Insolvent InterConti Davos: Who miscalculated?

Zurich. The convention business is an important mainstay of the Swiss tourism economy and accordingly, a great deal is currently being invested in conference centres and hotel beds. But, the market is tight and the competitive pressure is rising. Davos is not above all and not everywhere is the added-value from the mega conventions as high as it is there. However, the mega conventions themselves are even withdrawing from Davos. A significant investment backlog rules in many MICE centres in Switzerland while in contrast, the likely most spectacular new construction of a convention property has sprung up in Lausanne. A review.

Zurich. The venues of action: The Swiss Alps. Andermatt, Davos and Verbier. A new, unusual hotel will open its gates in Wallis. The first W Hotel in Switzerland will be launched with the W Verbier and The Residences at W Verbier. More still: It is the first W Hotel worldwide that Starwood Hotels & Resorts will open in the alpine realm. Up to now, the hotels have been considered a "Label for trend scouts and international jet setters," only at home in pulsating cosmopolitan cities and exotic holiday destinations. Moreover, The Chedi Andermatt will open with full sparkle on the 20th of December. With this, the legendary luxury hotels of the GHM Group will now also be represented in Europe. Then at the beginning of the year, in time for the next meeting of the World Economic Forum, the new InterContinental Hotel will follow in Davos.

Dublin. In his prelude speech to the Europe Convention of Choice Hotels in Dublin two weeks ago, Mark Pearce used the word "Guest" only once. Otherwise, the Senior Vice President International Division spoke of "Customer", "Client", "Consumer" and "User". This generally fitted to one of his first sentences: "Our goal is to increase the reservations!" The two together clearly show the compulsions in Europe by the second largest franchisor of the world: They must "Deliver" – and close the gap with the other, much more quickly expanding chains and franchisors. However, this is difficult with only three of the twelve US brands in continental Europe. As a result, Choice is currently questioning everything: The location strategy of their properties, the quality standards and the contracts. A great deal will probably change in the near future.