News & Stories

Cologne. Anyone would be happy to know what Google knows – and particularly about the customers. In this respect, eCommerce insiders such as Michael Pütter of Pütter GmbH, Cologne are always eagerly awaiting the latest studies and are hungrily absorbing them – even if, as in this case, this is only provided to them as a presentation. Google questioned a total of 5,000 people in order to write "The 2014 Traveler's Road to Decision" – as is the current study title. Today, they equally use the Internet for work and for leisure, trust Social Media and in instances of two identical hotel offers, will choose from the more user-friendly website of the two! Michael Pütter has evaluated the study results for their relevance to the hotel industry.

Duesseldorf. Lindner's planned lifestyle brand MeandAll did not work out; now, the group is launching a boutique brand under the Lindner label, which will adapt depending on the location, and promises a faster pace of expansion. However, drifting below 4 stars is not the plan, as the first renderings of the first two hotels show impressively. "As always, we expand in times of crisis," said Chairman Otto Lindner with a wink when he talked to hospitalityInside.com in Duesseldorf last week. The group's development concerning turnover and RevPar is positive, so that the currently low interest rates allow the head of the private hotel group to flirt with the idea of properties.

Nuremberg. Serviced apartments will in future be called apartment hotels or apart-hotels, experts and leading providers in both Great Britain and in Germany have decided. The market and customer potential of this segment is enormous. Nevertheless, online reservations aren't developing analogously to classic hotel business in every respect. This was clear at the 5th "Apartment Camp" in Nuremberg.

Paris. Despite their undeniable strength and serious interest about Louvre Hotels portfolio, neither Accor nor Blackstone could win over Jin Jang Group. The Chinese holding and Starwood Capital Group announced two days ago that both parties signed an agreement regarding the potential sale of Groupe du Louvre and its 100% indirect subsidiary Louvre Hotels Group for an undisclosed amount. This is probably just the beginning of the Chinese run to European hospitality.

Adliswil/Zurich. The most senior CEO within the hotel industry is now Jean Gabriel Pérès. After the resignation of Kurt Ritter, Rezidor, and Reto Wittwer, Kempinski, the French in the German-Swiss company Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts now holds this title. "I hope I will have another enjoyable five years," said the 57 year-old during the recent update regarding Moevenpick Hotels three weeks ago. He and the group have survived four crises during his 15 years as CEO, but must nevertheless remain flexible now since the Moevenpick portfolio cannot be so easily removed from the current crisis boilers. Jean-Gabriel Pérès is establishing further accents through selection.

Madrid. Halal tourism is growing worldwide: Tasneem Mahmood of CM Media, who organised the world's first Halal tourism conference in Spain in September, said that this tourism sector was worth €103 billion in 2013 representing around 13% of global travel expenditures; she expects this figure to reach €141 billion by 2020. Dinard Standard and Crescent Rating, a global consultancy in Halal tourism, believes that this segment will already generate a market of 192 billion USD in 2020. Spain is one of the European countries that could take advantage of these travellers with an average expenditure and stay above the rest of Europe. Europe's first Halal hotel is located in Spain as well as one of the first Halal tour operators in Europe.

Stockholm/Berlin. The Scandinavian investor Pandox AB has established its own hotel operating company, Pandox Operations AB, thereby allowing it to allocate future activities either to its operations as property owner or as hotel operator. The move goes hand in hand with the desire for more hotels, primarily in Germany.

Hanover/London. A difficult company construct was cleared on Tuesday resulting in the foundation of the largest travel group in the world: At two separate General Meetings in London and Hanover, the stockholders of the parent company TUI AG and those of the British subsidiary TUI Travel PLC voted for a merger of the two listed companies.

Paris. Demand for lifestyle hotels appears unstoppable. This week, Accor acquired a 35-percent stake in Mama Shelter.

Munich. Internet reservations are increasing and guests are more enlightened than ever. It is no wonder today that hotel owners are very critically questioning the costs for a connection to a uniformed brand from the hawker's tray of international chains. New strategies are being adjusted accordingly; moreover, they are additionally continuing to receive backing from banks for expansion. Nevertheless, consortia are increasingly resembling the chains and are scoring with lower costs.