Large warehouses are becoming slowly extinct and retail as well as office spaces are vacant. The unused properties are being transformed into hotels, amongst others. Such conversions can be successful, but they have their pitfalls as it became obvious at a panel discussion at the Expo Real hotel conference.
The Serviced Apartment industry is doing well and has proven its resistance to crises due to its high degree of digitalisation and slim structures. Recently, the segment has increasingly focused on short stays and is therefore competing with the classical hotel industry. The profile is blurring more and more – even the USP "kitchen" is being discussed.
There are many ways for hotel groups to attract investors: through further acquisitions, through funds, through REITs that have grown over decades or, alternatively, through crowdfunding. The CEOs of the HR Group, FTMG (Falkensteiner), Dusit International and Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting spoke about financing models at Expo Real.
Hotel companies are more committed to sustainability than the public perceives. Why? Because the industry is a bad communicator. People, who are in control, also regretted this massively: Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Inge Huijbrechts, Global SVP Sustainability at the Radisson Hotel Group, and Susanne Kraus-Winkler, the Austrian State Secretary for Tourism, discussed this point at Expo Real.
Many details are currently changing in the industry - in traditional hotels as well as serviced apartments. A wealth of material for the hotel conference at Expo Real on 7 October 2024.
Less talk, more action! That should be the realisation after every discussion panel at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue": All conference panels this year are on the topic of sustainability/ESG.