Zurich. When it comes to hotel financing, the Swiss UBS bank concentrates primarily on projects in Switzerland and projects with reference to Switzerland. The bank demands proof of the hotel being capable of surviving; size and type of agreement are of secondary importance. Juerg Stucki, Director of UBS Business Banking, certifies hotel management in Switzerland as being more professional than ten years ago. Silvia Pfenniger asked the bank's representative about financing conditions and "soft" factors. Stucki started to work for UBS about 30 years ago; since 1998 he is responsible for the bank's touristic activities. 
London. The keynote address at the annual Hotel Booking Agents' Association Annual Forum, held in the UK, painted a worrying picture of the ramifications that property investor ownership means for European branded hotels. The keynote speaker predicts that assets will change hands far more frequently as well as a conflict between the operator and investor.
Berlin. For the hotel industry, the year 2001 and the time that followed the Tsunami was a catastrophe in all senses and investors were correspondingly reticent in their activity. But according to Reiner Nittka, Managing Director of the Gesellschaft für Beteiligungen und Immobilien-Projektentwicklungen mbH in Berlin, this has all changed - and he is busy buying up hotels.
Frankfurt/M. Private Equity companies are stirring up the German economy. They invest capital of anonymous institutional investors in real estate or companies of various types. Their exit within the following ten years is to bring the investors the desired profit. Financial experts from Germany recorded chances and risks of these takeovers. A look at the mood in the market and at its conditions.
Singapore. CapitaLand, which owns 59% of Raffles Holdings, said it planned to delist its Raffles Holdings and will offer minority shareholders an exit price of 6 Singapore cents a share.
Frankfurt/M. Private Equity funds still look at the travel industry bearing too many risks. This was one opinion in the Travel Industry Club's discussion in Frankfurt. Another panellist sounded different and seemed willing to enter the hospitality industry. But Private Equity funds will only take the best. Two hotel experts confirm the continuous trend in the hotel industry.
Wiesbaden. Aareal Bank is well positioned in the hotel financing segment. Despite this, its experts regard the hotel business as the high-risk segment of the real estate industry.The financing strategy favours business and conference hotels, mainly outside Germany.
Munich. The hotel investment volume reached a nationwide 682 million euros in the first half of 2006. This extraordinarily high level is 22% above the average volume from 2001 through to 2005. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels expects 2006 to be a record year with a likely volume of more than one billion euros.
Munich. Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Bank and Aareal Bank have concluded a contract with Capital Partners for the refinancing of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow at a price of over 160 million Euros. At the same time, the sale of the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, another Ritz-Carlton Hotel, was completed to become the biggest single real estate transaction in Spanish history.
Berlin. International airports are becoming increasingly real estate and economic locations and their operators are similar to gigantic businesses. And the buildings being constructed there are gigantic as well: At Zurich Kloten Airport, a Radisson SAS Hotel will soon be built, financed by the German Acron group. With its unusual financing model, this investment company has discovered Switzerland to be an interesting region for German investors. 
Augsburg. In today's edition of "hospitalityABC", the term "mission statement" is explained by Prof. Dr. Marco A. Gardini, Professor for International Hospitality Management and Marketing at Kempten University of Applied Sciences. He is our specialist for marketing and hotel management.
