News & Stories
Heiligendamm. A twelve-million Euro fence will soon be encircling the Kempinski Hotel Heiligendamm. This week's TV footage showed the start of the construction work focused on June 6 -8, 2007. At this time, the luxury resort in Northern Germany will host the G8 summit, the meeting of the eight most influential heads of government in the world, and will therefore have to be properly sealed off. By the end of December, the hotel had already been the target of a "colour-bag attack". Maria Puetz-Willems talked with Kempinski's General Manager Torsten Dressler about the current status of the preparations, security issues and the summit's meaning for the resort and the entire destination.
Donaueschingen. The first two hotel take-overs in Germany completed by the Sinn Group last year caused quite a stir: a hotel in Donaueschingen, closed for 12 years, and the Steigenberger Hotel in Mannheim, heavily in need of urgent investment, were the objects of the take-overs. So what was the plan and who makes up the team behind such investments?
Munich. Our latest report about the structural changes at Choice Hotels caused some confusion among our readers regarding its reference to particular individuals. As hospitalityInside.com attaches great importance to transparency, we are happy to clarify any points here in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Bahrain. For the second year in Bahrain, hotels have been ordered by the Ministry of Information's Tourism Affairs Directorate not to serve alcoholic beverages during the Muslim month of Ramadan. Now hoteliers complain.
Munich. Hans-Dieter Schiller, pathfinder for the expansion of Choice Hotels in Germany, will in future lead other brands in a new company of his own. His colleague Margit Koller became new Managing Director for Germany & Central Europe with Choice Hotels Europe and in future will report directly to the USA. The restructuring had obviously become necessary in order to increase the influence of the American franchise partner in continental Europe. The developments of recent weeks in detail.
Vienna. With their first Benchmarking Symposium, the consultancy firm Kohl & Partners managed to attract almost 150 hoteliers, bankers and consultants. The interest is there, but so too is the insecurity. Kohl & Partners have been collecting data for the last 20 years, more recently also in the popular wellness sector. This month sees the beginning of a second benchmark system: "Webmark". A state supported system intended to motivate mid-sector holiday hoteliers into taking part by offering reasonable membership rates.
Augsburg. Benchmarking has become one of the most popular terms in the hotel industry. Especially in Austria and Germany which has the fiercest competition in Europe, comparing one's own figures with those of the competitors promises security. This is why hospitalityInside.com compares the hotel benchmark providers themselves. The conclusion: hoteliers, banks, consultants and investors believe in deceptive safety. Above all, the major providers such as Deloitte in London and MKG in Paris refuse transparency. In England, the market weight is shifting in favour of the newcomer - The Bench. Vienna is the place of birth of another international database starting in 2007. Austria itself sees a new separate government-supported benchmark system. The benchmark market is restructuring itself.
Augsburg. Hotels favour using the figures of benchmark providers. Project developers, banks and consultants prefer keeping their distance. The opinions about the usefulness of these collected market and industry data range from strong loyalty to extreme disapproval. A survey among those all of whom benchmark providers claim to be their customers.