Dear Insiders,

The World Cup has us in its grip. In the late afternoon, there is hardly anyone left in the office. The appointment schedule is almost non-existent. Instead, the country gathers in the stadia or at the public-viewing areas. Public viewing is becoming a cult! People throng to the beer gardens and open-air areas. In view of this dream weather, the beer gardens should be able to recover quickly from the losses caused by the past few rainy weeks. Instead, some telephone calls revealed that city hoteliers are complaining about extreme volatility in accommodation such as F&B: business was humming on the match days, but in between it was desolate. "There is no additional business, but only an exchange of target groups," summarises Conrad Mayer, Vice President of Bayerischer Hotel- und Gaststaettenverband with respect to the World Cup's first week. He certainly expresses what many hoteliers are thinking. In our "Market Analysis" column you can read how foreign consultancy companies see the World Cup hotel scene for German hoteliers.

In his function as local chairman of Bayerischer Hotel- und Gaststaettenverband Muenchen, Conrad Mayer currently expresses his anger about a project of Munich's trade fair: on the trade fair premises, the fair’s management team is initiating accommodation with breakfast - treading on its own hotel partners' feet!

Apart from this, you can read the following news from the German hotel scene: renowned hotel chains are failing in terms of data protection, city tourism is definitely booming, a new hotel cooperative is being created, finally Robinson has a new secondary Managing Director, and TUI is restructuring itself cutting jobs in management.

We have tracked down the following trends and issues of the international hotel world: in the US, hotel owners pay more fees to their management partners; in England, the takeover of De Vere Hotels is in the offing; in Bad Ragaz, not only the grand hotels  immensely benefit from a private art initiative; and finally, US chains like Starwood or Hyatt show themselves, once again, to be pioneers with respect to multi-sensor technology: in the near future, hotels will be recognisable by their smell or sound - the same way as Chanel will sound, Lego will taste and the i-pod will smell.

I hope we can score with you on one of these topics this week!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-chief


Ideas? Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

With its 850 hotels Starwood is still a small chain among the big global players, but the company presented itself in a very big fashion two weeks ago: about 100 journalists of the most renowned media were invited to New York. Chinese, Indians, Arabs, French, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, North and South Americans had arrived in a highly curious state to find out about Starwood's new "multi-sensory branding" - and after eight hours of marketing talks they were sent home with four pages of information. No interviews. Neither with CEO Steve Heyer nor with marketing guru Javier Benito. No notes of the speeches. And no press kits at all.

The idea of this media summit was fantastic and an excellent kick-off for communicating a revolutionary brand vision in an effective and global way. But concerning PR, the "small giant" made a leap that was too short. It missed an enormous as well as appropriate chance of positive publicity. As many questions remained unanswered, hospitalityInside.com did not report until today about the mega event. We were trying to find out how Starwood's marketing visions can be transformed into profitability and how its lifestyle ideas could become of interest to investors all over the world. Starwood seemingly did not want to or was not unable to verify this connection. The statements and answers from the US are partly meandering along the surface - probably, because there is no explanation for hope as such.

Nevertheless: Starwood's ideas open up a new direction for discussions about brands and operator profiles.

Today's other subjects are: Starwood founder and investor Barry Sternlicht sold Taittinger Champagne brushing up finances with millions of dollars. On the other hand, Urs E. Schwarzenbach, main shareholder of the Dolder Grand in Zurich, spent some additional 100 million Swiss francs for renovations. Also revolutionary news from the small health resort Bad Orb: is it going to become the German "Chinatown"? In any case, Vienna is promoted as design city, as it is obvious with the new Levante.

We hope you enjoy this new multicultural issue!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Today, our short news take a look behind the scenes, mainly in terms of staff issues: there is positive news - like those of Emanuel Berger's successor in the Victoria-Jungfrau Interlaken or the early appointment of the new GM in the Peninsula Tokyo. Both decisions were taken by companies that are known for their early staff planning and careful selection. This ensures continuity.

