The Ruby Deal, a ruby in a bizarre landscape

Dear Insider,

For two years, Ruby and IHG have been working together on the deal announced this week. Ruby founder Michael Struck sells his Lean Luxury brand for €110 million. Ruby is to grow globally with IHG, but Ruby remains Ruby, across the whole globe. Standard changes, for example, can only be made jointly by the parties involved. Struck has fixed many of the finer points in the contracts, as he told me. And he is delighted with the giant’s global system power. Ruby is the seventh brand born in Germany to be sold to a chain in a decade: Innside to Melià (2007), Steigenberger to Huazhu/H World (2019), prizeotel to Radisson (2019), 25hours to Accor (complete takeover 2020), me and all to Hyatt (2024), Novum (2024) and Ruby (2025) to IHG.

While some are looking ahead, France and Germany, among others, are calling on the EU to row back when it comes to taxonomy. The financial burden of implementing the regulations is generating deep frustration. Experts warn against wanting to spare 80% of companies from the taxonomy - this could lead to two-tier competition, to the detriment of the climate. Sarah Douag brings us the details. At the same time, the WTTC published the announced new roadmap for Travel & Tourism - combined with a call to implement more climate measures and faster too. Simply paradoxical.

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Toxic cocktails and beautiful nuances

Dear Insider,

The Germans cultivate their German Angst, the Spaniards simply roll up their sleeves. This week, real estate experts warned Germany against de-investment and a decline in consumption. Nevertheless, the hotel asset class could salto its way over many an abyss if it looks at urban/local development, thinks about mixed-use, embraces technology in operations and builds regional, sustainable supply chains. However: The cost cocktail remains toxic, says our finance correspondent Beatrix Boutonnet. But the situation is not hopeless.

Sarah Douag was hugely impressed by how many sustainable solutions Spanish destinations, tech experts and hoteliers came up with at Fitur. Nothing works without data and AI, but Benidorm, Valencia and hotels on the Balearic Islands are happy about intelligent water meters, AI-controlled room temperatures and shrinking mountains of waste. We need more of these positive examples!