Marketplace Stories
Artificial intelligence and data are changing the rules of the game in the hotel industry. How can hotels use this development to inspire guests and steer them successfully into the future? Answers can be found at "Need to talk". Participation is free of charge.
The Hospitality Industry Dialogue (HID) kicks off with the leisure boom in South-East Europe. And then things heat up at the Expo Real hotel conference: from climate risk for hotel projects, franchising & asset-light to record margins & zero profit, and right through to high-speed market consolidation. The program.
"The modern world meets traditional trade": Dietmar Dahmen is one of Europe's most sought-after futurists. He delivers his message about transformation, technology and radical customer centricity on stage like a rock star. As a visionary, he knows how companies need to reinvent themselves – including in the hotel industry.
Despite all the sceptical business travel statistics, demand in this segment increased noticeably in the first half of 2025 for hospitality-focused distribution specialist QR Quality Reservations. At the same time, direct sales and the number of customers grew.
The "RFP season" is in full swing. However, the rules of the game for these Requests For Proposals have changed for 2026 . The traditional focus on booking volume and price is increasingly giving way to a strategic view of the purpose of business travel.
Paris on Monday and Tuesday of this week: Inner-city temperatures reached a staggering 40 degrees. Both people and industry feel HOT - Hotels Tomorrow at the same time. The abbreviation for this first "unconference" could not have been more fitting. After only three months of organisation, 48 speakers discussed with around 180 participants, all at C-level. The spell of a premier was broken by the unsettling, razor-sharp keynote speech.
More than two thirds of young people in Germany believe that green skills offer them new career opportunities. However, less than half of 16 to 24-year-olds see themselves as qualified enough to be successful in a sustainable working world and make a difference in environmental policy.
A new study predicts a bright future for the European Union’s Travel & Tourism sector, with strong growth predicted over the next decade.
By recognising hotels for their inspiring, holistic approach to online sales, Quality Reservations (QR) is setting new motivational accents. The measures implemented range from efficiency-enhancing 2-way interfaces to MICE links.
Many restaurant guests are currently price sensitive. Equally many want to treat themselves consciously and are willing to pay a good price for good performance. How to best address both groups and optimize your pricing is, last but not least, a question of psychology. Tim Plasse, Managing Director at F&B Heroes, explains what the hospitality industry can learn from e-commerce.
Travel behaviour in the business and leisure segment will remain at the high level of 2024. Many meetings and congresses will be cancelled for cost reasons.
A gastronomy and food concept must be a complex and strategic decision to achieve sustainable success. It's not about personal taste, says Tim Plasse, Managing Director of F&B Heroes. Only the guests and investors need to be pleased by the result.
Megatrends always make hoteliers and tourism professionals sit up and take notice. After all, they are part of corporate strategies. This is why the third "Redebedarf" ("Need to talk") event organised by Quality Reservations (QR) was once again praised.
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ALL Accor, the group's booking platform and loyalty program, announced the launch of its ALL Accor app in ChatGPT on 29 January 2026. The app is designed to make booking easier for travelers.
For almost half of Germans, cost is the most important factor when choosing a travel destination. In addition to price, safety, accessibility, and the general economic situation also influence travel decisions. This is because more and more travelers are booking at short notice.
An estimated 1.52 billion international tourists were recorded globally in 2025, almost 60 million more than in 2024. Arrivals grew by 4% in 2025.
The German Hotel Association (IHA) is launching the application phase for its Start-up Award 2026 and invites all start-ups with innovative product developments specific to the hotel industry to apply.
Travellers are increasingly looking for alternative and affordable ways to explore the world. In addition to short-term rentals, holiday apartments and hotels, house swapping is developing into a travel model in its own right.
On 17 January 2026, after more than 20 years of negotiations, the Agreement on the Protection of the High Seas came into force. It applies to areas of the oceans that lie outside national territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) and outside the national exclusive economic zone (up to 200 nautical miles).
The development of artificial intelligence has reached a new level: AI agents are now acting almost autonomously. Consumers are expected to encounter this for the first time this year: while shopping.
The extent to which German cities and municipalities will be affected by climate change in the future varies considerably from region to region. The new "Climate Risk Index" shows this — it has examined natural hazards and forecasts the situation for individual locations up to 2050.
Mulled wine, bratwurst and roasted almonds - these things can be really lucrative. The most visited Christmas markets in Central Europe are in Germany and France and will welcome over 17 million people in 2025 - mainly day trip tourists.
By 2035, most hotel discoveries and bookings will happen through a single AI conversation, at least half of back-office tasks will be automated, and most routine guest requests will be handled by AI agents. Human staff will be left to do what algorithms can't.