Dear Insiders,
If I was Trump, I would seal off my website just as Trump Hotels does. The media are unable to find downloadable pictures; there is no login, there are no contacts. Normally, this is standard among other hotel groups. The company does not return any calls. Therefore, we are very happy about the fact that all Trumps love to twitter and reveal their activities this way. However, the POTUS and his family empire are offending an increasing number of "watchdogs". Sarah Douag summarises the areas of conflict concerning hotels. We decided to label this article "Part 1", because sequels of this dramatic POTUS Soap Opera are probably guaranteed.
easyHotels once started off with full-bodied announcements, but then expansion got stuck. Now, easy founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou no longer has any influence and expansion is starting to roll again... The new Franchise Director Wolfgang Gold provides details and tries to enthuse new franchisees.
Renowned funds firmly believe in Greece's future in the tourism industry; the funds just provided 250 million euros for the further development of the Ikos/Sani Group. These brands are supposed to redefine all-inclusive on a luxury level à la Four Seasons and push the development of a mega resort destination.
This week, AccorHotels added another puzzle to its growing luxury brand empire, as revealed in an announcement, with Travel Keys. It is exciting to watch Sébastien Bazin buy and buy and only he seems to be able to see the entire picture at the moment. Marriott is also tattering itself: Of all things, the sensitive well-being brand Element will be provided with communal "suites" following the style of the Sharing Economy.
Motel One has quietly removed the small word "low" from its original subtitle "Low Budget Design" hotel group, and announced the next high-quality product improvements at the new Motel One Upper West Berlin. It should actually be becoming quieter with respect to Airbnb, but the last record fine of the city of Amsterdam affects the landlords first and foremost again and not the business.
The new Honestis AG bought Dorint Hotels, and officially leaves the former shareholder E&P behind. Worldhotels, on the other hand, were sold to an entirely new US partner; together, they plan to explore new paths in Europe concerning the MICE business. In Berlin, the German industry celebrated its awardees of the year; and from the human resources departments of several companies, new names are coming through.
And, finally: Today we can present the programme of the 2017 "ITB Hospitality Day" at ITB Berlin: six lively panels about hostels, automatization/artificial intelligence, food design, safety&security, challenging countries and metasearch. Have a look at our page 1!
Enough for today; enough to read, enough to be astonished at.
Ihre Maria Pütz-Willems, Chefredakteurin
Your opinion? maria@hospitalityInside.com
