News & Stories
Yotel opened its newest hotel in Founex, Switzerland in April. The property is a bit of an experiment in several ways. The 237- key Yotel Geneva Lake, has been launched as a new destination in and of itself, explains the group's CEO, Hubert Viriot. It combines Yotel's minimalist design with a Nordic hygge feeling.
The demand for Serviced Apartments continues to rise sharply, said Falkensteiner CEO Otmar Michaeler in Vienna this week. It will drive the hotel group's strategy, with the next latest Premium Living product at its own destination resort Punta Skala in Croatia.
Bob W. has now established itself as a digital affine hotel alternative in the European market. The venture capital rounds, brand promises and strategies are similar to those of the digital alternatives. And yet the Finnish company is looking for other USPs with more hospitality themes and sustainability. However, this may also mean having to deliver even more.
Demographic shifts will ensure that global tourism does not come to a halt. Sébastien Bazin is enthusiastic: Accor is now perfectly positioned for this! He sees India, China and Saudi Arabia as abundant resources and at the same time pushes new and neglected ideas: super-expensive yachts for the HNWI and Accor Living (residences) for more premium. And all this is made possible by the radical reorganisation of the chain last year.
The Italian market is becoming too small for the luxury hotel group Sina Hotels. That is why it is now looking for international locations that match its vision. So far, it has been asset-heavy, but can also be convinced to go asset-light.
German Oetker Collection has announced its first hotel in the USA. It brings further synergies to the noble collection of eleven "Masterpiece" hotels in Europe, the UK and the Caribbean. CEO Dr Timo Gruenert on the advantages of being an owner-operator under the umbrella of a billion-dollar company.
The takeover of Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts by DSR Hotel Holding was officially completed in April. Thus, the eleven operational Upscale resorts in Germany and Austria will be embedded in the DSR distribution system. Will the brand survive?
It's also Spanish, also hybrid, and follows other Spanish hotel groups: Bilbao-based Líbere Hospitality Group (LHG) is the new kid on the block choosing Italy as its favoured expansion target. LHG is mainly interested in assets in primary and secondary urban centres and is very flexible in its approach in the non-luxury segment.
An overnight stay in Europe's first The Cloud One in Hamburg costs only €10-20 more per room than in the budget design hotel Motel One. On the other hand, breakfast is twice as sumptuous, and a number of the new brand's hotels in southern countries will also have a rooftop pool. Is this lifestyle brand shaking Motel One's profitable space efficiency? Never, management says.
Germany remains a tourism tanker, which is why foreign CEOs continue to believe in the strength of this mega-market. But they also see a lack of competitiveness and too little investment. The opinions of Raúl González from the Barceló Group, Beat Kuhn from SV Hotel, Tom Walsh from Staycity and Duncan O'Rourke from Accor Middle East, Africa, Turkey & Asia-Pacific.