News & Stories
Bethesda/Beijing. Last month, for the third time now, China's antitrust regulator postponed its decision about the Marriott/Starwood merger deal. Both hotel groups are just waiting for China's clearance to complete the transaction and start saving millions of dollars of costs as they promised they would do. It is legitimate to wonder why China is acting this way. Is this really about fair competition or is it more a nationalist/protectionist reaction to the fact that Marriott/Starwood would become the largest hotel group in the world? Which of these factors could compromise Chinese hotel groups’ own ambitions to grow domestically and internationally? Speculations are numerous right now, we tried to understand the whys and wherefores with international experts.
London/Munich. Next month, Belmond celebrates its 40th birthday. For 38 years, the group bore the name Orient-Express Hotels - and indeed its history with this name is unique. It began in 1976 as James B. Sherwood acquired the Cipriani in Venice and a few years later launched the Venice Simplon Orient Express. Now, President & CEO Roeland Vos wants to put Belmond on a new journey. Within five years, up to the end of 2020, the luxury hotel group is to grow from 44 to 80-97 palaces, residences and boutique hotels, nostalgic luxury trains, river cruises and safari lodges. An ambitious plan. In recent years, Belmond made the headlines by selling its trophy assets. This has now come to an end. And with many other things too.
Munich. Guest feedback becomes more and more important. In order to help hoteliers to collect more review content, TrustYou offers a free pdf with tips on how to set up effective surveys as an e-book.
Rockville. Last month, during his call with analysts concerning Q2 results, Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels International, was talkative. From positive earnings to direct bookings and lowest rates on their own websites, from brand development to loyalty program, he mentioned it all. And by the way, he is tired of OTAs and is warning Airbnb.
Mainz. Feuring - Visionary Hotel Development, based in Mainz, was established over 50 years ago and is one of the companies active in the hospitality sector that goes about its job discreetly and quietly yet still works on large and renowned projects. Today, the company doesn't highlight its international character quite so much, the possibilities on offer in Europe and Germany alone are too attractive for that. All the same, the hotel developers, asset managers and financial consultants will bring another brand to Germany in 2018 - Hyatt Place. It also continues to accompany established hotels over the long term. And there it is willing to take on risk. Both managing directors, Bardo-M. Feuring and Matthias Lowin explain their current strategy.
Stamford. Asking a hotel room to turn up the air conditioning when it gets to hot or to turn on the lights before getting out of bed? Things like these are no longer dreams of the future. Starwood tests a new service in two Aloft hotels: hotel rooms, activated by the guest's voice.
Milan. Born almost accidentally in the second half of the 1990s, Italian Planetaria Hotels has chosen a special way to develop business. The hotel collection reflects an idea of bespoke hospitality, able to change each place into a unique setting in the heart of the finest Italian art cities or in charming locations outside towns. Most of the four or five-star establishments are located in important historical buildings being restored with great care. The group's strategy is based on owning all assets but decentralizing operations and creating "Planet Friends", an informal network with other hotels.
Augsburg. Consolidation in the tourism sector continues, and once again leading companies are shoring up their positions towards monopoly. Should Wimdu go insolvent, as one German magazine reported this week, then Airbnb would be the global top dog. Similar things have already happened in long-distance coach travel: Flixbus, the number one in the business, acquired Postbus, the sector's second largest company.
Bethesda. Last week, following the publications of its Q2 results, Marriott held a conference call with bank analysts and media. Arne Sorenson, President and CEO reassessed the situation regarding the Starwood acquisition. Frustrated not to have completed the transaction yet, the executive hinted at future plans for Starwood assets and commented on the Q2 results, which are encouraging but lower than hoped.
Bangkok/Shanghai. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp? Even better: WeChat and Weibo! Those who want to reach Chinese Millennials should not rely on western social media but meet their future guests virtually where they spend their time. A successful tool is video blogging. Welf Ebeling, who is known to many from his time at The Leading Hotels of the World, has founded a business together with a female Chinese star blogger and not only helps western hotels but also tourism businesses and destinations to produce and place customised videos for China's "Me Generation" on the market.