News & Stories

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.

Paris. AccorHotels started exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, a leading and global player in premium customer and employee loyalty services. The objective is the transparent guest.

Cologne. German online shoppers want to find products and relevant information quickly. Analysing the age groups though, large differences become apparent. These were the findings of a comparative study on the behaviour of German and British online shoppers.

London. Long considered the "poor cousin" of the lodging industry, Serviced Apartments and Aparthotels are bringing back sexiness. In terms of design, many properties are reinventing themselves, adapting to millennial travelers. In terms of occupancy, hotels have nothing to teach them, as they are actually performing better. Just like the hotel industry, Serviced Apartments are facing exciting times in terms of adjusting to customer needs and behavior. However, they are also dealing with serious challenges from OTAs, Airbnb and classic hotels themselves. A new concept under the brand name "Locke" targets the gap between Extended Stay and Boutique Hotels; it's financially backed by Oaktree Capital Management and opens up another niche in the niche market of serviced apartments.

Dallas. 92% of Chinese travelers plan to increase or maintain spending and one-third of them plan to spend more on travel in the coming year - despite the slowing economy. Travel has become an essential part of life for two-thirds of Chinese outbound travelers.s.

Hamburg. For a long time, there has not been such a fast-growing company in the German-speaking countries as today's NOVUM Hotel Group headquartered in Hamburg. Within only six years, Novum made a huge leap: starting at 12 hotels and 560 rooms, the company has 84 hotels and 8,000 rooms in 2016. The 3 and 4-star hotels running under the Novum Hotels, Novum Style Hotels, Novum Select Hotels and Novum LikeApart Hotels brands are divided among 25 locations primarily in Germany. However, expansion to Scandinavia, Benelux, Scandinavia and Southern Europe has already been decided. Three siblings doing without any payouts are leading the company, reinvesting and expanding based on strategic decisions. Now, the group is on the verge of comprehensive collaboration with major financial investors and global franchisors. Questions arising from the industry led us to ask CEO David Etmenan about the strategy he trusts in and how the rapid expansion is being financed.