News & Stories
Dubai. Hilton is obviously not considering growth via mergers & acquisitions, as CEO Chris Nassetta said in Dubai last week. The chain prefers creating its own brands. That is cheaper. Tru by Hilton will soon be found around the globe several thousand times.
Nuremberg. Relaxation and recuperation, or active holiday? Over half of Germans surveyed prefer a quieter holiday. Only in the youngest age group, 15-19, in majority prefer an active holiday. The Italians, French and Spaniards prefer to fill their holidays with many activities.
Arlington. Interstate Hotels & Resorts is an institution in the US, though in Europe, not everybody knows the name of this third party manager. Since 2010, the US company has been interested in Europe, though only now has it begun to really push expansion in this part of the world. "Europe has become our strategic focus," Aaron Greenman said, Executive Vice President Acquisitions & Development of Interstate Hotels & Resorts Europe. With this, he specifically means continental Europe, as the company has long-since had a foothold in Great Britain, and from there he intends to push forward into Russia. In Europe, Interstate is mainly focused on Germany. In order to crack this market, the company has modified its model.
Rome. It's one of the great promises of Italian tourism: a professional accommodation, able to exalt destination experiences and story-telling. It's also a sustainable business model, focused on preserving the natural and cultural heritage of each location: Alberghi Diffusi - the perfect product for the contemporary market, boasting both experiences and immersion in local life. Travellers stay in historical, completely restored small towns or villages according to local culture and enjoy all hotel services. They literally inhale history. But the Albergo Diffuso model, although still viable, is not expanding at the expected pace. Some time ago, it was collecting international awards, including the 2010 WTM Global Award in London. Who is then to blame for the recent slowdown?
Paris. In France, independent hotels are frustrated after AccorHotels' acquisition of Availpro – a European leader in providing digital services to over 6,500 independent hotels. Their union now fears that the chain might abuse confidential data of independent competitors and asked the government for clarification.
Munich. Now that OTA names are already wider known as the names of numerous hotel groups, Ringhotels will also continue to push their own brand. At the same time, sales go on as usual as announced at the cooperation’s annual general meeting.
Paris. As we now live in a world of experiences and not products anymore, Airbnb, Booking.com, Google, Expedia and of course AccorHotels are betting on digitalization and intuitive technology. AccorHotels' fresh acquisition of Availpro and its partnership with Travelsify confirms it. Since the merger with FRHI, the hotel chain is also strongly pushing luxury. Its recent bidding on the exclusive event organizer Potel & Chabot underlines it. Learning from the best seems like a good plan – but only as long as operational integration follows. And this is the question mark behind AccorHotels' ongoing hunger for more. Almost every week, the French chain is buying something, spending millions on a very intricate vision.
AccorHotels is continuing its mutation from a European leading hotel chain to a global intuitive travel platform by acquiring Availpro and signing a partnership with tech company Travelsify. As Romain Roulleau, AccorHotels' Senior Vice President eCommerce and Digital Services, told hospitalityInside.com last month, the group is building up an entity that will go "way beyond hospitality".
London. The Hilton brand remains the most valuable hotel brand in the world and there are only few changes in the subsequent positions of this year's brand value evaluation by Brand Finance. However, further down the scale of the ranking, some of the industry's giants will be surprised; and in the category Most Powerful Brand, Premier Inn leaves all others behind.
Bethesda. Only a few weeks after AccorHotels lifted the veil on its new strategy, Marriott is sharing its own vision of what the future should be for the largest hotel group in the world. Last week, during Marriott's 2017 Security Analyst Meeting, the company specified how it intends to position itself for success, starting with integrating 100 loyalty members, favoring direct bookings and renegotiating OTA commissions, opening hundreds of thousands of new rooms, making-over the Sheraton brand, changing Aloft and Element slightly, und investing in an "experience" start-up, a metasearch platform. The road promises challenges and hurdles, but Marriott is ready to show how much it intends to take full advantage of its Starwood 13.3-billion-dollar investment.
Berlin. The resonance is huge, the result shocking: 54.2% of businesses in the German hotel and restaurant sector have reduced their opening times since 2015 on the back of the Working Time Act. This damages Germany as destination – the hotel association DEHOGA launches a campaign.