Dear Insiders,

Now, we finally know how the beautiful weather came to be that lasted over the course of several weeks during the Soccer World Cup 2006: One great Bavarian stood on St. Peter's Square in Rome and said to the other great Bavarian: "Bene, make sure the weather is good!" The prizewinners of the FIFA Organising Committee revealed this secret at the "Hotelier of the Year" awards on Tuesday evening. More than 1,000 hoteliers and industry representatives gathered here in the best of moods. The tenor of all the conversations: There is a lot to do, many things are in progress, and Germany faces an upswing.

In the meantime, the Austrians are annoyed at the lack of snow. As do the farmers, hoteliers are now demanding loans from the government. The latter has had to cope with a prestige matter over the past few weeks. In a dawn swoop, it waived half of the millions owed by the role-model hotelier family, Rogner, for the Hundertwasser Hotel in Blumau. The Syrian Osmane Aidi, owner of the luxury palace of Le Royal Monceau in Paris, also has debts. He borrowed money from the fund, but now the latter demands the hotel. The consequence: The luxury hotel was closed over night!

The Italian Starhotels carry the brilliance of the stars in their name. They want to expand - there is already a hotel in New York. Will they ever achieve the same dream rates as the "Big Five" in the Big Apple? The turnabout on the Hudson was a surprise: After the real estate loan sharks had caused a room problem in New York, the turnaround is now becoming apparent. The classic hotel room has become a draw for investments again!

In the meantime, hotel rooms are increasingly being dealt with like a product. Russians have now bought the Villa Feltrinelli at Lake Garda - the jewel of Regent founder Robert Burns! Is the 70-year old man withdrawing or did he just want to earn a bit of money once more? LSF Hotels have also cashed in: They sold 59 hotels in France in one go.

Today, we also start to report in detail about the subjects being discussed at the second "ITB Hospitality Day" in March; for the second time hospitalityInside.com will also be the media partner and I myself, I am proud of being allowed to organise the content of this international event. From today, please find details about all discussions here and every Friday under the key word "Event Promotion" - or just click on "more" under the ITB logo on our very first page. 

Please, also have a look at our related site hospitalitySolutions today: There you will find an innovative solution for your daily hotel newspaper. Discover new things and news!

Yes, there is a lot of movement! Have a moving week!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief


Questions? Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The new year 2007 begins just as turbulently as 2006 ended. Already the first hotel properties have changed hands, operators have been replaced, consortia formed. The changes taking place in the hotel industry, from service provider to puppet of a powerful real estate/investor based industry, continue uninterrupted. The game has long since not only been restricted to its old and well known partners. New operators are shooting up like daffodils in spring, new destinations are being found or stand under a new star. Our comprehensive look back at 2006 in this edition of hospitalityInside.com shows exactly which paths have been taken by the international hospitality industry and which are likely to be continued along, at least for the time being.

Even in Europe it's been anything but dull and thus it's our home continent that will receive our attention in this, the first edition of hospitalityInside.com for 2007. The expansion of the EU and the rapidly growing interest of international real estate developers in destinations between the Mediterranean and Baltic seas provide a wide subject spectrum. Our correspondent Mike Rogers took a look at the booming market for Bulgarian leisure properties and sees hot opportunities. Timesharing, which hasn`t been able to gain as steady a foothold in Europe as had been hoped, is attributed with new impetus in Andreas Luzio's interview with the CEO of the OTE, Anthony Arke. Press announcements on new, border breaking consortia such as the German Achat Hotels with the Swiss Sorell Group, the introduction of Germany's Sinn Hotels and curricula from ArabellaStarwood show that even "Good Old Europe" still has enough potential for change.

International trends determined by Forecast by American Express make further hope of new price increases for 2007. As global player, the Berlin Tourist Fair also announced plans for expanding into Singapore.

In the midst of these changes, trends and rolling heads, the impression left by recent events in Switzerland is certainly to be any one left on readers of 1001 nights. There at the mundane Swiss ski resort of St Moritz, a hotel owner from the old school with no direct successor and not out to make the quick Swiss Franc, has bequeathed that after his death the life's work of his family is to be continued in the same vein. The owner of the legendary Badrutt's Palace announced his plans over Christmas. How this is to be done, should leave one or other of the successful shareholder orientated readers wondering.

The team here at hospitalityInside.com wishes pleasant reading and above all a happy, successful and healthy 2007!

