The founder of Design Hotels, who stepped down as CEO in 2018, is considered a visionary in today's creative scene. Slowness brings together people, places and projects that come together in the field, at festivals, but also at high-calibre events and sophisticated art. At the centre is always a "hotel campus" as a hub for the newly discovered avant-garde with a holistic lifestyle. Simplify your life! They are happy to pay a lot of money for this.
I've now been to Berlin-Lichtenberg twice, where the name of the Slowness destination alone resonates with a lot of creativity: The Flussbad. A mystical place with a sacred, thatched-roof event temple where everything is as quirky and surprising as in the Slowness community concept.
Slowness has already taken root in several other countries, now it's Berlin's turn. Immerse yourself with us in a spirit that combines old hospitality values with a different way of life. Pure inspiration at the start of the year!
Many are also hoping for the magical power of ChatGPT, but the New York Times is currently destroying the charisma of the career chatbot: The newspaper is suing the parent company OpenAI for copyright infringement. The AI hype is faltering. Bärbel Schwertfeger summarises.
Real estate owners and experts need to take a closer look: The rising operating and ancillary costs could break the rents/leases, but on the other hand they still hold a lot of potential for savings. They just need to take this issue more seriously - and switch from traditional to digital at the same time. Beatrix Boutonnet discovered this "small" topic with a big impact at a symposium organised by the Center Smart Commercial Building.
The hotel market remains abuzz: Paris has just tripled the tourist tax - the industry is sounding the alarm, partly because it was not at the table. French hoteliers fared similar to their Dutch colleagues (as recently reported).
Hotel investments in Germany tend rather to bring tears to one’s eyes: 2023 was the weakest year since 2012. Some are now turning their backs on economically stagnant Germany. Great, jokes Falkeinsteiner CEO Otmar Michaeler: "When everyone goes out during the crisis, we cave in!" That is exactly what he is doing now: After more than ten years of searching and waiting, Falkensteiner Hotels is finally celebrating its première in Germany: with a new building project (resort) on the Baltic Sea! He explained the details and figures.
The rapidly expanding HR Group continues to grow, this time with just a titbit of four club hotels, but with a beautiful boutique concept: Vagabond. Rupert Simoner invented this brand. We will certainly be hearing more from HRG and its boss Ruslan Husry this year.
At the turn of the year, as always, there are lots of personnel and market news after three weeks of Christmas vacations. The pace remains high. So it can't all be negative and the event-packed year 2024 at least gives rise to feelings of happiness in beleaguered Germany.
Expo Real 2024 is also already coming into view. From February, the main exhibitors will be registering their space, including us. Co-exhibitors should take advantage of the World of Hospitality early-booking conditions until mid-March. You can read more about this in our article on Expo Real.
You will also find news on our website at the start of the year: Chat with us! You can reach us directly using the orange chat symbol at the bottom right of your screen. Write to us! The next available team member will be happy to take care of your request. If the icon does not appear, please activate gosquared in your privacy settings (yellow icon at the bottom left on your screen).
Yours, Maria-Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-Chief
