News & Stories

Milan. Sir Rocco Forte, Founder and Chairman of The Rocco Forte Collection, will continue to focus on the traditional travel agents. He will intensify investments in the Italian market which are expected to become the company's most important source of business. All that coupled with no fear of any Brexit epilogue, which the English businessman of Italian origin strongly regards as the best possible solution for the United Kingdom. Massimiliano Sarti met him at the event venue Martini Terrazza in Milan, during the presentation of his group's current ambitious plans in Italy.

Wiesbaden. The digital era has driven astounding change: All day long, people have their gaze fixed on mobile devices, oblivious to their immediate surroundings. In the evening, their wishes turn to the other extreme. They want contact with others. Suddenly everyone's looking for their "community". Co-working spaces that fail to offer "community building" are no longer in line with the times. Start-ups in the field of co-working and co-living are flourishing, and are even setting up brands for action communities. The special touch: Beds right next to the "hot desk", also in a room with four others. Because it's cheaper. Co-working in itself, on closer consideration, is quite an expensive pleasure. Of the lifestyle hotel groups, Ruby is right in there on the professional market, whilst 25hours takes a more sceptical view.

Amsterdam. If you have had enough of the Millennials, wait until you hear about their kids. The Alphas are digital natives who prefer a tablet to a dog, have a collaborative relationship with their parents and a great influence on where the family will go on holidays and what to do once at the destination. Not older than 9 years old, they go online to find answers and inspiration too. All their parents want is for them to be happy so they can relax. Wishful thinking one would say.

Geneva. Markus Semer's successor as Chief Executive Officer at the Kempinski Group is Martin Smura. This was confirmed by the luxury hotel group today; he will take over on July 1. 2019. The group will then be headed by a quite unknown person, who already made the headlines before this official company relesae and whose well-intentioned friends have just done him a disservice in the media. In the last few years, the German Martin Smura mainly worked as member of the supervisory board and promoted his own small hotel group. He has no experience as an executive on the corporate level. CFO Colin Lubbe is leaving together with Semer, as reported. A successor for him was not named today. Bernold Schroeder will remain in his functions on the Management Board and the Board of Directors.

Dublin/Munich. From Dublin via London to Continental Europe: The Irish Aparthotel operator Staycity is increasing its expansion pace. With its core brand Staycity and its premium brand Wilde by Staycity, the next step is to gain a reputation in Germany and France – and to cover 6.6% of the European apartment offer in five years' time. Co-Founder Tom Walsh is even venturing on a serviced apartment "resort". The continuing boom in the serviced apartment market also gives wings to the small providers.

Munich. Brera Serviced Apartments were born in Munich in 2013. Under the care of Italian founder Matteo Ghedini, the group wants to continue to grow only in Germany for the time being. With three hotels in Munich, Frankfurt and Nuremberg and three projects in the pipeline, the company is one of the pioneers in the serviced apartment sector, but is still one of the smaller providers. In contrast to many others, the Brera concept focuses on a "true" long-term concept, an Italian touch in design and living and personal care in its hotels.

Hamburg. A no deal Brexit of Great Britain from the EU would have far-reaching economic consequences on the island. This is now underlined by an exclusive analysis. Industrial goods would be particularly affected negatively. Other sectors are following suit.

Vienna. Ski-lift operators in Austria originally created mountain bike trails and downhill parks to stimulate summer tourism. Today, everyone benefits, including hotels. With their results, two parks in Lower Austria and Salzburger Land also demonstrate that the ski-lift, which becomes a bike shuttle in summer, can attract new target groups and hundreds of thousands of tourists. Family trails also appeal to the kids.

Paris. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is close to a deal to buy the B&B Hotels chain from PAI Partners for about 2 billion euros, people familiar with the matter said, reported "Bloomberg" on Friday. Meanwhile more media have been picking up the news but the deal ist not yet finalized. Representatives for PAI and Goldman Sachs declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs is doing the deal through its merchant banking division, which includes private equity deals, agency sources said. Accepting the deal would give PAI a return of three times its initial investment, sources added.

PAI bought the French hotelier in 2016 in a deal that valued B&B at about 790 million euros, expanding the firm into new markets. The chain was founded in 1990 and has more than 479 hotels in markets including Europe, Brazil and Morocco, according to its website. / map

Amsterdam. In the beginning all found Airbnb "cool", very late hoteliers and cities discovered that they had not understood, and underestimated the business model of a marketing professional. With slogans such as "Living like a local", Airbnb took the travellers by storm – and accelerated overtourism. The disruptor from San Francisco is still rebuffing hospitality professionals and politicians until today. Exactly this lack of transparency and secrecy will become the biggest challenge for Airbnb to survive the next years, despite every billion-dollar evaluation. As a hybrid of a hospitality company and OTA for rental homes, Airbnb is currently standing in the way of its own growth. Dr Jeroen Oskam, Director Hospitality Research at Hotelschool The Hague in the Netherlands, is convinced of this. He spent three years researching and analysing the cause and effects of this phenomenon for the book "The Future of Airbnb and the 'Sharing Economy' ", fresh from the press – and explains to hospitalityInside.com.