News & Stories

Brussels. In charge of statistics analysis for the EU, Eurostat recently published early estimates about hospitality performance within the Community in 2016. It is not really surprising that the number of tourist nights spent in the EU increased slightly last year despite substantial falls in France and the United Kingdom.

Toronto. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is strengthening its portfolio with more than 50 projects at various stages of planning and development. "Our aspiration is not to be the biggest; it’s to be the best," says J. Allen Smith, President and CEO of the luxury hotel group.

Bad Ischl. In Austria, most hotels are just about able to hold their heads above water. Only the top hotels have been able to sustainably improve their profits. These were the findings of recent studies by the Austrian Tourism Bank and the Austrian Hoteliers Association. The OEHT continually analyses the balance sheets of around 800 lenders, the OEHV had balance sheets from around 3,000 hotels assessed. According to their findings, it would be better if 1,250 hotels disappeared from the market. On the other hand, the government is again ratcheting up financial subsidies.

Wiesbaden. The keyword "News Mix" will bring to you tiny bits of news about considerable events of the past week(s): Arcade/Amsterdam, Art-Invest/Nikko Duesseldorf, Best Western/Vib Antalya, Italy, Centro/Guennewig, Deutsche Hospitality/Bangalore, Hilton/Tapestry Collection, Hyatt/Centric La Rosière, Marriott/Lab, Moevenpick/Expansion, Novum/Results, Union Investment/Hilton Munich City, Vienna

Paris. The first Yooma hotel will open in Paris in March. Its concept offers the best of hotels and hostels with a touch of Airbnb experiences. This new French brand will compete against Jo&Joe, AccorHotels' new hostel segment.

Madrid. Two months before ITB Berlin, the Spanish tourism fair Fitur has come up with some interesting local news, e.g. about new hotel entities, high investments, increasing results and broken deals.

Padua. The news came as a surprise at the beginning of the year: Varde apparently surpassed Northwood in the long run to the acquisition of Boscolo Hotels. At the same time, record numbers have been released: In 2016, total hotel real estate transactions in Italy reached a record value of more than 1.1 billion euros.

Wiesbaden. The keyword "News Mix" will bring to you tiny bits of news about considerable events of the past week(s): AccorHotels/HotelInvest, Allegroitalia, Aloft/Dublin, Ghotel/Essen, IBB/Hall, Ibis budget/Rooms, Garibaldi/19 Resort, GS Star/Arthotel, Hyatt/Miraval, InterConti/Kimpton Amsterdam, Invesco/Adina Nuremberg, Legoland, Leonardo/Dortmund, Louvre/Sarovar, Meliá, Milan, Novum/Vienna, Pandox/Scandic, Partizia, RIU/Madrid, 7 Days/Vienna, W/Budapest, Worldhotels.

Paris/Dubai. In Paris, Jean-Gabriel Pérès, the new President and Chief Executive Officer for Kerzner International announced plans to double the portfolio of the group with its Atlantis and One & Only brands as well as to create "nature resorts".

Hendersonville. Hotel performance continued to show strength while more hosts than ever were renting their residences on Airbnb. This is a surprising result of a study that analyzed the two competitors in 13 global markets. But even though Airbnb seems to weaken at a first glance, it still stays a serious rival for hotels.