On the other hand, that news, which makes us pick up our ears: A highly respected veteran at ArabellaSheraton leaves - after 21 years. "Yes, I'm leaving," Peter Tschirky personally confirmed to us - and added "unfortunately" with a sigh. The hotel group from Munich is looking for a new identity. This is also expressed by such staff issues. Sol Meliá's appointment of the - next - new Managing Director also provides considerable insight: the Spanish company is obviously struggling on the German market. Perhaps Markus Steiner has a better chance now, as the first Meliá hotel was announced at the same time. At least this is finally a name bridge between the Spanish and German market. With their "Tryp" brand, the Spanish company has failed to achieve any success in Germany.

Names have always been news; therefore we enjoy continuing our series about "small chains". Today, Susanne Stauss took on two members of the top segment - the small Althoff Hotels and the growing group of self-confident Arkona AG.

Growing companies require new managers. Perhaps an opportunity for the hospitality study at ESSEC in Paris. Baerbel Schwertfeger describes this academic shortcut into management.

Hilton also chooses the direct way to its customers. The Americans would prefer to "undress" him completely, x-ray and "transparentise" him... They want to know his innermost desires - a RFID chip in the HHonors customer card. In future, they will trace him electronically, record his movements and whereabouts in the hotel and thus analyse his buying behaviour - they will observe his personal course. Critics decidedly warn about this and about the data security risks in connection with RFID.

In contrast, you may lean back and read what the next International Hotel Conference in Rome has to offer. I will be there for the third time and hospitalityInside.com will join in as a media partner for the second time. This hotel conference is still as easy to grasp as the Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin once was - and therefore still highly efficient with respect to the talks. Apart from the start-up forum, there will only be small rounds of talks and round tables. A compact event about the main issues of investment and operating concepts.

Have a successful week.
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems


Your comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

The German International Hotel Association is justifiably upset about the rip-off in public - as was the case this week. The European comparison of radio and television fees clearly reveals the unfair competition German hoteliers have to face. Future will certainly not become easier as Professor Kreilkamp unmistakably demonstrated at the IHA conference. He sees a growing reluctance among Germans to travel, combined with thriftiness. The consequence: rate increases are no option. Now, even more so. Dumping hoteliers can close their doors as a result.

Even the best advertising and marketing campaigns will not help anymore. What am I saying? There are no smart ones anyway! External experts tell us so. In another talk, they even told off German tourism industries: their advertisement claims were as exchangeable as they were! That hurts. The externals hold a mirror up to the industry. Hopefully, it will risk a glance.

Do Germans do anything right? The next operators in our series about "small chains" give an answer: Motel One, Achat and Winter Hotels are blooming quietly in the background despite unfavourable circumstances and miserable predictions. If they - but please, not only them - make use of the results of the new eBay studies for their benefit, online distribution could flourish even more.

On the isle, there are different worries: in Great Britain, an intensification of the "manslaughter" law is in the offing. In future, companies have to take more care of the safety of their employees. Our London correspondent reports, our labour law expert comments. A clear case for the "knowledge" pigeonhole!

A note on our own behalf: Last week, a technical failure prevented the article on Cendant's expansion in Europe from appearing on page 1. Therefore, it will appear again today - as this "competitor observation" is part of the knowledge...

We wish you a good week and many new insights,

yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Remarks? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Cendant, the American franchise giant, is coming! Finally, after many years of mere announcements, CEO Steven A. Rudnitsky realises the expansion towards Europe. Splitting of the huge Cendant group into four separate companies obviously causes some pressure - by July, each division is left to excite its shareholders "by itself". Rudnitsky, however, refused to give too many details in our interview - arguing that a quoted company needed to be careful. As an experienced journalist I rather think that the Americans plan to build up their brands on the market in a stereotype manner. They believe that their brand power which is defined in countless marketing superlatives is enough reason to join Cendant. Many years ago, Choice Hotels had begun in a similar naïve mood...

Another expansion campaign is taking place in Vienna - several chains seek for new opportunities there. Be it Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons or Kempinski - all of them moan under the high initial costs. Real estate and conversion costs find themselves in an unfavourable relation to attainable rates. One should be an Austrian - natives benefit from lots of advantages. Swarovski, the crystal producer, simply announces that he wants to build hundreds of beds and suddenly old laws are gone. Who would take a closer look to Biberwier at the bottom of the Zugspitz mountain in the Alpes?

