News & Stories

Paris. The French Review Commission for Trade Practices issued last week its opinion on compliance with the French competition law. Contracts between hoteliers and OTAs must be more fair it said, adding thinking about a way to tax online operators commissions.

Cologne. Should the German Federal Cartel Office finally force HRS to say goodbye to the rate parity, Managing Director, Tobias Ragge, wants to complain. He said this in a talk round during the 1st "Corporate Travel Forum" in Cologne on Monday.

Vienna. HotelTonight is already present in 150 destinations worldwide. Since 25 September, the system has also been trying to establish a foothold in Austria.

Hamburg. The distribution of smartphones in Germany continues to rise unhampered. An increasing number of smartphone owners are discovering the application of mobile Internet devices for surfing and for mobile commerce.

London. InterContinental Hotels Group recently struck a compromise with the British Office of Fair Trade, which had accused the world's largest hotel group of limiting competition on online hotel rooms.

Bendorf. After the latest decision by the German Federal Cartel Office towards HRS, the German Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association has initiated a survey among its members on the subject of price parity. The answers demonstrate the internal conflict of the industry.

Bonn. The German Federal Cartel Office expressed its competitive concerns about the "best rate clause" of the online travel agent HRS from Cologne in an official communication yesterday at noon. "After examining the statement of the hotel portal HRS and all other leading market participants, the German Federal Cartel Office issued another written warning to HRS for violating German and European competition law", says the statement. After the first warning in February 2012, HRS received the second and more detailed warning from the competition authorities. Tobis Ragge, Managing Director of HRS, has not given in, however. The German Hotel Association is "exceptionally" pleased about the Cartel Office's decision and hopes that the rate sovereignty will now fall back to the hotels.

Vienna. Austria had played first violin in the marketing of the Danube for many years. However, the gentle Danube waltz does not currently determine the music. The chafing between policy and product rules in the Vienna blame game. There has been an extra marketing campaign after the flooding, but many other problems have deeper roots in the past. Above all, the politically-inclined Danube Tourist Commission that is, in practice, a "paper tiger" is harvesting criticism. The Danube could even soon become EU inland waters: They are sitting on their own strategy in Brussels.

Hamburg. The market-leading positions of the powerful technology companies Amazon, Google, Facebook, eBay and Apple – in short: The "AGFEA" companies - are admired and feared. Facebook polarises Internet users; they view Apple second-most critically.

Duisburg. He who knows the costs need not have fear of Google... Half a year ago, Michael Puetter established a calculator with which one can calculate the breakeven point for distribution costs through Google's Hotel Finder. This mathematic model should aid the hotelier in developing a sense of the conversion rates of Hotel Finder and, if necessary, changing their online strategy. His summary after 1,600 clicks on the calculator and many conversations: "The uncertainty in the industry is great and likewise with the worry that Hotel Finder will turn everything upside down by tomorrow," says the Managing Director of Puetter GmbH, a service provider from Duisburg for eCommerce services.