Yours, Susanne Stauss
Senior Editor


Questions? susanne@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

We provided you with hospitality news and background knowledge this year 51 times and we informed you 5 times more quickly than any other medium with our "Breaking News". We, the editorial and publishing staff, look back on 12 fast-moving months. hospitalityInside.com has developed further in a positive way. In the meantime, our readers can be found in 15 countries, and the editorial team of freelancers now has 16 heads in seven countries.

In our second year, the hospitality as well as the media industry recognises us ever more. hospitalityInside.com has been quoted in several different media again and again, our collaboration with the Focus economic magazine with respect to the ranking of the "550 best hotels of the world" in September brought a significant boost in image and lots of logins. The interest in hospitalityInside.com coming from abroad has also increased considerably. In November, we switched to another server to do our daily online work and make your surfing more comfortable.

The hotel and tourism industry as well as the world of investments are looking for reliable content. That is what we experienced in 2006 – due to many request concerning links, partnerships and trade fair collaboration. We have only realised a few of them. New alliances have to be thought out well for the benefit of both sides.

The year started with hospitalityInside.com becoming a media partner of the first ITB hotel congress "ITB Hospitality Day", which made me responsible for the content and for hosting the day. This premiere was a complete success – for the Berlin trade fair and for us, so that we are proud to design the next ITB hotel congress in 2007. In spring, we became partners of Cornell University/Center of Hospitality Research. This honourable offer was the culmination of a four-day trip to Cornell, where I was invited to participate in a discussion about travel trends as the only European journalist. Our exchange of thoughts and information has already proven to be highly fruitful. We want to expand this new professional friendship in the next year, especially with the Cornell German Chapter, which accepted us in a very friendly manner.

Not only was this autumn dominated by further target group-oriented media partnerships with the International Hotel Conference in Rome, with design hotels on the occasion of their "Future Forum" in Vienna, and with Heuer-Dialog at the leisure real estate congress in Munich, but also by further developing our network.

Therefore, a second platform under the umbrella of hospitalityInside has been provided since October. It is a window of solutions and innovation for hoteliers – everything prepared in an informative and compact way. This represents a new approach in the media. Providers do not present their solutions in the form of brief and stiff advertisements, but as explanatory, content-oriented texts including links and e-mail contacts. Here, you can also expect understandable first-hand information. That is why we decided to call this information offer "hospitalitySolutions.info".

In 2007, the editorial and commercial information will be joined by the third column – "hospitalityShop.biz" – which will further expand the range of information offered by hospitalityInside GmbH. The shop will concentrate on information about the hospitality industry from a research point of view.

We expect another exciting year in which we shall extend a number of new things and, of course, refine those that already exist. Despite this, we know that there is a demand for quality media in the second year of our existence. Stay with us, but please speak openly about critical things. We are a young medium with an open ear for you. Satisfied readers are the best ambassadors – that is why we are happy if you would recommend us to your colleagues and customers.

In the name of the publishing house and the entire editorial staff, I would like to say thank you very much, dear Insiders, for your loyalty and goodwill in 2006.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


The next issue of hospitalityInside.com will be published on January 12, 2007.

Dear Insider,

It was the adhoc announcement of a bank that revealed the Interhotel Group was set to sell its 14 hotels and operating companies. The company is "healthy" now. Yet the ink is still not dry: The German Federal Cartel Office has also taken an interest. Top news at the end of the week.

And we remain right at the forefront of the action: This afternoon we'll report directly from Frankfurt on the news from the ArabellaSheraton/Starwood press conference. After one full year in office, Arabella Holding's Managing Director Carsten Rath reveals details of his long expected first "deal". For the first time, the 40 year old manager will be measured against his promises. And the industry will be paying attention.

Our Swiss colleague, Silvia Pfenniger, interviewed a fellow Swiss national this week: Kurt Ritter. He was as always - positive and personal.

A very personal thanks came from the owner of Tschuggen Hotels, Ursula Bechtolsheimer, last weekend as her staff at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arose saw through the monumental opening of its spa. Visibly relieved that the mega investment of 22 million Euros had finally been implemented, she was much too rash in pushing the start button. The example is a clear one: There are still owners who are business orientated and who take their staff - above all management with their visions - very seriously. With their targeted investments the Tschuggen Hotel Group is rapidly catching up on the market.

Our articles today also provide matter for philosophical discussion under the motto "capital is good, but alone it's not enough..." Creativity and the feeling for the market and people are essential ingredients of success.

