Dear Insiders,
When it comes to 'hotels' as an asset class, investors are warming only slowly to Italy. The transaction market, on the other hand, is flourishing and there are many good opportunities for the taking. Speaking at a conference, one investor now dared to say why he remains cautious: It's the country's old, rigid, legally fixed rules on contract that make it difficult to strike deals under Anglo-Saxon-style contracts. Massimiliano Sarti asked legal experts for their opinion.
Brand development does not come up against such limits. As ASAI shows, the new community-based hotel brand of Thailand’s Dusit Hotels, this business has quite literally become limitless and global. Thailand's leading national luxury hotel group is opening up to the next generation, as is happening within the family too: The junior at Dusit Hotels, Siradej Donavanik, son of Vice Chairman and Owner Chanin, made sure his research was global in scope. He analysed sophisticated and functioning lifestyle brands from Europe. ASAI thus presents itself as a valuable, sustainable and communicative brand. The concept is "glocal", global & local – set for expansion.
.
The Munich-based Bold Hotels, on the other hand, are very much a local affair with a very targeted market. At present, only four hotels are in operation in Germany, but founder Wolfgang Kaefer is already beginning to diversify into classic hotels, apartment hotels/co-living and hostels. Kaefer is not reliant on investors to expand. He already has his own portfolio of 100 properties at his disposal and converts mainly residential buildings into value-for-money hotel products.
And in other news: In Spain, urban destinations in particular benefited from the general upswing last year. The boom in the Swiss para-hotel sector continues, especially in youth hostels and camping/glamping. The German Tourism Association has presented its measures for the National Tourism Strategy in Germany, but there is criticism about the one-sidedness of the paper.
And there's good news from ITP, the International Tourism Partnership: It will offer the first online industry training initiative against modern slavery – the initiative is open to all and anybody interested may participate! Other interesting news from the world of real estate, digitisation and personnel changes round off today's edition.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
