News & Stories

Cannes. 20,000 trade fair visitors, 4,300 investors and almost 2,000 companies and project developers, city and regional planners from over 80 countries... The real estate fair MIPIM certainly appeared to be in good shape as it took place for the 25th time recently. With regard to demography and environment though, the mood was much more contemplative than in previous years. For a while now, city representatives have made their way to Cannes and have reported on what's causing them headaches. This year, it was London's mayor who demanded affordable housing for Londoners. Other topics included city planning and how resource shortages can be avoided: upcycling instead of recycling is the buzz work here. Hotels play little role at the MIPIM, though the discussion in the general real estate sector also impacts on the expansion plans and price calculations of hotel operators and investors. Accordingly, our correspondent Birgitt Wuest was there.

Rome. Through the rumours gathered by the Italian economic newspaper "Il Sole 24 Ore", NH Hotels, Accor and Starwood Capital seem to be aiming at acquiring Italian Una Hotels.

Vienna. In Austria, buy-to-let and fractional ownership are not able to establish themselves due to the bad image of second homes and time-sharing. What Lukas Hochedlinger of Christie + Co is sorry about is a lucky strike for environmental planner Andreas Falch.

Vienna. Austria's hotel investment market continues to be viewed as a safe haven for many investors. Nevertheless, transaction volumes for hotels fell in 2013.

Rome. It's an ambitious project Cassa depositi prestiti is working on. The Italian Treasury-owned company wants to invest in the hospitality industry.

Mainz. More than 20,000 companies in the construction and construction sub-sectors as well as the ancillary sectors in France have announced insolvency within twelve months. With this, one third of all insolvencies took place in the country of the construction, according to the investigation of a loan insurer.

Berlin. 58% of hotel chains and developers believe the outlook for the industry in 2014 is largely positive. Top locations with above-average development potential are seen in the A locations Hamburg and Munich as well as in the B locations Bremen and Nuremberg. Only 13 percent of international hotel chains rate Berlin‘s potential as "above-average" and only 26 percent of project developers - despite the rapid growth in the number of beds there over recent years. In July 2013 alone, the number of guest beds rose by 4.6 year-over-year. Berlin also performed badly in the survey assessing perception of risk and uncertainty. Insiders see the greatest opportunities and no risk in economy hotels. They see the greatest risks for 5-star hotels. Karin Krentz picked apart the "Hotel Sentiment Index 2014", which the German Property Federation and Deloitte presented at the "Hotel Real Estate Day" in Berlin last week.

Hamburg. After launching its budget fund, Union Investment is now drawing attention to its Germany fund again, for which it is still seeking high-yield hotels under operation of renowned brands.

Munich. "There is currently a lot of movement in the world of hotel investment. Hotels are increasingly distinguishing themselves from commercial real estate, despite demanding a lot of in-depth knowledge.” Simon Redman, Managing Director of Invesco Real Estate, London and keynote speaker of the 12th hotel conference ”Hospitality Industry Dialogue” at Expo Real Munich and himself more a financial than a hotel expert underlined the changing image of the industry worldwide: More and more institutional investors, investment companies and family offices are showing interest in this particular sector, international capital is investing across borders – and: "hotel investment is in good shape,” he said. "There is a good balance between the investment community and the operators. This was not always the case.” Simon Redman’s keynote of Expo Real – looking at hotel investments and contracts from an institutional perspective.

Munich. Accor wants to extend its position as European market leader with fast expansion and "maximum flexibility". According to Michael Muecke, Head of Accor Germany, there is still potential for development in Germany everywhere. By the end of 2013, Accor will have 337 Hotels and 44,000 rooms in Germany.