News & Stories

Vienna. The economically successful Austrian resort is one that offers luxury and is very popular among guests – but that is deceptive: This picture is dominated by a small elite with 90% of businesses left scrambling for the remaining half of total turnover. In general, Austrian resorts offer a small number of beds and profit margins continue to shrink. The gap separating the top hotels from other types of accommodation continues to grow.

Augsburg. Investors still want to invest in hotel real estate or buy brands and operating companies. And so it still boils in the kitchen of the big names. Sometimes sales are announced, sometimes shareholders are exchanged, sometimes joint ventures are founded... A snapshot.

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.