News & Stories

Augsburg. "There are currently no plans to sell Novum Hospitality. Correspondingly, there are neither negotiations nor talks being held," CEO David Etmenan said to hospitalityInside.com denying rumours from the market. And he gave a short insight into the current situation of the group, which has over 150 hotels at the moment.

Munich. With the second lockdown, which takes place now, in the month of November, the German hospitality industry has lost its balance: from now on it is all about insolvencies, livelihoods and the social consequences. In the background, lawsuits against the state and its regulations are piling up. Inspired by a discussion in a political circle, Prof. Dr Stephan Gerhard and Maria Puetz-Willems decided to do this interview, which shows how the constitutional state of Germany is turning into an intervening state when it comes to hospitality. And there is even a lot more at stake: the balance of the fundamental rights! Currently, the basic right to physical integrity supersedes everything. It is even forestalling the economy. But only healthy companies can guarantee a healthy economy.

San Francisco. It's not even spring yet and Airbnb is on a cleaning spree. Ahead of a much-awaited IPO, the company announced a new simplified pricing global strategy and also hired Apple ex-iPhone head of design to create the new Airbnb generation. Guests will pay no fees in future.

Washington. The CEOs and managers of 77 American hotel chains, consortia, investment/real estate companies and hotel associations have written a joint letter to US President Donald Trump asking for a liquidity injection for the industry. Recommended for imitation! Two thirds of US hotels indicate that they can only survive another six months without further relief.

Wiesbaden. The corona crisis has shaken the franchise industry thoroughly. Franchisors and franchisees are more dependent on each other than ever. From the franchisors' perspective, everything sounds fine: waiver or suspension of fees, relaxed brand standards, more communication… Accor, Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Choice, Best Western provide insights into their measures. However, we have not received any feedback from franchisees.

Munich. When the real estate trade fair Expo Real in Munich was cancelled at short notice Monday night, the editorial team of hopspitalityInside.com organised its own hybrid "Expo Real 2020" at the apartment hotel MaSeven in Munich overnight and had 35 experts joining from the hotel industry, real estate and services. The conclusion of the two-hour exchange of views via video call on Wednesday: The situation remains deadly serious, the industry needs to make itself heard better, maybe also via newly created mouthpieces. In addition, Stefan Rummel, Managing Director at Messe Muenchen, explained live the reasons for the cancellation of Expo Real.

London. Mark Anderson is working from his home office. In the last few months, he has travelled little and moves between web calls and home schooling. In the British Whitbread group, where he is responsible for about 830 Premier Inn hotels as Managing Director, the business year 2019/2020 was concluded in May – in the middle of the first corona chaos. A cash cushion of about 2 billion pounds should help to master the crisis and even drive the expansion further – especially in the declared growth market of Germany. An interview with Mark Anderson, Managing Director, Property & Premier Inn International Whitbread Group: Cash can make deals happen.

Munich. They're not just speakers, they're the most successful, most sought-after and best experts in some particular field X; they are top speakers, top keynote speakers or global leading speakers. Several thousand listeners regularly flock to their lectures... Video chats and podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, but in the end they are nothing more than one long advertisement, an extended commercial. In his book "Seit ich lüge, läuft der Laden", marketing expert Nils-Peter Hey takes a critical journey full of satire through the world of deception and deceit in the speaker scene.

Augsburg. On Wednesday, the German Federal Foreign Office decided to replace the general travel bans by individual travel alerts starting from October 1. Will this help the hotel industry to survive the dark months of fall and winter? These concerns and many other aspects also resonated in the answers of hoteliers and hotel groups in cities and holiday destinations when we asked them: "How was the holiday month of August?" The heads of Baur au Lac Zurich and Buergenstock Resorts Lucerne, Hotel Hochschober, Travel Charme, Seetelhotels, hotel alliances in individual cities and the two consortia Romantik and Preferred Hotels are speaking out.

Berlin/Vienna. The desire to travel remains, not only in Europe. Futurologist Andreas Reiter from Vienna is certain: the experience is irreplaceable, highly emotional and therefore only available in analogue form. In 2021 we will regain the freedom we have lost this year, forget our current modesty and look forward to the culture of experience in big Adreanlin jumps.

Travel will become more conscious, will no longer be possible so spontaneously, but will be gently guided by digital tools. The tourism industry as such can no longer release happiness hormones, its sexiness is dwindling, which is why it will have to fight even harder for many talents in the future.

The video interview with hospitalityInside editor-in-chief Maria Pütz-Willems about post-pandemic travel, which was produced this week, can be found below. Share it via this link. / kn

Andreas Reiter will also give a keynote address on post-pandemic travel at the Expo Real Hybrid Summit on 14 October in Munich, during the hotel conference "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" from 3-15.50 pm.