News & Stories
Paris/Berlin. By the end of 2005, Société du Louvre was sold to the Starwood Capital US investor, after which "we carried out stocktaking for one year," says Marie-Béatrice Lallemand, who has been Chief Operating Officer Concorde Hotels & Resorts - the luxury brand of the Société du Louvre parent company - since May 2005. 2007 served as a preparation period for the new development structure the realisation of which will start in 2008. At the turn of the year, Société du Louvre was renamed Group du Louvre, and there was a clear separation of companies with respect to the segments of the new "Lourvre Hotels" and "Concorde Hotels". Today, the group includes 33 Concorde Hotels & Resorts in 13 countries as well as 800 hotels of the Campanile, Kyriad and Première Classe budget brands. The Crillon Hotels & Resorts, Baccarat Hotels & Resorts noble brands as well as the 1 Hotels & Residences environmental brand are currently in the build-up phase.
Berlin. The ITB traffic chaos in Berlin and his chock-a-blog schedule made it difficult to meet each other, but it worked out in the end: David Fattal, founder of Fattal Group in Israel, belongs to the new figures on the market one should have seen in private once. After all, he wants to open about 80 hotels in Europe by 2011. "I`m a hotelier," says Fattal about himself, "and the German(-speaking) market is of great interest to me, as it is economically developed and provides the same business culture as Israel." In contrast to the major international chains, the rising entrepreneur would only prefer to don one thing: buy hotels and operate them himself.
Berlin. In 2007, the Small Luxuy Hotels of the World increased their turnover in terms of total reservations by 23 percent in comparison to the previous year, and exceeded the level of 100 million US dollars for the first time. The average room rate arranged increased by ten percent to 365 US dollars. These figures were announced by the cooperation at the ITB Berlin.
Aachen. The extraordinary general meeting of the NewGen Hotels AG, Moenchengladbach, decided on the transferral of the minority shareholders' shares to the main shareholder, Accor S.A., last Monday and Tuesday. The decision was taken by 98.45 percent of the votes cast. Despite that, there are actions for annulment running.
Bethesda. Africa, China, India, and Thailand are in the focus of the expansion plans of Marriott International. Eastern Europe is developing marvellously. New brands, such as "Edition" and "Nickelodeon" are aiming at new target groups. In 2007, the company generated a total of 13 billion euros. The number of hotels increased to the notable sum of 3,000, as the chain reported at its annual ITB press conference.
Berlin. No other trade fair proves it better than the ITB: the world has become smaller and hotel companies are moving closer together all over the world. The west reaches for the east, Asia reaches for Europe, the north is looking for synergies in the south and vice versa. Read the plans of some important chains from a flood of information that washes over ITB visitors every year.
Allensbach. The smoking ban in restaurants and public houses in Germany has been implemented with varying degrees of severity in different states with Bavaria imposing the strictest restrictions. A recent survey shows that only 35 percent of Germans are in favour of the Bavarian solution. On the other hand, only 14 percent of the population are in favour of a general freedom to smoke.
Berlin. Since 2006, the Israel based Fattal Group has been rapidly expanding its portfolio of hotels in Germany and Switzerland. Now, other countries are to follow. At the very forefront of the initiative is the desire to promote the brands Leonardo Hotels and Leonardo Royal. Europe Manager Daniel Roger, Managing Director of the Fattal Hotel subsidiary Sunflower Management Ltd., based in Berlin, explains the company background and gives answers to important strategic questions.