News & Stories

Berlin. FRHI Hotels & Resorts wants to grow during the next five years from 105 to around150 hotels and more. With this announcement, CEO Michael Glennie and Jennifer Fox, President FRHI International, brought themselves into the conversation of the latest Berlin industry events. A few details.

Stuttgart. "Luxushuetten" is the name of a new web portal: However, extravagant domiciles in the mountains are only one of the many five-star hotels, resorts and private villas that a young company from Stuttgart, Germany is now marketing online.

Berlin/Dubai/Delhi/Brussels. At the ITB, Dubai, India and three African states announced they would facilitate their visa regulations, which in turn makes it easier for many important markets to access their destinations. The European Commission in Brussels will have their visa regulations adapted by March 19, which is next week.

Interlaken. Swiss Victoria-Jungfrau Collection AG has had a new main shareholder, AEVIS Holding AG, for one week. They trumped the competing bidder Swiss Private Hotel AG with their offer.

Berlin. Significant countries such as the USA and Great Britain have been economically developing positively and the number of travellers from all over the world is rising. As a result, global players at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin the last week were all looking optimistically into the future. They currently see their most important task in the optimisation of their distribution channels and loyalty programmes. The competition surrounding the best solutions is in full swing.

Berlin. Innovative, individualistic and winner of multiple awards - over the last couple of years, the 25hours Hotel Company has represented an extremely popular and never boring lifestyle concepts. Now, the 25hours Bikini Berlin is set to open, directly before the Zoological Garden opposite the Memorial Church.

Berlin/Madrid. In future, the Spanish NH Hoteles will simply bear the international name "NH Hotel Group" and will launch an entirely new strategy. Within the next five years, the hotel group plans to enhance its portfolio with 72 new hotels and about 11,200 rooms in strategically important markets. Moreover, millions will be invested in renovations, and brand profiles will be enhanced. Federico González, Chief Executive Officer, commented on these changes for hospitalityInside.com at the investment conference IHIF in Berlin

Cologne. How are Dorint Hotels doing? In the last few years, it has become very quiet around the German hotel group that is still one of the major players on the market with its 41 hotels and 3,000 employees. How is E&P doing? This was the second question after the management of both parent company and subsidiary maintained silence leaving room for speculation by the media. Now, Dirk Iserlohe, CEO of E&P Holding GmbH & Co. KG, has provided detailed information on the current situation of both the parent company and the hotel subsidiary. His pledge in the talk with hospitalityInside.com: "I'm not planning any insolvency of Dorint Hotels!" Certain sins of the past still haunt the group, but there is also light at the end of the tunnel.

London. It sounds like trading diamonds for brass: As of immediately Orient-Express will become Belmond. The new brand for the world-famous luxury hotel group will be officially introduced on March 10, 2014.

Turin. Tour operator Alpitour is using this period of economically difficult times in Italy for a new start. The business has an affiliated hotel company as well - Alpitour World Hotels & Resorts. Both businesses are headed by two hotel managers: the former CEO of NH Hoteles, Gabriele Burgio, and his former colleague at NH, Arco Buijs, who was last CEO at Steigenberger Hotels. Currently, both managers are reducing costs in the parent company and its subsidiary; in addition, the hotel group is to obtain a completely new brand appearance. The two managers give hospitalityInside's correspondent Massimiliano Sarti insight into this tough and time-consuming turnaround.