Editorial

Dear Insiders,

The telephone is ringing off the hook, once again a flood of e-mails repeatedly clogs your inbox: unmistakable symptoms of the upcoming ITB in Berlin. The countdown for the world's biggest tourism fair has begun. If you're looking for a quick transfer from the airport: Germanwings is offering a helicopter shuttle service. Whatever happens, please be on time for the second "Hospitality Day": For the second time the editorial team at hospitalityInside.com has defined the contents of this hotel congress and has secured top international guests to discussions. We'll see you there then at 10:30 in hall 7.1a, room New York! Incidentally admission to the discussion rounds is free of charge to all ITB visitors. More in our "Event Promotion" column. - While I will moderate the event, our Managing Director Michael Willems will be at your disposal at the presentation desk in the auditorium.

Health and wellness will also not come too short at this year's ITB. For us, this has been a topic the whole year through. A trend study from the USA affirms the gut feeling of lots of hoteliers here: Wellness can increase RevPar, but not necessarily the net result. The subject of health is being discussed in Switzerland quite differently of late. With its first "Forum fuer Gesundheit" the Grand Hotels Bad Ragaz touched on a subject that many companies - amongst them hotel companies - have only perceived in passing: keeping their staff healthy and encouraging their health. The experts demonstrated that a great deal can be achieved using few means. The hotel industry talks a lot about "human resources" and "human capital" these days. The question is: When will the talk be put into action?

Trends are appropriate to two other topics today: Firstly, there's the high-tech irritations and high-tech gadgets in hotels - in terms of the latter, the Americans have a couple of years on us; secondly we describe a hotel with eight rooms offering luxury only of first class standard. Niche offers aren't on the cards here.

Back to the mainstream, however, we bring you the year end results from InterConti. Turnover and operative profit increased in 2006. This and much more in the news section.

Please, also look at hospitalitySOLUTIONS: Today, Micros-Fidelio presents its brand new offer! Should you need any relaxation after ITB, feel inspired by our "travel tipp for hoteliers".

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


Questions? Comments? Any wishes for ITB? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

When the important radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich asked me for a statement on "guest quotas" of hotels this week, I knew right away: attention - otherwise, this industry will be brandmarked once again. The reason: Kitzbuehel wanted to limit the number of guests from Russia. The turmoil in Austria and Russia was inevitable.

Our correspondent Fred Fettner dug deep and reports on the issue in an absolute objective way. Russians are welcome everywhere in Austria. In contrast to other nationalities, they do not just browse - they also buy! In the meantime, half the world is laughing at a tourist who put her foot in her mouth. Despite this, however, the incident should serve to make hoteliers more sensitive. In a snap, these valuable target groups are gone again! In addition, the loss of image is greater than the material loss.

Speaking of image: The image of InterConti group in Germany could use some polishing. After numerous announcements, the expansion of the Express budget brand finally seems to be picking up. Moreover, hospitalityInside.com finally managed to speak with a person who knows the ins and outs - as communication is definitely not one of InterConti's strengths.

However, the exchange among Cornell graduates is running perfectly! Eighty of the Cornell Hotel Society met at the "European Meeting" in Cairo two weeks ago - and, as Cornell media partner, hospitalityInside.com went along as well. Of course, this was a perfect occasion to talk with the hosting group of Sonesta and with Egyptian hotel representatives about the development of hotels in the cities as well as in the countryside.

Further articles touch the pros and cons of a new system for conference bookings in the internet; a German hotel chain will start its first patient hotel, Rezidor and Ramada Germany published their annual reports 2006, and the Swiss hotel association complains about its handicaps in the European market .... Read this and more. Enjoy surfing,

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief


Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Amongst the investment models available in the real estate branch, a positive trend for the hotels is also making itself felt - even if not as strongly as in other types of property. Funds analyst Stefan Loipfinger presented his market analysis last week; we take a look at his findings as to the hotels. The first large hotel chains are now publishing their business figures for 2006; we're keeping a watchful eye out.

I, myself, have just returned from the Cornell European Chapter Meeting in Cairo and experienced true multi-culture in all its facets - chaos in the 20 million strong city and a positive feeling amongst hoteliers coming from all over Europe to share their experiences. All the more interesting it is then to see how generally accepted ideas in Europe meet with different opinions elsewhere - as one also sees with regard to the discussions surrounding Austria's tourism fair, the ACTB, with every country and every region fighting for its own advantage.

Whilst Relais & Châteaux Chairman Jaume Tàpies describes it as "small revolution", because he has actively spoken to new potential members in Asia, hotel operators know no such bounds: Whether mini-group like Fleming's or established chain such as Vienna International, their expansion plans are endless.

Lots of useful information is today to be found in the columns on Law, Human Resources and MICE, and interesting news in the rest...

By the way, a successor for the GM of the Kempinski Heiligendamm is still being sought. The Fundus decision to dismiss GM Torsten Dressler four months ahead of the G8 summit makes it no easier for Fundus or Kempinski. The word now is that Fundus wants to appoint an "external" GM. Heiligendamm could become the testing stone of the partnership.

I wish you all an endlessly good week!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief


Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Taking an in depth look behind the scenes at the World Economic Forum in Davos, our correspondent Silvia Pfenniger is up close with hoteliers reporting on the improvisation talent needed and the economic ramifications of hosting such an event in small town Switzerland.

That the entire world focuses its attention on the Swiss mountain town, is not only good news for the region, but for the entire national economy. Long term success on the scale predicted in Davos, however, is hardly likely to be seen after the one off G8 summit in the North German town of Heiligendamm. Nevertheless, the hotel and region would certainly be well advised, to at least stay out of the negative press.

Yet all else is the case: The HypoVereinsbank has only recently cancelled its credit agreements with the resort and already the next set of bad tidings loom: GM Torsten Dressler is set to leave the hotel in a gesture of acceptance of his - supposed? - responsibility for struggling occupancy figures. The pressure on Heiligendamm grows by the day. Perhaps resort initiator Anno August Jagdfeld together with Kempinski should look amongst the stress resistant hoteliers in Davos for Dressler's successor.

The background for the repeated finance talks surrounding Heiligendamm is discussed in an article by our correspondent Karin Krentz in this edition. In her article, she also takes an in depth look at financial difficulties facing Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, home of Heiligendamm.

Whereas in Davos, many of the guests arrive in private jets, only then to be confronted with a shortage in "parking spaces", guests at WesternOriental will be able to arrive without such parking worries. A consortium with JetAlliance makes it possible. Further interesting announcements and articles on topical subjects, health, human resources and research complete this week's edition of hospitalityInside.com.

Full of new ideas and tips for practice. Then one thing is certain: Our industry is anything but threatened with decline. Recent market research carried out by Deloitte and Jones Lang La Salle Hotel predicts further global growth.

And because hospitalityInside.com is to grow with it, we're very happy to announce one victory of our own. After over two years of intense and draining dispute with the American Intel Corporation, the brand "hospitalityINSIDE" has finally been registered and published by the European Trade Mark Office in Alicante so in future we are certain to remain hospitalityINSIDE - celebrate with us!

Yours,
Susanne Stauss
Senior Editor


Questions? susanne@hospitalityInside.com

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