News & Stories

Prague. As of recently, the Prague-based hotel group Mamaison has had a new corporate identity and new website. The objective of the change is to underline its ambitious plans for the future: growth to 35 hotels within the next three to four years. Ten hotels in Central and Eastern Europe are counted by the group today.

Berlin. Other countries would welcome the reduction, only in Germany, with its culture of envy, have media managed to talk and trample it all to death. Only very seldomly has a programme introduced by government attracted so much attention and activism on part of the press as the VAT reduction for the German hotel industry has managed. Since 1 January 2010, not a single day has passed without accusations being laid at the hotel industry's door. Now, even the abolition of the reduction is being discussed, or at least a basic reform of the measure. A particularly German farce.

Berlin. As of 1.1.2010, VAT was reduced in the German hotel industry from 19 to seven percent. In the first weeks following its introduction, the reduction has resulted tension throughout the industry. Whereas consumer groups have demanded price reductions, hoteliers wish to see the savings used to improve guest services. Meanwhile, the communes are already planning new culture levies.

Bad Honnef. The international University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef/Bonn and the Association for Systemic Management will offer a new "quality management" course for hotel and tourism studies as of March 2010.

Berlin/Prague. This Monday in Prague, the foundation stone was laid on the way towards a standardised European hotel star classification system: Hotel associations from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary established the "Hotelstars Union".

Bremen. The Zech Group GmbH, based in Bremen, has steadily expanded its hotel commitments in recent years. Today, Zech Hotel Holding holds interests in nine hotels and a residential care home. By the end of 2010, four further hotels will open. The group's hotels are either bundled in the Atlantic Hotel consortium or have roofs adorned with franchise name like Holiday Inn.

Berlin. The reduction of the value added tax by 12 percent for accommodation services is part of the coalition agreement of the new German Federal Government and is scheduled to become effective in January 2010; however, it is causing a big fuss. The Federal Council has its final debate concerning this subject on December 18. The federal states are not willing to do without their tax revenues. The bulk of media reports unilaterally about the planned reductions. In the industry itself, extortionate demands of corporate customers are causing uncertainties. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association, which is convinced of its realisation, is working on operation guidelines for hotel managers at full speed.

Bethesda/Chevy Chase. The poor economy and Marriott's own bad figures have now forced the company to tighten internal structures. Accordingly, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott's luxury hotel subsidiary is shifting employees in important positions under Marriott's big umbrella. The luxury brand of Ritz-Carlton, however, is said to remain unchanged in its core.

Wiesbaden. The hospitality industry has concluded its budgeting for 2010. Never before has there been as much insecurity as this year. In Europe, the cost-saving measures taken give reason to hope for increasing income while economic conditions remain unchanged. Therefore, the industry rather does not expect revenues to grow. Between the lines of this international survey by hospitalityInside.com there is a clear message: the financial crisis has intimidated hotel managers even more, and everyone fears damaging "shareholder value" through honest statements.

Berlin. At the beginning of October, the Spanish hotel group Abba opened its first hotel in Berlin, which is the first hotel in Germany; a second one is to follow in Munich in 2011. The small chain remains faithful to its goal and relies on top locations. "Even if the name Abba suggests Swedish connections, the new hotel in Berlin and the hotel group have Spanish roots," says Juan Ramón Acín, Managing Director of Operations of Abba Hotels.