News & Stories

Amsterdam. Dutch Bilderberg Hotels has changed hands. An Asian-German consortium just took over the 17 properties located across the Netherlands for an investment of 200 million euros.

Norwalk. Over the years, hoteliers around the world have learned to work with OTAs, whereas working against them has proved to be a vain strategy. Priceline for instance has gained power ever since it purchased Booking.com. Now the firm owns technology, human power, money, customer data, and master online marketing. Traditional hotels can still grow and prosper…but only in the shadow of a 100-billion-dollar giant. The hospitality top five chains do not reach the latest valuation of the world's largest online travel company.

Berlin. The leisure park industry is booming: in Europe, a total of 307 theme and amusement parks attract about 150 million visitors annually. In order to delight them with new attractions time and again, the parks invest nearly 600 million every year. This was the result of a current study.

Vienna. The Austrian consultancy Prodinger Tourismusberatung has created a tool for private hoteliers to measure their brand value. We reported on the Hotel Brand Monitor, a few weeks ago. Now, Fred Fettner asked Prodinger Managing Director Thomas Reisenzahn for the details. The new brand valuation model is based on the renowned Interbrand model, though also very much includes economic benchmarks. This is new. The inventors believe that private hotels can be compared with chains with their Monitor analysis.

Paris. The French Paris Inn Group is on the rise. Founded in 2005 by Jean-Bernard and Céline Falco, the French firm which started with the couple only, manages 32 hotels today, 2,114 rooms and 1,000 people, for a total amount of assets valued at 900 million euros. Paris Inn has recently secured another round of investment and is now gearing up to spread its boutique hotel brand "Maison Albar" across Europe, China and the rest of the world. A joint venture with Jin Jiang has already been signed.

Heilbronn. The German Plaza Hotelgroup meanwhile counts 33 hotels, in the next five years, it's to be at least 50. The general market wind in Germany drives this group forward. Up to now, we have heard little about it. The group's headquarters regularly records new hotels coming on board. At present, Plaza Hotels operates in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands, most of these under the Best Western brand. Further brands could follow.

Bethesda/Beijing. Marriott and Alibaba have created a joint venture to redefine the travel experience for hundreds of million Chinese holidaymakers. The entity will manage portfolios, mobile distribution, loyalty programs, online payment and much more. A new approach of two giants.

Hamburg. "We have been catapulted into a success story", David Etmenan says, Chief Executive Officer of the German Novum Hotel Group. The group announces new acquisitions on an almost weekly basis. The portfolio grew from 12 hotels and 560 rooms in 2010 to 106 hotels in operation in July 2017. Pipeline included, Novum currently counts 146 hotels with over 16,000 rooms in over 65 destinations in Europe. This makes the group one of the biggest hotel chains in Germany. Now, 250 hotels are the next target. For some, this all sounds a little like the group is overestimating itself and like mysterious financing methods. Novum's super fast growth has caused a lot of confusion in the industry – though has also received approval. CEO David Etmenan and his Chief Financial Officer Torsten Scholl have made an effort to improve transparency in their answers to hospitalityInside's questions. For the first time, the company publishes concrete results for the 2016 financial year.

Paris. In June, the French consortium Société Européenne d'Hôtellerie signed a partnership with German consortium GreenLine Hotels adding 70 properties to its portfolio in one shot. Many more entities just like these exist across Europe and seem to be ready to join forces in order to compete against hotel chains and OTAs. SEH has become the first multi-brand network in Europe. SEH's playground is clearly not limited to France anymore, but also reaches out to Eastern, Southern Europe and even the province of Quebec in Canada. Being an independent hotel is a must to join the group.

Duesseldorf. "We would like to grow," Otto Lindner says, Chairman of Lindner Hotels AG. "We could do this on our own steam, but the beauty concept of an expanding group must today include a story" – a story with a character like Clemens Toennies. With 31 hotels in operation in seven European countries, Lindner Hotels & Resorts has been part of the German Mittelstand since the 1970s. It has grown organically but today has reached critical size. The new character in Lindner's life is Clemens Toennies, a meat and meat products company, better known as the chairman of the football club Schalke 04. Both medium-sized companies are now to make targeted investments in Lindner's newest lifestyle brand me and all hotels. Thanks to this new partnership, officially concluded in mid-June of this year, Lindner Hotels has already won the first hotel pitch – and pushed renowned chains hotels aside. The Mittelstand is coming together.