News & Stories

Rockville. More gifts, more flexibility, more points, more time to spend them… Choice Hotels has revamped its loyalty program for the guests' personal benefits. On the other hand, Hilton is spending on advertising like never before.

Paris. AccorHotels is buying into two start-ups again, in order to advance from a hotel group to a travel group. Currently, the hotel group is participating in a service provider in Argentina as well as in a digital platform for upscale private properties in resort destinations.

Vienna. With a signature on January 30, 2016, the Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group brought a difficult chapter to an end: The debt-ridden resort Punta Skala in Croatia has a new and renowned majority shareholder, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. More is to come of this partnership, the joint statement with FMTG CEO Dr Otmar Michaeler declared. At the same time COO Jan Hein Simons is working on the hotel group's image. In future, it would like to position itself more as resort hotel group in the premium segment. To achieve this, the COO is also clearing up behind the scenes.

Eschborn. Best Western Central Europe GmbH, a German-based company launched in January, has big plans. in Austria, Switzerland and in other central European countries, the number of hotels is to be doubled. In Germany, the pace of expansion is currently moderate.

Paris/Shanghai. Acting through a subsidiary, the Chinese conglomerate Jin Jiang International has acquired a stake of 5.50 percent in the French hotel group AccorHotels.

Nuremberg. Paris has pushed London off the top spot to win back the number one place as the highest rated city in 2015, out of a total of 50 cities. Berlin and Amsterdam managed to move under the most popular top ten metropolitan cities. Sydney, which had been in the top three since 2011, falls back to fourth place, overtaken by New York as well as Paris.

Berlin. A publishing company has bought itself Special Content and entered the metasearch world: The Escapio price comparison platform has been 100 percent taken over by MairDumont in Ostfildern near Stuttgart, Germany.

Paris. This week, Paris city hall authorities successfully raided two districts in the French capital searching for illegal touristic rentals. Now the municipal teams are advising the government to increase the fines per property from 10,000 euros minimum to 100,000 euros.

Tokyo. Fit and healthy through the new year: During rush hour this vehicle is definitely faster as the historical Rolls-Royce. The "PenCycle", a mix of a step machine and a bicycle, is the new ideal mobility device through the busy Japanese million metropole and it keeps its users fit at the same time. The three-wheeled stepper now competes with the popular Tuk Tuk, Mini Cooper or the even the more luxurious alternatives helicopter or yacht of the huge Peninsula vehicle fleet.

Munich. 2015 will remain to be engraved in our memory as a year of crises and terrorism. And experiences have likewise piled up within the hospitality industry, as with the headlines that have befallen it. The traditional media, offline and online, as well as the Social Media, is attempting to newly dominate the formation of public opinion every day, every hour, every minute. Everything is commented on, assessed, linked and multiplied … 2015 has clearly demonstrated the change in the world – thanks to the crises. This is why Maria Puetz-Willems has spoken with Eike A. Kraft, Vice President Communications Europe for AccorHotels, regarding how hotel companies are recognising crises today and reacting to them. Above all, Social Media has changed this work behind the scenes: "Everything is being discussed within the online channels: From a hair in the soup up to terrorism." This requires a change in thinking within the company. And within all companies.