News & Stories

Alpharetta/Paris. SoftBrands, an affiliate of Infor, provider of business software for mid-market companies, announced the acquisition of the Property Management Systems division of Amadeus IT Group SA.

Nuremberg. The widespread use of the internet in Germany continues to increase unabated, and around two-thirds of the population are now online. Gaming and social networking sites are most attractive.

Munich. A German start-up company plans to launch an innovative platform for the negotiation of hotel rates this autumn. In contrast to other reservation portals, only the customer knows the price at which the hotel provides the room. Competing hotels have no way of finding out the successful rate.

Augsburg. "Facebook fan pages etc. are massively overestimated," Matthias Ehrlich says, Chairman of United Internet Media AG. "The marketing effect is slight," Michael Toedt, Managing Director of Toedt, Dr Selk & Coll, sums it up in a statement. The media hype arouses curiosity in the hotel industry, yet in practice, many are still very cautious, as some voices are now confirming. PR Managers are defending themselves against mounting accusations of abusing Facebook & Co as a "cheap" marketing platform. After three euphoric articles and case studies last week, differentiating voices now follow.

Duesseldorf. Shopping or paying per mobile phone is becoming established in Germany: every tenth user of mobile phones carries out mobile transactions in Germany. The driving forces are the young people.

Hamburg. How do hotel groups cope with social media? After Ritz-Carlton in the last edition, the German resort travel group Travel Charme Hotels from Berlin shows today how to approach the subject in everyday life, how much effort is necessary and the importance of social media networks in their marketing mixture. The German hotel group is one of the most active groups on the internet. The centralised management still controls everything, but this will change soon. The intensive work with the online evaluation portal HolidayCheck offered access to the new scene. However, the proximity to the customers is increasing. For the staff this means: They have to change their way of communicating as well.

Hamburg. How do hotel groups cope with social media? In two case studies in today's and next week's edition, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and then Travel Charme Hotels describe how they approach the subject in everyday life; how much time and staff they spend on the subject; and the importance of social media networks on their marketing mix. In the Travel Charme report, we will provide hints for the usage of social media too. - About Ritz-Carlton: since 2009, the luxury hotel group has strategically found its way into the social media. The president already twitters PR effectively; however, the first step is to concentrate only on Twitter and Facebook for the time being. Turnover increase is not the main goal but getting to know the guests' wishes better.

Hamburg. The number of members of the social media networks has exploded in the last three to four years. YouTube, Xing, VZ networks, Sevenload, Flickr, Facebook and the micro blogging service Twitter have gained hundreds of millions participants all over the world. The mere exchange of vacation pictures and private banalities in these networks is over. A growing number of businesses have already recognised the opportunities of "social marketing" and use the networks to set up and maintain customer relations. New opportunities are also emerging for the hotel industry. The experiences of American hoteliers and experts prove: success in social media is not a question of the budget. Future researchers already regard the new web world as independent "cultural space" and "new democracy". A summary of "dos & don'ts" for social media.

Munich/Norwalk. As of now, the tourist-oriented Kayak search engine headquartered in Connecticut, USA, is taking over swoodoo, a flight and hotel search engine from Munich. This was announced by both companies yesterday.

Palma de Mallorca. Four days ago, the new portal opened. Spontaneously, it renegotiates hotel rates due to "customer pressure". At first, it will only concentrate on the Balearic Islands. But by the end of this year, the team wants to negotiate with hotel managers from all over Europe for its online customers.