News & Stories

Frankfurt/Munich. Romantik Hotels & Restaurants AG will temporarily provide the luxury of four members of its Board Directors in the PLC. Among whom is the successor for Inge Struckmeier, who will officially leave the company at the end of the year. Ringhotels also decided to change details in its structure and to push expansion massively.

Brussels/Berlin/Rome. As a general rule, there is not a great deal that penetrates to the outside; behind the scenes, however, the officials within the European hotel industry are exerting great effort in defending the hotel industry against business-damaging influences stemming from the market and from the policy. Particularly counting among them in these current times are the battles against the giants of the online travel agents and the new competitors from the grey area of the private room portals. However, many topics are also dictated by the EU, which is why the European umbrella organisation of hotels, restaurants and cafés, HOTREC, also sits in Brussels and makes use of the quick paths the politicians. "The EU sees the voice of the hospitality industry in us," HOTREC President Kent Nystroem emphasises the growing perception of the industry lobbyists. They have learnt over recent years to argue with hard numbers and facts.

Bad Arolsen/Parsippany. Wyndham and Hospitality Alliance have placed their cooperation on new feet. In connection with this, the exclusivity for the development of the Ramada brand in Germany by Hospitality Alliance has ended.

Ermatingen. LH&E Group and its Kameha brand have a new majority shareholder. As a result, probably not the concept, but perhaps the choice of location for Kameha Hotels is now set to change.

Worms/Berlin. How purchase-influencing, reliable and strategy-relevant are customer reviews? An empiric study pursued this question. The importance of the so-called "Customer Review Sites" is indisputable, the trust in the reviews by others is equally great in terms of probability of forgery, but the appraisals from suppliers and customers/hoteliers are greatly divergent. A summary of the study.

Offenburg. Online since 2012, the Travelfruits online shopping club is now called "Travista" because the new name will be better understood in the upcoming TV advertisements.

Munich/Hamburg. There is a stalemate between the German Accor headquarters in Munich and its franchisee RIMC in Hamburg at the moment. Accor cancelled the agreements for three Mercure Hotels, RIMC names good reasons for its behaviour: it is all about franchise fees.

Brussels. Last Tuesday, the European Commission presented proposals that shall seriously shorten and simplify the procedures for those wanting to come to the EU for short stays, and induce more cost savings and less bureaucracy, whilst maintaining the level of security.

Geneva. While other segments of the hotel industry have struggled to grow during the recent economic downturn, the expansion of budget hotels in Europe has continued largely unabated. In contrast to North America, which has a saturated budget hotel sector, opportunities for expansion in Europe abound, especially in central Europe, Spain, Italy, and still to some extent in the UK, which is heavily dominated by the two main domestic operators, Premier Inn and Travelodge. The French market, however, is already well covered by the three main domestic operators, Accor, Louvre and B & B Hotels. In Germany, Motel One has become the big growth story and is expanding rapidly across Europe as well as opening a first property in New York.

Frankfurt am Main. As reported, the 2013 balance sheet has provided the French budget chain B&B Hotels with their best figures. The company of the American large investor, Carlyle, has otherwise produced no great headlines. A demeanour of Napoleonic grandeur is foreign to B&B; they do, however, plough through their markets with Prussian discipline. The series "A new hotel per month" will be also maintained for the "foreseeable future". Alongside France, Germany, as it is with Accor, has become the second-most important market and B&B Germany Managing Director Mark Thompson has nothing at all against the fact that Motel One has developed into an international chain. He has another perspective.