News & Stories
Lausanne/London. The first boutique hotels originally appeared in the 80’s, evolving rapidly into a well established niche sector in the hotel industry. Design hotels, affordable chic hotels, chain/branded boutiques and fashion hotels - grasped and well received by the lifestyle traveller, they became popular, not only by this select group but also by independent hoteliers who saw an opportunity to provide a differentiated product while achieving higher returns. How robust is this service-intense and costly product in the current crisis? An analysis full of figures and facts.
Berlin. "It's nice to be in a country in which the crisis doesn't have such a big influence!" These were the words with which Ritz-Carlton President and CEO Simon Cooper addressed his audience in the Ritz-Carlton Berlin just a few weeks ago. With this short statement he also hinted at the following: grumbles and groans are relative. The second largest luxury hotel group in the world - with 72 hotels in operation and a further 30 projects in the pipeline - is currently seeing falls in sales, occupancy and earnings are falling in the high two digit figures in almost all its hotels, wherever they are across the globe. Meanwhile, the CEO has begun to make calls to the company's key accounts personally. He, himself, is now "on the front", as it were. In an interview with hospitalityInside.com, Cooper explains exactly how Ritz-Carlton views the crisis and what the 5-star group is doing to master it.
Augsburg. "It’s not easy!" Stefan Interthal, Managing Director of the Kempinski Adlon Berlin, sums it up for all colleagues. However, not a single hotelier uses words like "brutal" to describe the current situation as Simon Cooper, CEO of Ritz-Carlton, does. The luxury hotel crisis cannot be denied in Germany either, but it is less dramatic, compared to many other parts of the world. Despite that, there are differences among Germany’s luxury hotels as well. Therefore, it is not the time for any sweeping statements: a statement like "luxury hotels are struggling" is simply false. Leading German luxury hotels answered questions of hospitalityInside.com.
Hamburg/Berlin. Leading Hotels of the World's most recent quality checks of Kempinski's Hotels Atlantic in Hamburg and Bristol in Berlin seem to have turned out so badly that the marketing association from New York is considering throwing out the two hotels.
Munich. The end of the joint venture with the French hotel group Accor was the beginning for Blue & Green Hotels in Lisbon. In Portugal, in the middle of the economic crisis, a new hotel group is forming with three resorts and a further ten boutique hotels planned. Behind the project is one of the largest casino companies in the country as well as an influential businessman.
Frankfurt. In order to reduce costs effectively, companies must foster financial responsibility in staff too. Proper data analyses also help in keeping expenses down. A further approach for improving cost-efficiency is structural optimisation. These are the findings of a study on cost management in international companies.
Wals. The Austrian purchasing company for the hotel and restaurant industry, Hogast recently announced preliminary results for fiscal year 2009/09. The figures showed an increase in sales of 5.6 percent to 585 million EUR for the fiscal year 2008/09 as per 30th April. The result is the 33rd record year in the history of Hogast which stretches back just as far. Hogast, which has 1,951 members and 87 staff, had to be content with an increase in single figures for the first time in twelve years.
Moenchengladbach. The hotel world talks about average occupancy, average room rate and about the "RevPar", the revenue per available room. But only few know that the "RevPar" in particular is not as easy as it looks. This becomes particularly apparent when looking at the various types of hotels, from budget to luxury. Wouldn't the "TrevPar" be the more reasonable instrument? A differentiated view on a term used widely in the industry.
Wiesbaden. Outsourcing of housekeeping services is now a widespread feature of the hotel industry. Nevertheless, hotels relying too heavily on external service providers may be in for some nasty surprises. Minimum wages and police raids are currently exerting increased pressure in Germany. Qualitative improvements must and can be steered from the hotel. The situation in Austria is similar. Two head housekeeping consultants, one from Germany and one from Austria, give their opinion on the matter. They also provide consulting services and offer further training through courses and the "housekeeper's diploma".
Frankfurt/M. Despite the economic crisis, progros Einkaufsgesellschaft still records growth. The company, whose services are used by about 600 German hotels for professional purchasing, managed to increase total sales by another 15 percent in fiscal 2008. For the current year, the company expects similar positive development as demand for purchasing solutions aimed at cost improvement is on the rise. In addition, the company has founded the progros Akademie for teaching know-how in purchasing.