News & Stories
Rome. Italy will see many openings in Q3 and Q4 2023 as well as a considerable pipeline until 2026. Chain properties are on the rise, but its market coverage remains thin. Leases are the most popular contract model.
New York. Does Choice Hotels want to take over Wyndham? The smaller franchise giant to swallow the bigger one? The first headlines of the Wall Street Journal and further info from Reuters went around the world since Wednesday night. Our transaction specialist warns there is a lot of smoke.
Milan. Azora has a clear vision of the future of its Bluserena Group: a company well rooted in Italy, will now be repositioned in the upscale segment aiming at a stronger leisure presence in the Mediterranean region.
Berlin. The serviced apartment sector is not only leaving the pandemic behind, but even surpassing the occupancy figures before Corona, as current market figures show. Accordingly, the mood in the sector is exceptional. Is it emerging as a winner from the current crises and challenges?
Madrid/Berlin. Earlier this week, while Minor International’s boss Dillip Rajakarier was parading in Berlin during IHIF as if everything was fine, a real drama was unfolding in Spain between Minor and NH. The attempt from the Thai hotel group to take full control of the Spanish group didn't go smoothly. Both the stock market regulator and three NH directors disagreed with the offer, calling it "detrimental" to minority shareholders.
Amsterdam. Actively seeking midscale and upscale hotels to join their rapidly expanding portfolio in the EMEA region, Choice Hotel Group signed a strategic partnership with Dutch group Borealis. Both entities plan to grow together. For Choice, it is perfect timing.
Dubai. It was the hyper announcement at the Arabian Travel Market last week: the fifth largest residential developer from Dubai, the Arab family Azizi, is entering the hotel industry in a big way. With 50 hotels, 20,000 luxury rooms in five years and the next mega tower including hotel in Dubai, which will be only slightly smaller than Burj Khalifa. COO is the German Michael Zager.
Rimini. Rome will see a real surge of luxury hotel offer in the next three years. Especially international companies are interested in entering the Eternal city – if only for strategical reasons. 16 out of the 19 luxury properties currently in the pipeline belong to global brands. Such product increase might however not be commensurate with an increase in demand.
Berlin/Bangkok. Berlin-based HR Group continues its expansion course and buys shares in Thailand in the operating company Absolute Hotel Services based in Bangkok, which currently has 37 hotels and 34 in the pipeline. HRG wants to expand in Asia soon and also expand its presence in Europe with the new partners.
Stockholm. The plans were already presented in 2020. Now the Swedes want to finally step on the gas with Scandic Go Hotel and enter the economy segment. The first hotel will be launched in Stockholm.