News & Stories
Augsburg. Since yesterday, the Swiss have been enjoying the great liberating blow that came overnight: All restrictions have been lifted. The neighbouring countries will follow - with Germany and Italy bringing up the rear at the end of March. Our correspondents report.
Amsterdam. Booking.com is about to outsource its customer service to Majorel, leaving 2,700 employees around the world in limbo. Workers concerned by the reorganisation are worried about their future, although the OTA told hospitalityInside everyone will be offered a fair chance to move forward. The Amsterdam-based company is acting more and more like an American entity. The company's image is already stained.
Zurich. Hotels have to rethink their value-added chains strategically – and break the vicious circle they created. For the Swiss Behavioural Economist Gerhard Fehr, the lack of professionals in the hotel industry is self-induced. The industry also underestimates the relationship between staff and customer: Success only happens at eye level. In future, trial work should be paid, for example.
Stuttgart/Hamburg. Nothing works in the hotel without employees. And if the value of the asset is to grow, employees must grow with it. It’s their commitment that motivates guests to spend more. University professor Dr Christian Buer will soon open the first Moxy Hotel in which the General Managers can also be partners. And prizeotel founder Marco Nussbaum, now a private hotelier, has established a public limited company in which all employees have a share. An approach that should give chains and investors food for thought.
Hamburg. More and more applicants are checking the promises of employers via evaluation portals. According to their own information, they regularly find discrepancies. This has consequences for the employer.
Amsterdam. Prior to the pandemic, the travel and tourism industry accounted for one in four of all new jobs created across the world, and 10,6% of all jobs within the sector which were 334 million in 2019. The World Travel & Tourism Council confirms that after two years of co-existing with the coronavirus, the sector is crippled. Jobs have been lost by millions around the globe. In 2020, 62 million jobs disappeared, representing a drop of 18.5%. In 2021, numbers were still very concerning, and no country was spared.
Vienna. The Austrian Hoteliers Association annual congress, scheduled for mid-January, didn't take place this year due to corona, but the association did change its president. Walter Veit succeeds Michaela Reitterer. Looking back, the outgoing president, both popular and critical, says: "It wasn't until there was no more tourism that his role really became visible and recognised." But she herself would never go into politics. Chains will increasingly enter the resort hotel business, she says, and new operator models are needed in the city.
Lausanne. The Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne likes to think of itself as the best hotel management school in the world. Now it is facing big changes itself: through the gigantic, 228-million-franc expansion of the campus and - most recently - through the new, gender-appropriate dress code. Its explanation fills 15 pages.
Berlin. The current staff shortage is probably only the beginning of a huge disaster, many hoteliers fear. On the one hand, the industry has only itself to blame for the situation it now finds itself in. On the other, politicians are blocking every attempt at self-help, such as the search for employees in non-EU countries, and authorities are delaying the construction of urgently needed apartments. Higher wages help, but tips would still need to be priced in.... But that alone is not enough. So what to do? A self-critical tour d'horizon through the industry.
Vienna. The winner is whoever deals best with the employees. Austria, which depends heavily on tourism, is the best pulse monitor when it comes to staff shortage, especially just before the start of the winter season. More than 16,000 positions are vacant, with a reported shortage of 60,000 Hungarians alone. And plenty of British ski instructors are missing as well. A good solution has not been found yet.
