Dear Insider,

Airbnb is now threatening Europe with its "Friendly Apartments", starting in London. These are positioned directly between residential and commercial properties. The platform wants to kill both in one fell swoop. From January 2025, Paris will make it harder for hosts and will mandate shorter rental periods as well as introduce high penalties and taxes. This uncontrollable power must be broken: During the Olympic Games, listings in Ile-de-France shot up from 58,000 to 134,000. New York, on the other hand, is still (far too) soft on Airbnb, despite the rules.

Medium-sized Italian chains are currently also feeling the power of the big players, but in a positive sense. The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) is pushing the Rocco Forte Group, Blackstone is supporting the Mangia's Group and wealthy families are investing huge sums in the new Orient Express Dolce Vita Train. There are to be 25 trains, one costing a whopping 50 million euros. But the return will come within 2.5 years....

Dear Insider,

Have you heard of "The Unconference"? This is the subtitle of Hotels Tomorrow, the new Europe-focused conference in Paris that I will be organising together with Marc Werner and Marius Gomola on 17-18 February.  The "three M's" want a relaxed event format and lots of interaction - not mega, just good. Café & croissants give way to in-depth topics from investment, finance, operations, ESG, distribution, talents & people, various markets and more. It's not quantity that counts, but quality. 30-, 60- or 90-minute talks are there so that we learn from each other. There are also no CEOs in six-packs on stage. HOT selects.                                       

On today's edition: Fred Fettner jumped to the top of the Alps to see how prices for tourist real estate were rising in the valley below. A report for investors and tourism professionals shows: Austria is top, but the United States and Switzerland do better still.

Dear Insider,

Sometimes it would be great to have a crystal ball. What's next - and what will the year 2025 bring? In the face of such uncertainty, many hotel chains struggle with budgeting. The cost balance is most delicate in the DACH region. Susanne Stauss asked Gorgeous Smiling Hotels, Althoff Hotels, SV Hotel, Meliá, Leonardo and Motel One how they manage the cost balancing act. The new "Treugast Hospitality Index" also reflects the current dynamics and drama in the industry.                          

The stumbling blocks are piling up. The fact that Achat Hotels has filed for insolvency, as was announced yesterday, is a further signal of how serious the economic situation is for the players. In 2023, together with B&B Hotels, Achat was still the fastest-growing hotel chain in Germany. And now this.            

Dear Insider, 

These turbulent times can be overcome with a clear strategy, pursuing one direction or one extreme. Investors in Italy don't want either/or, some want asset-light and asset-heavy. No matter what, the main thing is to expand. Covivio from France, Omnam from Israel, Limestone, Gruppo Una, Alpitour, Starhotels: All of them continue to grow, mostly in niches and with their nose to the competition's plan.         

This picture also applies to the brand landscape. In another discussion, chairman Thomas Edelkamp from Romantik Hotels pointed out why private hotels are undermining the credibility of chain brands. Investors finance models, local banks finance concrete operations. Chains reach their guests through programmes, private hotels through enjoyment. Accor and Minor defended their strategies, while Limehome failed to shine despite its superlatives.           

Dear Insider, 

Let's begin today with Germany - no, not with politics. That’s just not worth it (anymore) anyway. Though certainly, our irresponsible politicians in Berlin could learn a lot from risk-taking hotel entrepreneurs, from their visions, their passion and the platforms with which they will grow. Ruslan Husry wants to make his HR Group "too big to fail". That is why he wants to complete the takeover of two hotel groups this year - and more will follow. One of these is H-Hotels with over 60 hotels. As reported in Breaking News yesterday evening, they've fired their CEO Thomas Haas. Why? That is not clear.

Before we found out about this personnel matter, I had a conversation with Ruslan Husry, who buys small and medium-sized hotel groups at high speed. We got caught up in the rumours about his financial strength - today though, his answers are very clear. He is massively expanding and converting HRG and will now quickly grow from over 200 to almost 300 hotels.

