News & Stories

Munich. The term "Serviced Apartments" has received a refined touch recently right up to "temporary living", as the variety of living has become more colourful and flowing in this segment – ranging from hotel living to commercial micro apartments. "Temporary living is speeding up" as Anett Gregorius, Managing Director at Apartmentservice Berlin, summed up in short at "Hospitality Industry Dialogue", the hotel conference at Expo Real in Munich four weeks ago.

London. Artificial Intelligence has conjured up images of machines taking over, as depicted in sci-fi horror films…. But AI has become the object of speculation and projection as regards the hotel industry. While many observers have focused on the more spectacular manifestations of AI in a hotel context, such as robots serving drinks at the bar or greeting guests in a formulaic manner at reception, the fact is that the most likely applications of AI to take hold for the foreseeable future will be of a more prosaic, incremental nature and ease today's efforts in revenue management, cost control and guest information.

New York. The proper execution of a hotel management contract between owner and operator is a critical step in the development of a successful hotel venture. And: There are differences between the preferred fee structures of the contracts worldwide. In Europe, flat fees dominate.

Miami. Airbnb wants more control over its portfolio. To do so, the rental platform has decided to build its own rental apartment complex in Florida. Airbnb goes even further by offering financial loans to selected hosts, in order to improve their interiors and make them more standard.

Munich. Hackers are able to crack a hotel in 20 minutes, servers in 10 minutes, check-in procedures in 15 minutes. Digital attacks on hospitality properties have increased by more than 40 percent from 2015 to 2016, and are still on the rise. The hospitality segment, however, seems to greatly underestimate the issue: too many operators actually have no clue how to prevent threats and to react in case of attack. And even worse: The real damage is not the attack itself but the guests' reaction. They will stay away from an "unsecure" hotel. At the recent "Hospitality Industry Dialogue", the hotel conference at Expo Real, cyber experts, hoteliers and investors debated one of the industry's hottest topics.

Freiburg. A third of all guests in 5-star hotels have burst into tears in disappointment regarding room and service at least once, a recent survey has found. But there are various, and in some cases rather strange sources of annoyance.

Rome. Italy is celebrating a really successful summer, but it is still a far cry from the levels of success in Spain. A complex of factors boosted the travel and hospitality industry: the renewed interest of national political institutions towards tourism, the increasing accommodation offer, and the wide spectrum of touristic attractions are some of the main factors contributing to the summer success of 2017. Parts of the recent success also go back to the effects of the geo-political turmoil – and Italy benefitted from as did Spain. However, doubts remain as to the actual competitiveness of the Italian tourism system. The details.

Brussels. The EU General Data Protection Regulation will be enforced on May 25, 2018. All firms collecting and processing personal data will face changes, including hotels, OTAs, rental platforms, reviews websites, social media, and search engines. Hotel chains will probably need to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Carlson Rezidor is getting ready as fines for non-compliance could reach up to 4% of the organization's annual worldwide turnover. Be prepared!

Hamburg. Foreign investors are meanwhile very active in the German/European real estate market and also take their investment decisions on the basis of political developments. That the high still has a way to go is for many a given. Investors still want to expand their real estate portfolios. In Hamburg's Westin Hotel in the Elbphilharmonie, the Hogan Lovells "family" met last week with a group of over 100 real estate and hotel experts. They took the sector's pulse – a perfect introduction for the real estate and investment trade fair Expo Real, which begins this coming Wednesday in Munich. There, a broad range of issues will be brought to the floor.

Bern. Switzerland is making progress concerning the ban of the rate parity clause. Now, the National Council has also spoken in favour of the ban of such adhesion contracts. The tourism industry is hoping for a fast decision by the Swiss Federal Council.