Bregenz. The sensation comes at the beginning, the profit at the end. When it comes to tourism architecture, daring new concepts pay off, as the Austrian study of "Architektur macht Gaeste" shows. "Less than one percent of all tourist buildings in Austria belong to modern quality architecture," says the architect Bibiane Hromas about the current situation in front of roughly 100 tourist experts and architects at the start of the symposium of "Architektur macht Gäste" in Bregenz. But avant-gardists of the scene revealed: innovative construction projects pay off in economic terms as well.

Munich. Viador Ltd will be the name of the new joint venture between Vivico Real Estate and the Feuring Group. Company headquarters will be in Frankfurt. Area of work will include market and location evaluation and hotel development.

Munich. The rapidly expanding Eastern European market still brings with it its own particular palette of problems and risks. Still, ten years subsequent to the first wave of Western investment, the markets are still ridden with legal uncertainty and - at least from a western perspective - false impressions with regard to hotel locations and concepts. One huge problem comes in the form of massively overvalued land, minimising added value for hotel owners and operators right from the very start.

Munich. The flow of capital does not stop, but investors change. Lease agreements could gain in attractiveness and hotel management companies will invest in real estate again. Three issues in the discussion about hotel real estate that were the prelude to the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" last Monday at the start of the commercial real estate fair Expo Real in Munich.

London. Given the boom in hotel development it comes as not real surprise to find an exhibition exploring the subject. "Away from Home - New Hotels in London" is a new exhibition looking at the city’s prospects for hotel development in the run up to the 2012 Olympiad and beyond. However it is not just to the east of the capital around the Olympic Park or even the whole of London where development is taking place. ”What the exhibition explores in a very concise manner is not just a London phenomena but one which we are seeing across the globe,” commented Claus Sendlinger, CEO of design hotels.

Cologne. The Spanish investment group Losan, based in Madrid, has bought the walls to the Crowne Plaza Cologne Centre hotel, opened more than 20 year ago. The InterContinental Hotel Group is now set to leave the property by the end of the year.