Ping-pong with Karl Anton

Norderney. The construction works for the planned 5-star Steigenberger hotel on Norderney Island in the North Sea have been delayed. Financial difficulties leave the fund project of Claus Cohrs, a former member of the Fundus group, pretty shaky. Anton Schattmeier, Steigenberger board member, said in the course of the press conference on financial statements on Tuesday that his company's contractual engagement required secure financing.

Dear Insiders,

The nice thing about our background reporting is that we don't have to wait for new events to happen in order to write something about companies and their strategies. Accordingly, we learn about a lot of news "in passing" like today in the case of InterContinental - such as the fact that the group is open for franchise agreements with respect to its luxury brand. The two German top managers of IHG, Willy Weiland and Karl-Heinz Pawlizki, told us even more.

Design Hotels also announced new products in Berlin yesterday. Products, not all members know about. The refined profile of the consortium slowly comes to fruition and is boosting sales. CEO Claus Sendlinger is successfully setting his sights on selection and exclusiveness.

The issue of environmental protection generally leads to a lot of discussions. The Austrian hotelier association, an extremely important opinion-maker in the most tourism-dependant country in Europe, dedicated its entire annual meeting to this topic! My colleague Fred Fettner and I will introduce you to the field of environmental protection. And further articles will follow - not only about this occasion. Concerning the importance this issue has gained throughout the industry, we decided to introduce a separate Environment column starting with today's issue.

You should be well familiar with the Events column. As of today, we'll promote ITB 2008 and the 3rd "Hospitality Day" there. hospitalityInside.com will be responsible for the content of this hotel conference again - read about the five panel discussions awaiting you! And please make a note of the ITB Thursday to visit us on site.

The minor news once again has a lot to offer today: There is irritation at Parkhotel Schlangenbad near Wiesbaden: a great number of employees and even the General Manager are leaving the hotel! August Jagdfeld realises his dream of his own hotel collection step by step: Fundus is renamed Adlon Holding!

But there is even more. Have fun surfing!

Yours, Maria Puetz-Willems
Editor in Chief

Questions? maria@hospitalityInside.com