Those hoteliers who accept reservations for the Football World Cup should take a closer look indeed. On the one hand, guests and consumers drown in the advertisement flood involving the World Cup and World Cup specials, and on the other hand some hoteliers struggle with shady tour operators on the market. The first complaints can already be heard. That particular ball probably only starts to move...

As foreign companies learn that it is becoming increasingly hard to find suitable operators in Germany, we will introduce some operators today and in future issues.

In addition, Accor introduces its new management team for Germany, TUI introduces its new hotels and the Kneipp institutes introduce their new hotel initiative... and a lot more. Just read it all.

Have a great week,
yours, Maria Puetz-Willems

Questions? Wishes? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Dubai is going full steam - and threatens to suffocate itself. The flood of projects announced at the "Arabian Travel Market" last week renders a European breathless even from a distance. The trade fair visitors caught their breath every time they sat in hour-long evening traffic jams. The Sheiks` superlatives are becoming a huge problem for the infrastructure and the daily life.

This is why for me the small observations made on the fringe of the fair simply raise the question: How credible are all these hotel projects? 31 hotels are to be built like pearls on a string; the biggest one is even planned to surpass its counterpart in Las Vegas. Allegedly, 80,000 rooms are still missing up to the year 2010.

The question of the credibility of this undertaking is followed by the question of economic viability. But who of all the people involved in Dubai would admit today that this whole noble boom might, at some time, tip over and become a cheap mass? What if the rules are dictated by price instead of quality? Be it Dubai or Duesseldorf - the commercial principle remains the same. I remain sceptical regarding this artificially provoked boom in Dubai.

Marrakesh thought it was in the passing lane as well. But then, terror acts put a damper on the development. Our small portrait, a mix of personal travel impressions and an actual analysis, shows a country with enormous potential.

The Estrel also sees a lot of potential for the city of Berlin and its own quarter if politics would only stop preventing the go-getting entrepreneur Ekkehardt Streletzki from spending millions. A typical German story of prevention is about to begin. If you look at this story with respect to the Dubai background, a German can only cry...

Today's issue emphasises travelling. However, destinations as well as destination mediators create the conditions for hotel expansion. Therefore, we are showing the hotel industry today from the view of industry-related people. Garnished with current trends, timeshare and real estate news.

Until next Friday,
yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Any comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

This week's focus is benchmarking. In the Victoria Jungfrau in Interlaken, five hoteliers from five different countries met recently to directly share experiences. Indeed this is a very unusual form of benchmarking, the five hoteliers otherwise competing directly against each other. The fact that the meeting was among private hoteliers explains it.

As to whether this would be possible between the chains, experience shows that they tend to avoid direct comparison and much prefer the indirect route - via colleagues or by way of market surveys - to discovering the tactics of their competitors. The media is certainly very welcome here, as I can report from my own personal experience. A professor from Munich's University of Applied Sciences once interrupted me and said "I know you, we've copied more articles from you than from any other journalist!" Insofar I hope that the team here at hospitalityInside.com are able to help you to a better overview of the different markets and developments.

Our article on Spanish resort chains continues on from the one on Spanish city hotel groups published two weeks ago. Taken together, the articles give an up-to-date view of the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish hotel market. As part of the ITB's investment forum this year, the chains also sang the praises of franchising; we looked into the plans of the big chains in Germany. Result: Even franchising follows the brand but the risk is assumed by the franchisee. Have a read of the journalistic form(s) of benchmarking.

New as of today: our new law column. An experienced legal expert also familiar with the hotel industry will join us in future and provide legal tips - at least once a month. Should you have any questions on employment law, please don't hesitate to send them to me. I'll happily forward them on to Hans-Joachim Jungbluth and we'll take a look at them in following editions. Our hospitality network is growing again. Happy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Ideas? Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Bad for some and great for others - the hotel market has shuffled the cards again this week. New hotel groups are the result.

In Germany, the largest single sale of hotel property has taken place after years: 9 hotels, most of them under the Accor flag, will leave Dr. Peter's Group, an investment fund in Dortmund, to join Event Management and their joint venture with The Blackstone Group. According to hospitalityInside`s sources, the sale price was 60 million Euros.