In addition there's also news from the Adlon Berlin, from the Leading Residences, from Sabre and Worldspan, from Germany and Singapore.

A pleasant week! Christmas is just around the corner - hospitalityInside.com will appear as usual next week, will however then take a two week break.

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Everybody feels the flood of customer cards when holding their own wallet: If the plastic card still fits in, you will likely "score" at this company. And if your wallet is getting too bulky, the card won`t be included. But how to enter the customers' minds? Without reconsidering, the hotel industry has followed the trend believing in the same success as the airlines. Today, experts deny that bonus cards are everything but suitable for all hotel segments - and they are far from being economical. All hotels offer the same, there are no differences. It is the beginning of the end of CRM programmes. Our focus today.

The recently founded "Healing Hotels" are riding the health wave. This supposed cooperative consists of business-eager consultants. The fact that an English term was chosen  may emphasise their claim to be an international company. But how to translate "healing" into German? The concept of "to heal" remains a purely medical term in Germany. Moreover, the group's list of criteria gives reason to doubt the truth of it all...

It all depends on differentiation, as becomes obvious in Berlin: The two leading and definitely competing business clubs in the federal capital draw a clear dividing line between themselves as a  "business" and "social" club. Neither said anything about their members. Nevertheless: You definitely need small change to be admitted to these circles. We sensed that there are next to no hoteliers among the elite of representatives from the fields of economy, politics and media. Consequently, only the two hotels positioned in the vicinity of the China Club and Berlin Capital Club reap the benefits from them.

Enjoy the coming Christmas parties and "Christmas cookie gossip"! Just make sure that you don't find yourself in the same situation as the General Manager of the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich: Santa Claus paid him a visit on St. Nicholas' Day together with Swiss TV camera team. Live on camera - and later broadcast on prime time television - Santa Claus and his little helpers confronted the clearly surprised Thomas Schmid with accusations from the trade union UNIA that Dolder rewards German construction workers with less than the minimum wage! And that, when everyone knows that the restructuring works at Dolder stand at 600 million Swiss Francs! Schmid's excuse that this was a matter for the construction firm, was hardly convincing...

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Ideas? maria@hospitalityInside.com

 

Dear Insiders,

We use the internet as a way of regularly supplying reliable information - like many others as well. However not all information found on the internet is as reliable as it may seem. Ever increasingly the internet is also being used as a tool for manipulation. Media experts are already warning of systematic manipulation through  faked internet postings of consumer opinions or ratings by private individuals.

A dangerous trend is taking form: manipulating the decision to buy though bogus consumer ratings, forged experience reports and fraudulent recommendations on blogs and other consumer forums. The originators of such faked entries generally remain anonymous and any loss of credibility rests solely with the internet. Our reporter, Baerbel Schwertfeger shows that "Web 2.0", the new interactive internet portal, has already reached the travel industry.

Today we stand up to our reputation as European and international magazine particularly well. This winter in Austria sees the opening of more chalet villages than hotels, in Dubai the first tenant quarter has sprouted up through the area for the Festival City, and in Spain Alma - the new owner of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Berlin - announces its plans for its boutique hotels.

An unusual contribution this week looks at the Arctic explorer Mike Horn: The adventurer and conqueror of North Pole has a message for managers! I have seldom heard such a clear lecture on management principals as the explorer's speech this week in Bad Ragaz. His book - our reading suggestion - would certainly make a useful addition under any manager's Christmas tree.

The smaller announcements cover many other trends. One is worth a particularly close read in today's difficult times of capital procurement: The public offering of Rezidor. The share offer was signed nine times over! In Stockholm the champagne corks should already be popping, in Brussels Kurt Ritter's favourite Rothschild be open.

We wish you a good start into a hopefully busy December,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Remarks, wishes? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Berlin's newest 5 star hotel, the Rocco Forte Hotel de Rome, is finally able to shine in the glory for which it was destined. And that not entirely unduly: Yet the British won't be leaving London just yet: The society sparkle of the English capital that Sir Rocco is so used to with its well attended lunches and tea times will not be seen at dumping price-Berlin.

Late at night, gathered around their last glass of wine after dinner, branch insiders know: "This hotel won't turn up a ROI". "Nice, but not possible." "Just one restaurant in which occupancy stood at a mere 30 percent in the first couple of weeks, that won't last long." The new General Manager Thies Sponholz was also the source of a little commotion. As colleagues in Berlin reported the next day, he managed to free himself from obviously still existing contractual obligations as Managing Director of a medical Park in Bad Wiessee. The 37 year old must have realised that Rocco Forte and Berlin look much better on a CV than some no-name hotel in Bavaria.

