News & Stories

Madrid. In the European hotel market, mergers and acquisitons continue. As reported minutes ago, Spain's second largest hotel group NH Hoteles acquired Grupo Hesperia.

Munich. The Arabella Hospitality Group has drawn a line under former sentimental decision-making. The hotel company, headquartered in Munich and joint venture partner of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, will now leave South Africa and focus attention on new projects. The company further intends to streamline management and the significantly extend the responsibilities of individual Arabella staff. At the same time, two new colleagues have been brought on board from his old team. Today, staff are provided with details of the new structure.

Munich. There are no remains of the former association of Accor and Dorint Hotels: NewGen AG, Moenchengladbach, was dissolved in the middle of October. The AG was dissolved and changed into Accor Hospitality Germany GmbH. Accor accommodation businesses still operate with two companies in Germany.

Munich. Accor selected the new Ibis Hotel City West in Munich as the demo property and for celebrations for the opening of the 100,000th Ibis room worldwide. The 208 room complex stands for the new generation of Ibis hotel. The new dominating red signals the end of the stop: After years of stagnation, Accor Deutschland finally wants to be in the running in Germany's economy sector. Accor is therefore pushing forward again, though its expansion plans and choice of location is much more cautious than before. Peter Verhoeven, new Managing Chairman for Accor Hotellerie Deutschland, and Michael Muecke, Managing Director and General Director of Accor's Economy brands, explained the details. Verhoeven also took questions on Accor Deutschland.Three months ago he took over from CEO Marc Hildebrandt who was dismissed by Accor Management in Paris after only one year.

Bern. Barwa Real Estate Company from Qatar in the United Arab Emirates transferred its Swiss hotel portfolio to another company making the Emirate of Qatar its actual owner.

Duesseldorf. On booking a hotel, more than one third of all Germans make their selection primarily on the basis of price. Only the Spanish are more price-conscious. In a European ranking, the Germans and the Spanish came out top of the bargain hunters list. A price portal asked over 4,000 travellers what influenced their choice of hotel the most when booking this year's holiday.

Zell am See. In the Austrian skiing resort Zell am See, the high society flair is very normal. Therefore, Zell am See, located near Salzburg, named the Ferry-Porsche Congress Center after its famous son of the city. With its name alone, the Grand Hotel Zell am See follows this impetus closely. It belongs to the Holleis Hotels - an association of four hotels that all belong to one family. However, Winfried Holleis is one of the few middle class entrepreneurs that plan to expand abroad. He will soon be starting a new project in Italy. So far, he is still optimistic despite the immense difficulties he has had with his project in Croatia. The engaged private hotelier talks about his plans and the way the bank delayed his investments.

Bethesda. Bulgari and the youngest brand, Edition, are both the responsibility of Ritz-Carlton - Marriott separates responsibilities here clearly. Now, the hard Marriott core markets its own lifestyle brand: Renaissance. Sprucing up an old name.

Rostock. arcona Hotels & Resorts and the Steigenberger Hotel Group have agreed to extend the contract for the franchise brand Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts. With this move, the companies set the path for another ten years of collaboration commencing on 1 January 2010.

Frankfurt. Steigenberger's new owner obviously has the financial power the company has been longing for in order to boost both quality and expansion. 70 million euros are currently available to spread all over - a part of this amount already comes from Hamed El Chiaty, who bought Germany's biggest hotel group five weeks ago. Yesterday, the business man and Chairman of Travco Group, the leading Egyptian tourism company, introduced himself at a press conference in Frankfurt. Concrete plans were still lacking for the new, common strategy and expansion. However, the interpretation of the few figures shows that fresh money was highly welcome. El Chiaty mainly likes the strategy effect of his acquisition move, which makes him one of the biggest players in Europe in one go. Details of the first encounter.