News & Stories

Valsesia. It all starts with a welcome present dedicated to each little guest upon their arrival. Located in Riva Valdobbia, a small destination in Valsesia situated not far from the Monterosa ski complex, the Mirtillo Rosso is the first family Christmas hotel in Italy. Opened about a year ago, it celebrates the entire series of Christmas rituals in nine months, always from the 24th to the 26th. Even in August, guests can see Santa Claus handing out presents to children. They can also attend a cooking workshop dedicated to Christmas cookies and enjoy a classical Christmas meal served with the old, traditional mise en place…

Vienna/Cambridge. Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen is considered the father of the theory of "disruptive innovation". Today, hardly any other term is more commonly misused in the field of management. For the professor, Uber and Airbnb are not disruptive companies. Baerbel Schwertfeger met the renowned management expert at the "Global Drucker Forum" in Vienna. For him, there are three kinds of innovation. He recommends that successfully established companies found a disruptive parallel organisation.

Baar. The first 100 days are over and CEO Olivier Chavy talks about his initiative for the further development of Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts. Chavy, who worked as a brand expert at Hilton Worldwide for ten years, amongst others, confesses: "I love brands." Therefore, the first global tests are currently running for the new Moevenpick brand. But the main focus remains on the growth of the group. Moevenpick should also provide more lifestyle and become more casual. Moevenpick is to conquer large cities as well as large business and MICE destinations and then, finally, leisure destinations.

Singapore. Not even two months after the merger of Airbnb rivals 9Flats and Wimdu, the Danish holiday home provider Novasol seeks to acquire Wimdu. For Novasol owner Wyndham, this could make sense.

Paris. Foreign visitors are avoiding France. A group of luxury operators and brands recently joined forces to create extraordinary experiences for a happy few. The goal? Convince them that Paris is still the city of lights and magic and let them spread the word.

Paris. AccorHotels is taking a 5% stake in one of Asia’s leading luxury hotel groups, Banyan Tree. This could put AccorHotels in an interesting situation, allowing the group to secure a stronger position in two key markets: luxury and Asia. And help Banyan Tree to overcome its financial struggles.

Lausanne. Over a two-year period, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne had been dealing with current global developments and their impact on the hotel industry. Now the "Lausanne Report" with its future scenarios is online.

Bethesda. Two months after the official completion of the merger with Starwood Hotels, Marriott is granting more insight into its brand strategy. In future, all brands will be distinguished by "classic" and "distinctive", which was strongly influenced by customer feedback.

Hong Kong/Mumbai. Two of Asia’s luxury hotel groups, Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and Mumbai-based Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, have formed a strategic alliance to broaden their reach.

Wiesbaden. The flood of brands is neverending. Year after year, hotel chains invent new ones, but tour operators have been following suit recently. And: the number of young, more innovative individual hoteliers creating their own brand is growing as well. They simply want to stand out from the crowd – in order to be able to maybe sell both brand and concept later on should they be lucky, as prizeotel and 25hours have been. Getting that far requires a lot of dedication, endless engagement and quite some money. Does building up an own brand really pay off? Why do hoteliers cling to their brand? Susanne Stauss asked Ruby and Rilano Hotels, Vienna House, Gambino Hotels, which are currently being developed and the young resort brand Arobrea – all German and Austrian companies. Germans are known for clinging.