News & Stories

Innsbruck. After Salzburger Land, the Austrian province of Tyrol is now starting to intensively market mountain pasture tourism. Many long for alpine life and culinary delights on an alp. Although leisure-oriented people, cattle and predators are increasingly getting in each other's way.

London. In a deal with banks, Fosun proposed to recapitalise Thomas Cook plc in a 750–million-pound deal. The Chinese company will gain control over TC tour operator and get a 25% stake in TC airline. The background.

Frankfurt/Main. Credit card fraud is on the rise, yet the subject often goes undiscussed among hoteliers out of a sense of shame. Together, payment transactions service providers and banks are now taking action. The hotel business must support them.

Munich. With its new sponsoring offer, TripAdvisor promises tourism organizations a significant increase in the interest of guests. Destination sponsoring is the first of several sponsored content products with which TripAdvisor intends to create new sources of income in the future.

Munich. The online travel agency HolidayCheck, the medical services review site Jameda and the employer reviews portal Kununu have declared war on fake reviews. At a roundtable event, they reported on the measures they are taking to protect against fakes. The headlines here just don't stop coming.

Rome. TripAdvisor has been sentenced to pay a fine of 100,000 euros for a breach of the Consumer Code. The Italian Council of State, i.e. the supreme national administrative court, has recognized the site to have published a few claims, "able to generate a false belief in the average Internet user about the reliability and authenticity of the posted reviews."

Bethesda/London. Both Marriott International and British Airways face huge privacy fines for data breach. Both companies will appeal the decision. The GDPR, which was enacted a year ago is clearly active and the recent fines should be a warning to all companies dealing with customers’ personal data. Other big giants like Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Airbnb are also about to feel EU pressure.

San Francisco. Ahead of its IPO, which should be happening this year or in the early days of 2020, Airbnb has been very busy diversifying its portfolio of activities. Diversification, mostly through acquisitions, could make the company more valuable when it goes public. Airbnb's ambitions are clear here, becoming an end-to-end travel platform. With its bundled power, Airbnb is disrupting hotel pricing strategies now. Meanwhile, it has embraced all segments and categories of the traditional hotel industry, doesn't give up lobbying in Brussels… The Airbnb empire has become a threatening scenario.

Bremen. The parent company is a German international construction giant, but the hotel group spans a mere 16 hotels. But the 13 Atlantic Hotels and their three sisters under independent brands are not just a simple hobby for Zech Group, the Bremen-based construction firm. Quite the opposite: The family business, which has been on the market for over 100 years, is ready to invest and so earn – more – money with it. The flagship hotels are the Grand Hotel Atlantic in Bremen and the luxury resort Severin's on Sylt. The Atlantic brand in the 4-star segment will soon be accompanied by a smart lifestyle counterpart situated in the budget segment. Managing Director Markus Griesenback allows a look behind the scenes.

Berlin. Every quarter, online surveys with tourism service providers are to actively initiate and accompany change processes in German tourism. After all, 77% of those currently surveyed see digitalisation as the central starting point for change. On the other hand, it is striking that Quality Improvement is rated so low and that Employee Satisfaction takes last place. The German Federal Tourism Competence Centre has set itself the task of acting as a market and trend radar for the sector.