News & Stories
Bad Ischl. "We don't want any money for free. But there have to be interest-free loans for companies that face vultures circling above them due to the current lack of snow," demanded OEHV's President Sepp Schellhorn in the course of last week's OEHV congress in Bad Ischl. For the first time, more than 500 participants visited the important industry conference, at which hoteliers also demanded that Austria be more strongly advertised across Europe.
Kaarst. 55 hotels worldwide have already joined the Travel in Trend Hotels consortium founded in summer 2006. In all likelihood, the most important reason being: the appealing image, comparably low costs and persuasive sales team.
Augsburg. The extraordinary general meeting of the still existing Dorint AG is scheduled to take place on February 28 in Neuss near Cologne. On this occasion, all shareholders are to approve the decisions of the main shareholders of last week. As reported in the "Breaking News" last Sunday, the management association of the 93 Dorint/Accor hotels will be cancelled and the co-branding will be terminated. In the meantime, further details became known, just as the names of the 41 hotels being transferred into the new Dorint Ltd.
The brands separate again...
Cologne/Munich. Insolvency proceedings threatening Dorint plc have now been avoided. By way of a so called "spin-off" solution, the German chain has secured itself a new perspective: 41 hotels cooperating with the French Accor Group will now make up a newly founded Dorint Ltd. which will be completely taken over by Ebertz & Partners, Cologne on Monday. 52 hotels remain for the moment with the old hotel company, Dorint plc., is soon to rename itself and instate Accor as majority shareholder. The decision entails the termination of the management contracts with Accor for 41 hotels.
The co-branding introduced in 2003 has also been consigned to the past: Dorint once again becomes Dorint. Accor brands too: Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure are once again to stand alone. Exceptions are made up by the three InterContinental Hotels and a Radisson SAS managed hotel similarly belonging to the Dorint co-operation.
As of April 2007, the newly formed limited company is to receive a new managing director duo: Eric Lassiaille, formerly General Manager of Dorint Resorts, and Elke Schade, present Executive Chairwoman of Ringhotels in Munich. With the before standing changes, Dorint, Germany`s biggest hotel company, is to be reduced to less than half its former size. Insiders now hope the with the newly formed group, which incidentally will still employ a staff 3,000 strong, will once again place Dorint on the path to becoming a profit-making undertaking. First profits are expected for 2009.
The spin off solution was made possible in recent weeks after all funds and owners/leaseholders of Dorint Hotels agreed to further massive reductions in their leases. Once again Accor steps into the breach, this time with an equity contribution of 52 million Euros to be held as capital reserve by the new company. The new Dorint Ltd. will then operate 41 hotels from the former Dorint Accor co-operation.
St. Moritz. The good news spread like wildfire over the holidays: Hansjuerg Badrutt gave his Palace in St. Moritz, one of the most famous luxury hotels of Switzerland, to his Managing Director Hans Wiedemann "as a gift". This surprise coup was a well-considered and cleverly calculated regulation governing the succession of the childless 76-year old heir to the Badrutt hotel dynasty in St. Moritz.
Hockenheim. Germany's Achat Hotels located in Hockenheim and the Sorell Hotels Switzerland hotel chain headquartered in Zurich began their collaboration on January 1, 2007.
Boston. U.S. hotel business has been good, growth phenomenal, profits hefty. However, the hotel industry is under fire by some media outlets, headed by the well-known newspaper The Boston Globe, a subsidiary of the New York Times.
New York. Consumer generated media — blogs, discussion boards, review sites, social network sites, etc., has remained a prevalent subject in hotel marketing discussions in the past year. Now, a new survey shows that the majority of U.S. hoteliers are viewing this much more as an opportunity than as a risk. According to the survey 81% of respondents said they viewed CGM as a good opportunity and are using it in many ways.