As a result, the Cologne based Event Management group will grow to 19 hotels and the connection with Blackstone leaves little reason to expect that the group will stop at that. In a short conversation with Event/Blackstone, we asked for details.

A new hotel group has also been formed in Switzerland: The plc behind the Victoria Jungfrau in Interlaken has leased the next hotel - the renowned Bellevue in Bern. In November of last year the plc assumed a boutique city hotel in Zurich. Emanuel Berger will assume responsibility for all four hotels in fairly close neighbourhood (Zurich, Bern, Lucerne and Interlaken) each with very different character and will thus head a very refined mix in international marketing. But the end is by no means in sight: In a recent personal conversation with Berger, he hinted at being able to manage five hotels with the same team.

Germany's second biggest hotel group would also be a takeover candidate, were the major shareholders not permanently at the ready to dish out further financial support. Even the chairman's recent pleasure at being able to introduce the company as "debt free", should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. In this edition we take a close look at Steigenberger's accounts press conference.

The results of the Berlin market survey undertaken by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels released yesterday are also covered - together with diverse other news from the week and passed exclusively to hospitalityInside.com. Happy reading!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Any comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders, 

The Indian economy is booming and tourism has not been left behind. In India there's demand for a further 140,000 hotel rooms. The government has set up initiatives to support hotels and projects both in mountain regions and along the coast. A rapidly growing network of low cost carriers has sprung up and made cheap and quick travel across the entire Indian subcontinent a reality. Small wonder that the chains are now beginning to consider budget hotels. And as the Grand Hotels trumpet their success, the ideas for the small luxuriant escapes with Maharaja romantic are sprouting up.

Our reporter Baerbel Schwertfeger and I went to India - and we both came back impressed by an extremely busy country. Nevertheless, not all conversations with the individual hotels and the hotel groups we free of small weaknesses in the plans. All the same, the figures and the sheer ambition shown by the Indians are quite breathtaking for Europeans. Travelling in India quite literally means feeling the pulse of the economy. This week - India in focus.

With seven articles devoted to India, we would also like to hear your opinion: Is this number and depth of articles on one topic too much? Or do you prefer more thorough reporting? What would you improve? What would you like to see? Please don't hesitate to share your views - hospitalityInside.com is your information network.

Back in Europe, Spain shows itself to be a market with high potential. This week's article about small and upcoming business hotel groups will be complemented next week with an article on the resort chains.

After the many announcements issued over the past few weeks, the Easter holiday brought a welcome break. Nevertheless: If Golden Tulip is to conquer the American market a second time and Philippe Starck to create a new luxury hotel brand, things can hardly become boring. The first benchmarking symposium in Austria also signals new paths.

With best wishes,
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief


Your comments? maria@hospitalityInside.com

Dear Insiders,

Two large interviews dominate this week's edition of hospitalityInside.com. A conversation with Dirk Schuldes, Head of the Centre of Competence Management Real Estate with Eurohypo in Frankfurt, the company dealing with the sale of the 850 Louvre Hotels to Starwood Capital, gives an interesting insight into the topic of hotel real estate and finance in Europe. In the other, Managing Director Kurt Scholl explains the future strategy of the Swiss company Hapimag - one of Europe's leading vacatiom membership providers. This edition also includes the first of a series of articles on the smaller German hotel operators.

And once again, the internet has an important role to play in hospitalityInside.com: Donald Trump has formed his own tourism provider under GoTrump.com, Starwood provides an online blog with all sorts of information on travel to members of its customer programme under TheLobby.com, and a recent study shows that  the international chains regain control of their web-bookings through their own homepages.

In the field of medical care within the tourism/hotel industry, things are also hotting up. The new dialysis centre in El Gouna plans to attract German dialysis patients to Egypt as tourists. In Germany another provider of solutions for patient hotels has also presented itself.

As this edition appears on Good Friday, the stock markets are closed. For this reason our share price barometer will skip an edition.

Enjoy reading and have a happy Easter. With best wishes from the whole team.

Yours,
Susanne Stauss
Senior Editor


Any comments? Suggestions? susanne@hospitalityInside.com