News & Stories
Salzburg (October 28, 2005 ). In its 30th anniversary year the Austrian purchasing company for hotels and hospitality, Hogast, secures its leading position as supplier in the Austrian tourist industry. With consistent turnover increases, the company sits easily in the list of Austria 's 150 largest firms. But even Hogast is making the move from purchasing to full service provider.
Frankfurt/M. Cost management and personnel savings in the hotel industry have brought the purchasing companies increased turnover and growing membership base. But cheap purchases are not enough. Those companies providing individual solutions stay ahead in the struggle about clients.
Frankfurt/M. It's all about turnover: The associations HSMA and IHA are on 29 November to hold a "revenue day" in Frankfurt.
Berlin. The three largest German hotel and tourism associations have agreed on uniform recommendations for the layout of hotel guides and registers in Germany. With this, the complicated and confusing award system in the tourist industry is to put to end.
New York. Trendy boutique hotels are becoming a trend by themselves. They are no longer small independent owner driven properties. More and more chains develop their own boutique brand. On the other hand successful private owners look for new locations. That trend can be observed in the US as well as in Germany.
Monte Carlo. The industry thinks about cheap and practicable technologies, new sources of turnover such as residences and about additional cost saving potential regarding energy. Of course, the current hotel mergers were also a topic at the 3rd International Hotel Conference in Monte Carlo this week.
Munich. Two hotels in Munich guarantee far higher standards than required of their category. Every guest is invited to download them from the homepage. If the criteria are not met, the guest may demand "compensation".
Abu Dhabi. In the luxurious Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, a little more peace will obviously set in soon: a new general manager seems to have been found after Willy Optekamp's surprising Goodbye in April, and Kempinski's CEO Reto Wittwer is happy that the differences with the owners have been settled. Kempinski will remain the operator of the palace.
Westlake Village. Despite rising room rates and increased hotel occupancy, customer satisfaction in the hotel industry is up, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study released yesterday.