News & Stories

Munich. According to estimates by the Institute for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Bonn, every year 71,000 family companies in Germany face a transfer of undertakings. The search for and support for a suitable successor is particularly difficult in the time and work-intensive hospitality and catering industry. The transfer itself harbours numerous pitfalls – for both parties. Following on from hospitalityInside.com's practical exposé published a few weeks ago, the tax consultants Barbara Gayer and Frank Behrenz from the law firm Sonntag & Partner, Munich/Augsburg, both specialised in the hotel industry, take a look at the issue from a legal and taxation perspective: The first instalment of this report will look at inheritance and gift tax as well as taxes on earnings. The following instalment will look at some of the legal aspects.

New York/Delhi. The Denizen data theft war between Starwood Hotels and Hilton is going to escalate: Now Starwood accuses 44 Hilton Worldwide executives of stealing trade secrets. In India, also IT company Travelocity has accused a business partner of data theft.

Offenbach. Employees phoning in sick on the day on which they were refused holiday and feigning illness in order to take the day off can be fairly dismissed. Alone the act of calling in sick is sufficient for dismissal. The background from our legal expert and hospitalityInside expert, Joachim Jungbluth.

Offenbach. The recent decision of the European Court of Justice adds further pressure to employers: Should an employee become unable to work over a longer period of time, his holiday entitlement accumulates and does not lapse. Employers are confronted with huge additional burdens. German law must bow to the law of the European Union.

Bern. "Hotel stars remain protected," the Swiss Hotel Association hotelleriesuisse rejoices of its further victory in the "star wars" with its competitor GastroSuisse. GastroSuisse, on the other hand, speaks of a pure interim decision and still hopes to win. As the battle continues, Switzerland's first "0-star hotel" attracts attention.

 

Duesseldorf. Times are hard and hotel margins, which even at the best of times are small, finally seem to have collapsed altogether. If the economic crisis continues, it may very well mean the end for many hotels. The first insolvency proceedings have already been concluded. hospitalityInside.com spoke to a specialist in German insolvency law and asked him about the consequences faced by the hotel industry. Dr Josef Hingerl, Solicitor for Insolvency Law and Consultant to the Hospitality Legal Group*, looks at the issues which arise on insolvency of the operator, the owner or the franchisor of a hotel property and how this affects other partners.

Moscow. The Moscow City Property Department went to the Arbitration Court against ZAO Leningradskaya Hotel with a lawsuit worth 286.1 million RUB. The hotel property - one of seven famous 'Stalin towers' - is owned by OAO Sadko-Hotel and operated by the Moscow subsidiary of Interstate Hotels & Resorts on behalf of a franchise agreement between Sadko-Hotel and Hilton.

Allensbach. The distrust in the German population concerning data protection has been growing. The majority of the population is not convinced that data stored by companies or the state are protected sufficiently. However, the distrust towards companies is higher than towards the state.

London. It all came thick and fast last week: On Tuesday evening, Hilton announced that the development of the new lifestyle brand Denizen had been temporarily halted and that the lifestyle time was suspended. Only four days previously, Starwood Hotels & Resorts accused its competitor of theft of confidential Starwood documents and filed a law suit.

Zurich. The "star wars" between the two competing associations for the hotel and restaurant industry in Switzerland has taken a turn for the better in favour of the smaller landlord association GastroSuisse. A court in Zurich dismissed the suit of the employers' association hotelleriesuisse: The association did not want to accept GastroSuisse's own category system, which is also based on stars.