News & Stories

Salzburg. Tyrol raises its drink prices more quickly than the food dishes. The recently ascertained "Schnitzel Index" demonstrates this. Moreover, the income and revenues visibly gape within the catering trade.

Paris. Louvre Hotels Group announced that its European operations will take on a new structure centred on two distinctive management areas: Subsidiaries & Managed hotels, and Franchises.

London. What's not to like? A buzzing, high quality restaurant in a hotel, bringing new customers through the door and providing an extra facility to attract overnight guests. Then of course there's the valuable potential additional revenue stream that a third party can generate for the hotel at a time when owners are increasingly looking to maximize the potential of their assets. In this guest article, Jeremy Liebster, Associate in the Real Estate group at DLA Piper, London considers issues for an owner when engaging a third party to operate a hotel restaurant.

Eschborn. Progros, a purchasing company, has successfully concluded the 2011 financial year. The company, which is specialised in the hotel industry, increased its purchasing revenues by seven percent to 150 million EUR.

Augsburg. The new trend movement of "Collaborative Consumption" - collective sharing - has provided an immense impetus to private room portals worldwide. As a result, a market segment has blossomed; the professional host classifies it as a "grey market". If private individuals rent one or several rooms online for a small amount of money, they are subjected neither to the same operational nor legal or taxation requirements as hotels and pensions. Airbnb, Wimdu and 9flat belong among the leading bed communities. The German Hotel Association has taken them up in criticism. Private accommodations with less than nine beds generate 87 million overnight stays per year – although not all throughout the country have yet been recorded. Of course, the private room portals do not share the IHA criticism: This is a purely German discussion and is directed toward the wrong.

Berlin / Vienna. Tourism organisations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland answer only 70% of the guest inquiries. A consulting company concluded this with their 9th survey at ITB. This means that the professionals gave away much potential because, ultimately, every third one is booking.

Berlin. How often are there fakes of hotel reviews? How many hoteliers recognise them in general? How professionally does the industry handle negative judgements about their property? Whether the number of the growing hotel reviews on the internet also increases the forgeries, however, does not seem to be quickly and clearly distinguished – in spite of all the headlines of the recent past and the conjecture. On time for ITB Berlin in which Social Media and distribution are discussed in many talk rounds, a university introduces a current study on "Fakes in Hotel Review Portals". The results in advance.

Vienna. International brands in the alpine region are still regarded as an exception. Perhaps it is due to the fact that the operators always only keep the top segment in their sights, supposes Martin Schaffer, Managing Director of the leading Austrian tourism consultants in Vienna, Kohl & Partner. In the following contribution, he analyses reasons and handicaps for international operators. The experienced adviser knows from his everyday life: It is not only in Austria that banks and investors require and desire operator solutions for resort hotels. But, are the operators also capable?

Paris. Missions are numerous in 2012 for the hospitality Industry in France. But the largest issue is undoubtedly the new hotel classification which is behind schedule.

Liestal. In the middle of 2011, the Sunstar Group from Switzerland bought two traditional resorts in Saastal and Pontresina within a ten day period. With this, the group's portfolio increased to eleven hotels. Other acquisitions have not been ruled out. The group specialising in resorts is pursuing a course of expansion.