News & Stories

Vienna. The VAT increase from 10 to 13% will be reversed as of November 1, 2018. From that day onwards, VAT will return to 10%. The aim is to address competitive disadvantages.

Munich. The divorce between AccorInvest and AccorHotels has been legally binding since June 1, 2018. The two companies have nothing to do with each other anymore. The new capital structure has also completely changed AccorHotels' business model. AccorHotels is now no longer the classic operator, but "only" recommender to the owners. AccorHotels is thus the "manager" of the companies. However, this term – at least in German language – is still confusing because it is ambiguous. What is clear: AccorHotels must now generate significantly more BTI fees than before. These are the Base Management Trade Fees. Laurent Picheral, Deputy CEO Europe & CEO Central Europe for AccorHotels, explained the new role to hospitalityInside.com.

San Francisco. Airbnb is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. As a "gift", more European destinations are imposing restrictions after a decade of legislation abuse. From Spain to Denmark, Airbnb is now compelled to collect tourist tax, report hosts' earnings to tax authorities and remove all unlicensed homes from its listings. For expert Murray Cox from the website InsideAirbnb.com, it's not enough.

Zurich. From 1 August 2018, Airbnb will automatically charge a City Tax for all bookings made in the Canton of Zurich and will forward this directly to Zurich Touriusm. To this end Airbnb and Zurich Tourism have concluded a mutual agreement in the spirit of partnership.

Bethesda. Marriott is testing the waters of the home-sharing business segment. Through a 6-month partnership with British home rental management company Hostmaker, Marriott is competing with Airbnb Plus, Onefinestay and Oasis. The group has handpicked 200 units in London only, for now.

Frankfurt. Even if hoteliers and representatives of loyalty programmes constantly suggest that recognising regular guests in the hotel is extremely important, in fact very few business travellers are at all bothered when this is not the case. Also surprising: 82% choose 3 and 4-star hotels for the stay. Less than 14% choose the budget hotels.

San Francisco/Beijing. While it is ignoring calls of European authorities for data sharing, Airbnb is being fully cooperative with the Chinese government which leaves it no choice but to follow the rules. Globally, the sharing platforms remain under fire. In Mallorca, it is HomeAway's turn now – after Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

Munich. Germany's first pop-up hotel will, on being closed, only have "lived" for 15 months. Yet it received as much publicity as other hotels do in 15 years. "The LOVELACE - A Hotel Happening” opened its door in prime city centre location in Munich in September 2017, and occupies the former Bavarian State Bank. It's a success story in itself. From 2019, it must make way for renovation works to become the new Rosewood Hotel Munich. Now, the founders are looking for other properties and want to roll out their concept in collaboration with the Duesseldorf-based company 12.18. Investment Management GmbH. Pop-ups are to live on!

Hong Kong. The Asian luxury hotel group is currently growing faster than ever – at least from its own point of view. But it does not want to compete with the rollouts of mega chains anyway: the niche player is to become boutique at best. Christoph Mares, who has been with Mandarin Oriental for 17 years and the company's Chief Operating Office since 2018, provided an update on the latest challenges and plans of the hotel group, which does not lose sight of the rest of the world despite the ongoing boom in Asia.

Paris. Airbnb's romance with France is over. The government has announced tougher laws and hefty fines against all rental platforms which do not respect the voted rules. For the first time, Airbnb and its competitors will be held financially accountable for every illegal host they list.