News & Stories

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. 

Bern. In Switzerland, the value added tax on accommodation services may be temporarily lowered. But, it is not yet definitive. The industry association, hotelleriesuisse, expressly welcomed the decision on Tuesday.

Paris. JacTravel, a UK based independent, privately owned company specialising in the provision of hotels online and inbound services exclusively to the travel trade, warns that Paris will be around 10% worse value in 2012.

Paris. Exactly one month after inputting a 2% extra tax on hoteliers overnights above 200 Euro, and curiously few months only before presidential elections, the French government moves back regarding hospitality industry.

Erkrath/Munich. The German hotel and catering trade industry has stabilised again last year. If one of the most bitter years for the industry was in 2009, the last year showed a slightly positive trend.

Hamburg. With currently seven hotels in Germany and Cyprus, Columbia Hotels & Resorts have become a small chain. The portfolio comprises hotels of the 4 to 5-star superior category. The marketing focus concentrates on cooking performance and wellness. Therefore, the joy is all the greater about the most recent stars. Concerning figures, the group remains very reserved.

Koblenz/Frankfurt. The tension between real expansion and quality has long since been an issue for Franz-Josef Koenig. The quality expert can only sit back in amazement as hotel chains continue to announce new projects whilst at the same time failing to keep abreast of maintenance and upgrades in existing properties. A hotel which is only five years old will already have problems keeping up on today's markets: The reason lies in the strong "hardware" competition with other newer hotels and well as in the ever intensifying battle of prices and distribution channels. Yet hotel operators still choose to deal only with the symptoms and not the causes. And so Franz-Josef Koenig, Managing Director of Koenig-Strategie GmbH asks: Do anonymous hotel checks make any sense at all? Romantik Hotels & Restaurants, a consortium, operates a dual system with mystery checks for the hotel and an audit of the wellness area.