Dear Insiders,
The segment of Serviced Apartments increased by 17 percent in Germany in 2016, and the current year should end with another increase of 14 percent. No wonder the hotel conference at Expo Real was overflowing with more than 200 participants. Even conservative investors are flirting seriously with the new darling. Against this, student apartments or micro apartments have no chance. However, it is alarming that every operator of Serviced Apartments is defining "long-stays" continually shorter. This way, the model is becoming diluted, and in the long term, the ROI will decrease. But does this concern anybody right now? No.
It is no coincidence that open-end real estate funds want to include Serviced Apartments. The hotel boom brought these products to the fore, too. Within two years, open-end funds increased their investments in hotels by 12 percent, also in foreign countries. Deutsche Bank, Deka, Union Investment, and CommerzReal explain why.
In Brussels, the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, praised tourism as an overall job creator in the presence of lobbyists, experts and media, and wants to further promote this great industry with – a ridiculous – 25 million euros. Hotrec's President Susanne Kraus-Winkler, however, demanded something concrete and useful, such as flexible employment legislation for the industry. Fred Fettner captured the buzzwords and statements hotly debated in Brussels.
The independence efforts by Catalonia have decreased the hotel bookings by 20 percent, investments are being placed on hold for the time being. Just recently, Barcelona complained about "overtourism"; now, the industry is already suffering. Sarah Douag describes the first effects. In Great Britain, the watch dogs have targeted OTAs and are presently analysing hostile consumer clauses, discounts and fees. Falkensteiner Hotels collected 2.5 million euros in one month via crowdfunding. Belmond, B&B, and Romantik Hotels show in their current marketing and communications campaigns: The world only wants grand emotions!
Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems, Editor in Chief
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
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