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.

"Dolce Vita", to a German, means enjoying food and drink. This makes Kirsten Posautz all the more keen on creative dishes such as the "Salzburg Sound Menu" or concepts with Bavarian pub flair. Imaginatively spiced up, F&B also generates unexpected revenues in hotel restaurants. H-Hotels and the MHP Hotel Group explain how.

Today - on the public pages - a new article from our content partner F&B Heroes, a highly specialised consulting firm that advises investors, planners and tenants to rethink gastronomy and get into the topic early on. "A chef is not a concept". How true a statement that is.

GenZ is certainly a target group with a taste for culinary delights. They are very mobile, but rarely use climate-friendly means of transportation. Young car owners still cling strongly to the car that takes them to work or university. Rethinking and acting differently is difficult, as a mobility study in Austria shows in figures.

Austria has subjected 800 businesses to a fitness check. How did the 3 to 5-star hotels fare in 2023? GOP is certainly not fit. Personnel and energy costs are beginning to pinch.

The above-mentioned PIF from Riyadh has no money worries: It is one of the world's largest funds and likes to invest in hotels - and now also in its own brands with an "rooted" Saudi character. And not just in their own country, but also internationally. The CEO of the new management company Adeera, which has now been announced now, is Stefan Leser.

The TUI Group continues to float in travel heaven, as does Munich Hotel Partners as the operator from Munich. Their balance sheets reveal this. Both will certainly not be irritated by reports that guests will save noticeably more on their winter holidays. If you are travelling with your children, the little ones in the back seat can enjoy the KidsGPT. Recommended from 4 years. Crazy!

I wish you a crazily successful week.

Yours, Maria Pütz Willems
Editor-in-chief