News & Stories
Vienna. Four weeks ago, the labour market opened for eight EU states, including Germany and Austria. Given the joint borders with neighbours Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, tensions were high in Austria. Nevertheless: Austria's Federal Economic Chamber expects only minor consequences for hotels as a result. Flexible workers and apprentices remain highly sought after
Vienna. Tourism is Austria continues to perform well. As a result, Vienna's Modul University has now developed a course for managers in the tourism sector.
Berlin/Brussels. He's certainly not one of those hardened CEOs and the twinkle in his eyes makes clear: Frits van Paasschen listens very carefully. The meeting with him at the ITB in Berlin was so that he could introduce himself. And in so doing, the Dutchman at the top of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the American stock market listed hotel management company, is sure of one thing: His task here is not just to rattle out figures which are freely available for all to read, but to explain how he will manage the world's seventh largest hotel group. After all, van Paasschen is not a hotelier; his last CEO position was in a brewery in Colorado. Before that he was responsible for Nike's EMEA business.
Munich. Xing, Twitter and Facebook – employers also use social media for recruitment. Now a survey points out: students and job seekers do not want that. There is hardly any human resources congress or HR conference that does not address this issue. But is this just due to mere hype? After all, it seems that companies have forgotten to ask applicants about it, as they prefer personal interviews instead of Facebook fan pages. A recent survey among roughly 600 students reveals the details.
Munich. Last year’s premiere included 100 trainees solely from Kempinski’s own ranks, but this time there were more than 1,000 external applicants for the “Career Day” at the Kempinski Airport Hotel Muenchen. Reto Wittwer, CEO Kempinski, lined up 65 General Managers and leaders from the corporate office in Geneva to interview junior staff members. However, the large pool of people also included former employees that had been previously been laid off.
Vienna. The expulsion of Rudolf Tucek from the Vienna International Board of Directors last week has rendered unexpectedly public results for the hotel group and its owners: Employees have made confidential correspondence public that was "found on the servers" and then passed it on to the media. "VI Leaks" brings details to light that could initiate the end of the hotel group.
Vienna. The Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group AG headquartered in Vienna invests more than half a million EUR in its own academy. Starting shot was on January 25, 2011.
Munich. The press release on Michel D. Maass' departure spanned exactly three lines. That was on 22 June 1994. The board member of Kempinski AG leaves of his own accord, was the word at the time. As the 53-year-old left the company at the end of 1994, he had been a board member for almost 20 years, through Kempinski Hotels' most formative years. At the side of the extroverted Karl Theodor Walterspiel, he was always the "quiet second one", though was certainly no less influential on the business. This coming Thursday, Michel Maass celebrates his 70th birthday. hospitalityInside Editor-in-Chief, Maria Puetz-Willems, has a mutual friend to thank that the grand seigneur of Kempinski Hotels agreed to give an interview in his beloved Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich. In 1970, at only 29 years of age, he took on the luxury hotel in Munich's renowned Maximilianstrasse as Managing Director. As board member, he thwarted a takeover of the young Kempinski group no less than twice. An apfelstrudel was what it took. In the end, it was this that presumably cost him his position as board member. An unusual background conversation.
Augsburg. At the end of the year, there are always large numbers of changing staff: while many companies actively fire their managers, some managers give up themselves and hand in their notice. “I can’t go on”, is a common statement describing their exhaustion. In both scenarios, they often fall victim to a “systematic chain leadership” that takes away responsibility and freedom, generates lots of frustration and makes them sick. Lay persons consider their companies “chaotic”, while academics talk about missing “complexity management”. Chain managers are much more affected by this than managers of medium-sized businesses, thinks Franz-Josef Koenig, specialist for “Systematic Management” in the field of tourism and hospitality. His explanations agree with the observations of Marc Hildebrand, who has been working in leading positions at Hapag Lloyd, American Express, TQ3 and lastly at Accor Deutschland for over 20 years.
Vienna. In Austria's tourism, the number of open jobs increased by one third in September, according to the Austrian Hotel Association. Now, the industry fears a disadvantage on the labour market of the seasonal workers with respect to Germany.