Dear Insiders,
After this week's talks, I note that the Germans fear the Delta variant. The Delta share was at 74 percent yesterday. Mainly people returning from Spain are bringing the variant along with them. But that goes unnoticed in everyday life. So don't panic, please! Before we get proactively hysterical and start cancelling the fall meetings and trade fairs in our minds, we should wait and see how the British do when all coronavirus restrictions are lifted next Monday after the "infectious" European Football Championship.
Stay positive – as everybody needs business again. Particularly the Germans. Last Tuesday, July 13, marked the so-called tax payers' memorial day – the moment the Germans work for themselves again. Up to this date, every German has given 53% of their annual income to the state. Almost nothing will come from the hotel industry this year.
Professor Stephan Gerhard no longer has any desire to experience such desolate figures, and certainly no more pandemics. The investor, who also acts as a tenant and operator in his company network, is taking precautions: He has enforced special clauses covering pandemics and hyperinflation in all agreements. No more agreements without these clauses! he says firmly. Today, you will read what this looks like and the hardship that went into it. The Graf von Westfalen law firm provides its neutral legal perspective on this issue.
Hotel operators are also sweating for another reason during the start of the peak season: They lack personnel! This topic will remain a constant issue as highlighted by us on many occasions. So start attracting trainees and secure the next generation at an early stage! But a cross-industry study turns out to be completely frustrating: Youngsters google for apprenticeships while employers do not place any ads on this channel. Furthermore, companies whitewash the working reality. Shame on you! But Petra Barta, General Manager of the Die Wasnerin hotel in Austria, would certainly receive excellent feedback: Only three of her 90 employees quit their job during the corona crisis.
Human resources is a "sustainable" topic and even part of the ESG Goals. Hyatt's idea to publish data on its employee diversity on a newly developed mega platform, to raise awareness against human trafficking in training sessions, and to increase workplace quality through well-being may once again seem overly American from a European perspective. Globally, however, it is becoming all the more important with respect to a more sustainable, i.e. social, world as a basis for flourishing tourism. Covid-19 clearly reveals how unequal the world actually is.
This is why small steps are so important at the moment: In Venice, mega cruise ships will be banned from October 1 on. That's good and it is a start. The German Alltours tour operator wants to welcome solely vaccinated and recovered guests at its allsun hotels – which is being criticised by hoteliers. Germany wants to replace the infection rate factor by a new, not yet existing value – okay, at least they are thinking about it.
Xenia zu Hohenlohe from the Considerate Group and sustainability expert Tony Williams have thought a lot about innovations, systems, benchmarks and certifications. And about the new, still invisible drivers from the world of finance who collectively want the same thing: Making sustainability measureable in order to give investors peace of mind. The hospitality industry is one of the sectors that is most quickly targeted by the new "Masters of the Measurement". Xenia and Tony will be discussing this topic on September 14 at the HospitalityInside Think Tank. Please find more about this on our first page and at www.hitt.world.
The storm disaster in Germany on Wednesday is a consequence of climate change and doing nothing. 80 people have paid for this with their lives by this morning, and complete infrastructures have been destroyed in the affected regions. Nature strikes back.
Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
editor-in-chief
Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com
