News & Stories

Munich/Bad Arolsen. The contract for the next hotel in Munich – a 350-room hotel – is just about to be signed, yet even without this Hospitality Alliance AG is happy with the launch of its 536-room hotel complex containing the two brands Ramada and H2 directly opposite Munich Messe. Berlin began the success story for this brand duo. Now, the hotel operator from Bad Arolsen has a new focus in its strategy. Ramada, up to now the master franchisee for the Wyndham brand, has, as reported, recently waived its exclusive development rights. As a result, it is now completely free to choose its future franchise brands and to develop its own brands. HA CEO Alexander Fitz has also announced a new full service-hotel brand.

Palma de Mallorca. The Spanish group Meliá Hotels International continues its strategy to upgrade its brands and products. The latest venture is the relaunch of its family vacation brand of Sol Hotels & Resorts which will be divided into four sub brands.

Vienna/Zagreb. Through the merger of three key companies of the Austrian-Croatian Valamar Group, Valamar has now become the largest tourism group in Croatia.

Ainring. The new supplier for hotel certificates is expressly disassociating itself from drastically discounted vouchers and shady bargain offers, but the partially unserious image of the others has made the start-up difficult. The young marketing consortium is now taking up the slow journey.

Miami/Singapore. Following two years of arbitration proceedings in Florida after the forceful takeover of The Setai Miami by its owner, Lehman Brothers, in the pre-dawn hours of March 31, 2012, the ICC International Court of Arbitration ruled yesterday that all previous allegations of mismanagement were baseless.

Munich. The bottle of wine brought back from holiday simply tastes bland at home - completely different, boring, sour … We all know the feeling. A new event concept is based on this experience: A classical concert combined with a wine tasting connects two worlds of enjoyment and offers amazing experiences. In the course of this, hotels are able to not only offer something special to their guests, but also draw the attention to their selected wines. An excursion into a somewhat different, creative world.

Vienna. Vienna International last week announced its initial public offering. The company is bursting with confidence. Dr Andreas Karsten, now in his third year as CEO of Vienna International Holding AG, is extremely confident, and continues on his chosen course of expansion. He explains that growth in Germany, Russia and the former CIS states will continue. VI will in future pull out all the stops in order to expand - and will even appear as franchisee for large international brands.

Stamford/Connecticut. Developing for Google Glass, Starwood Hotels & Resorts introduced a new SPG app that is the first from a hospitality company to create new ways to be closer to its guests.

Las Vegas. The 60th Choice Annual Convention in Las Vegas in mid-May was also the celebration of the creation day for Choice Hotels which took place in 1939 with the foundation of the first Quality Courts United by Stewart Bainum. Now the group is pushing the modernisation of the brands, its hallmarks and new buildings.

Vienna. The Viennese hotel industry has already been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and it will finally arrive in May, 2015: The "Eurovision Song Contest" 2015 should not only provide Austria with priceless free advertising worldwide, more tourists and a more modern image, but the price levels should ultimately land where they belong as well – namely clearly above the current levels.