifelong" share in the real estate in question.

Concerning human resources, it is also of great importance where the employees are situated that are responsible for applications. Is it possible to outsource recruitment tasks? After all, it is becoming ever more important to find the right employees right from the start. However, reality proves to be a paradox: right now, in difficult times, many companies consider their recruitment specialists a cost factor and are cutting their jobs. Our colleague Baerbel Schwertfeger has drawn a comparison between the hotel sector and other industries.

There are numerous highly interesting facts in our news section today: Hassler aims to become an international hotel chain, the Dolder Zurich is in the red, and Motel One has hit the bull's eye again in terms of location with its fourth budget hotel in Munich, which will be located inside the much sought-after inner city ring....

Have a great week.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Croatia has pushed its luck with Austrian hotel investors: the investors are now threatening the government with withdrawal from the market, if clear structures are not created and promises not kept. Falkensteiner is resentful too - understandably enough, as the success or failure of the mega resort Punta Scala will be decisive for the fate of the entire business.

The investors in Dubai, as already reported last week, have become quieter. As it is no longer a shame to admit the crisis and consultancies are documenting the failure in figures, everybody has become more objective. However, the self-confidence of mainly Arabian chains remains unbroken. The ones that have the money of Sheikh families in the background, are expanding. An overview of selected hotel projects shows the concentration towards the Gulf States.

The Gulf region not only builds new hotels but also architectural monuments. In this respect, Dubai and the likes are good examples showing the influence of architecture on tourism streams. When buildings tell a story, they are also successful. Our correspondent Guy Dittrich reported about this unusual subject.

The two Spanish chains NH and Sol Meliá published their quarterly results this week, and the latest departures from Wyndham have thinned out the management considerably. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Those who drive through Dubai these days, as our Editor in chief Maria Puetz-Willems does, see empty shops and deserted construction sites. The atmosphere is subdued, but not hopeless, as her report shows. Experts expect that the region will recover in the not too distant future, and a bit of humility does not do any harm either. All managers who are desperately trying to get their beds filled in Dubai at present should take the experience from the 2001 crisis to heart. It takes many years to make up major rate concessions again.

Therefore, managers who have experience with crises continue to reduce their costs rather than increase their rates. In doing so, they discover ever new potential for saving. Costs can be reduced not only in terms of goods and material employed, energy and employees, but also in distribution. Those who believe they had to join any possible reservation system in times of crisis may fall flat on their faces. Reservation systems are not emergency instruments, but they want to make money. And they demand increasingly high rates for their services. At least, this was the drift of the conversation at this week's "Pricing and Distribution Day" of HSMA Germany. In addition, there are more and more meta search engines apart from the established reservation systems listing rates of as many providers as possible as well as the cheapest one. But nothing is for free. Hoteliers have to pay them fees per hits or bookings as well.

Our article about search engine optimisation and marketing, reserched by Ralph Langrock is connected with this topics. Read the details!

Those willing to save on costs in housekeeping should not by any means dispense with quality. Two experts in this field analyse frequent mistakes made in the industry and the issue of minimum wages for you.

Do you know the difference between RevPar and TrevPar? The consultant Harald Muecke discusses the advantages and disadvantages when using these two key figures.

Latest news provides some insight into the current situation of the industry and shows trends and raises some hope. Let yourself in for some surprises. Enjoy reading!

Yours, Susanne Stauss
Senior Editor

Your comment? susanne@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The leases are to blame for the poor figures, and the pipeline which is far too big... In an interview with hospitalityInside.com, Rezidor's CFO confirms a dilemma that several hotel groups may be faced with. Revenues are currently facing a rapid decline, but Rezidor needs time to shift from the straining lease agreements to management and franchise. This consequently leads to devaluation among analysts. The "fastest growing hotel company", as the group from Brussels likes to call itself, needs to watch out not to stumble over its own legs.

The results of Q1 2009 were published the week before last. We have summarised the figures of Accor, ArabellaStarwood, Starwood, Marriott, Rezidor and Wyndham for you. They are all negative, but their range spans from "relatively bad" to "dramatically bad". Nonetheless, the results remain relative: 2008 was a record year for everyone - that should not be forgotten. A true-to-life comparison will not be possible before Q4 2009. Thus savings packages currently in the making appear partly exaggerated. As Rezidor's financial head fittingly put it two days ago: "This is the perfect moment to correct the mistakes of the past." So, how much is truly caused by the crisis and how much by mistakes made in the years before? Neither the figures nor the mangers say anything about this.

Today, we will close the post-reporting on the "ITB Hospitality Day" with a summary of the profile of "ecologic guests". Five top experts on this panel showed that an immense potential lies dormant here, but nobody books his holiday based solely on ecological aspects yet. But new online platforms will change this. By the way, our ITB reports will remain accessible for every user. And you should already note down the next hotel conference: Thursday, March 11, 2010.

In Berlin, about 100 alumni of Cornell Hotel Society came together last week in the bright sunshine. We were there as well, enjoying networking in Berlin. Next year, the Cornelians will convene in Paris for the EMEA meeting.

Please also note the following mixed news: Jumeirah enters Frankfurt, Maritim Hotels enters China, and Martin Smura allegedly exited Hotel Adlon Kempinski as proprietor's representative.

Next week, Susanne Stauss will welcome you here, as I will be in Dubai visiting the "Arabian Travel Market", taking a look at what remains of this fairy-tale land.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The "transparent" hotel has come - at least the new hotel in Sweden used a lot of glass.... For the industry, the subject of "employer branding" seems to be less transparent. Hotel managers have often emphasised that they wish to distinguish themselves because of the looming staff shortage - however, for the most part, the employers of other industries have put this into action up until now.

It is always a surprise time and again to learn of those brands which wish to expand in Germany and Europe. Among them are the IBB Hotels, introduced in our series of "small chains" today. The "small" ones are not going to make as big deals as one would expect of residences. A high-quality discussion panel at the fourth hotel conference discussed the difficulties of this business at the "ITB Hospitality Day" in Berlin. Many investors/developers do not realise that residences combined with hotel brands need a clear concept: lifestyle or real estate.

Until last Tuesday, Hilton had a concept for the lifestyle brand Denizen too. Now, the members of the Denizen team have been suspended on suspicion of corporate espionage. Starwood filed a suit against Hilton. A story that could have come straight from the movies! In secret, Falkensteiner and Managing Director Edgar van Ommen have separated, and the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm will have a new General Manager. Dark clouds are looming over the Dolder Grand in Zurich.

Many more interesting stories today! Enjoy reading,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com