Dear Insider,

While Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced off in the USA for the final election campaign battle, delegates from 200 countries met in Colombia for the 16th World Nature Conference under the motto "Peace with Nature". For two weeks, they sought to protect biodiversity as the basis of human existence. When it came to financing, the conference failed. And biodiversity continues to shrink.

Trump's victory has been certain since Wednesday. This does not bode well for peace with nature and, above all, for world peace. And the outlook for the US hotel industry isn’t good either. According to our author Macy Marvel, it will suffer further cost explosions and probably lose lower-ranking employees. Conversely, Europe's tourism industry will benefit from the US turnaround. We have summarised initial reactions.

And the week brought even more political chaos: The collapse of the German government on Wednesday evening will further weaken the country's economic power. Tourism too? The US election also makes it clear: Europeans must act now. Also in the hotel industry, also in tourism. And above all, investors/operators and related stakeholders must join forces. The new event "Hotels Tomorrow" (HOT) hits the nail right on the head with its European focus (17/18 February 2025 in Paris; update on our page 1).

Dear Insider,

For days now and with consternation, everyone has seen the suffering caused by climate in Spain after the enormous floodings. Doesn't everybody ask themselves: When will it hit me? Therefore, it is more important than ever for hotel businessmen, investors and operators to regulate extreme weather events as well as sustainability topics in agreements. The industry has shown more flexibility since Covid. Susanne Stauss interviewed Felix Krieglstein of the solicitor's office Jung & Schleicher, which is focused on hospitality. 

The Serviced Apartment industry has become very flexible as well: an increasing number of operators has been switching from long stays to short stays because it brings in more money. However, they are moving very close to the classical hotel industry – with or without kitchen. Yes, there are serviced apartments in the market without kitchenette. At the Expo Real hotel conference, Adina, StayCity, Stay Kooook, and Apartmentservice revealed interesting details about the current changes in their segment.

Dear Insider,

Today, it is mostly about opportunities – the opportunities you hope to find after acquiring a brand, in conversions in premium locations, and in a destination resort in the Swiss Alps. It all sounds sexy, but it is not easy.

Choice International is about to launch the Radisson brand in the Americas, which was bought two years ago. Things are getting serious because a US company (Choice) and a Chinese company (Jin Jiang) are using the name around the globe. Will this cause confusion for investors, developers and guests? Sarah Douag investigated how both sides (plan to) keep their loyalty programmes – and more – separate.

The message about conversions was very clear, however: putting a hotel in a warehouse is just as expensive as building from scratch. Excessively large areas, depths and heights require imagination and willpower.

Dear Insider,

Between business and leisure, a new flower is blossoming: workation hotels. Franz & Mathilde know what they need to offer, a soundproof office for video calls and standing desks on the balcony with a view into the garden, for example. Executives, employees or freelancers – after one week, they all have breakfast together. And the best part: bleisure tourists spend more money than normal tourists. Sylvie Konzack followed this new trend – professional – "working tourism" and provides us with good examples, ideas and figures.

In the hospitality industry, the ones who create emotions will survive. And this is also true for investments. Therefore, FMTG (Falkensteiner) will develop its successful crowdfunding further into a private equity vehicle, Ruslan Husry of HRG will continue to love and finetune his leases even more… The investment panel at the Expo Real Hotel Conference clearly showed that the industry is cautiously getting ready for alternative financing – or for improving already existing models (funds, REITs).

Dear Insider,

Rarely has the mood at Expo Real been so good in unstable times. And nobody knows why. But it was great. The noise level went up by the hour, the hotel booths were buzzing with activity, the talks were excellent, and the conference forum was packed with visitors as it had not been for a long time. It was the hour of the experts, subtleties and mutual exchange. We asked people about trends, added a bit of industry gossip and gathered statements from the worlds of hospitality and finance. And on our first page, you will find the first 30 pictures of Expo Real and our activities as well as a short summary of our own Expo Real booth. More pictures will follow next week!