Now, the second Rocco Forte has opened. The third in Munich is to follow, if all goes to plan in July 2007. But the more Forte managers we spoke to, the more varied the dates became. Sir Rocco will know: My impression is: In terms of style and concept, the hotels are very well tailored to their local market, but the English overestimate their position and influence in the German market. I remain sceptical despite wishing new ideas and new hoteliers in Germany well. In particular I wish Berlin and Sir Rocco Forte all the best - time will tell, and without a doubt we'll soon have to review our first impressions printed here today.

In Wiesbaden meanwhile, the Nassauer Hof is thinking about its future. Choice Hotels Europe, on the other hand, have already made their decision. The European, little known Luxury Lifestyle Hotels see their future in the USA, the German City Partner Hotels in Eastern Europe. And the intellectual property court in Alicante has set a new precedent in the interpretation and use of the word "Spa" in brand names. Above all, their last judgement will have repercussions for the future.

Lots to be read in the large articles then, and more exciting news in the small news. And all for you!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Remarks? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Is Starwood Hotels delirious? They are now looking for a "Chief Beer Officer"! As all Four Points Hotels are to serve the best beers worldwide in future, they are in desperate need of an experienced master brewer. To put it in American terms: a CBO! However, he will not take his place at the board table - he will start as a consultant in January, and will work only part-time....

Apart from this, the news of the week was not that "full of beer": the Spanish NH Hoteles are about to take over the Italian Jolly Hotels and thus become the biggest group in Italy. This also corresponds to NH's urge to expand further in Germany. In Switzerland, Luitpold von Finck from Germany wants to take over all shares of Moevenpick-Holding, but there would be no consequences for the hotel business. After Raffles and Four Seasons, it seems to be Moevenpick's term now. This also means: Should more hotel groups be delisted, a comparison of figures and performances between hotel groups will become very difficult in future.

Today, we take a close look at Marriott's European Courtyard concept and learn: the medium-class brand fits exactly between 3 and 4 stars, and in this way competes with full-service hotels despite its limited service. The presentation in Paris, however, showed the entire dimension. But, Courtyard obviously has a tough competitor as our small comparing table shows.

Geographically, our focus will be the inconspicuous island of Madeira today. But even their, we come across hotel news. The issue of merchandising is often neglected in hotels. But it comes with huge revenue chances - as you can read. And finally, the Americans confront us with the spa trends of next year. Some of them might also hit our market here! And last but not least - further news!

Have a great week,
yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insider,

A single topic this week dominates the majority of this edition: Benchmarking! In the flurry of congresses and conferences of recent weeks, we've all gone home with our heads full of figures. And at least at some point the thought is bound to cross everyone's mind that the only statistics capable of being trusted at all are the ones you fiddle yourself. The secrecy of large bench markers like Deloitte London and MKG Paris, on the other hand, only generates further mistrust: Transparency doesn't seem to be a priority for the supposed market leaders. Competitor The Bench in London showed itself to be much more willing to share in its expertise and the small and new providers are always forthcoming.

Exactly how credible the benchmark systems are, dear Insider, has to be decided by you and you alone. And if at the end, all of this still leaves a bitter aftertaste, you can still place hopes in the new and fresh now springing up both internationally as well as nationally to once again bring new life to the scene. Competition even here breeds more business. I'm sure that we'll come back to the topic after this introduction and will take a closer look at its application and success in practice. If today you can already point to any weaknesses of benchmarking - don't hesitate to write to us! The button "E-Mail to the author" is to be found at the bottom of each article.

Because the topic of benchmarking is become increasingly important, the largest part of this week's edition is dedicated to exactly this. The introduction should be a little more than just quick and painless, the articles you find should also allow you to delve a little deeper into the themes and problems. I hope this fits with your expectations?

On Monday the announced sale of the Four Seasons chain was even worth a "Breaking News" article for the midnight hour. Read today Atef Mankarios' impression from the USA. The former Chairman of Rosewood Hotels and from St. Regis works today as consultant for luxury hotels and luxury investors and hits the nail on the head when he says: "Perhaps one day we'll once again have hoteliers that lead hotel companies!"

I hope that this week too, we meet the demands of your media benchmark..

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Benchmark remarks? maria@hospitalityInside.com