News & Stories

Munich. A new "White Label" supplier from New York is pressing onto the European market. They offer sales support to premium hotels.

Vienna. Austria Trend Hotels would like to expand, but only at a qualitative level. Therefore, they are newly arranging their properties into service categories, giving the breakfast a bio-character and providing for a good mood with the "Good Morning Master".

Lausanne. "Love is all you need" to create a luxury brand experience, according to Jean-Claude Biver, the keynote speaker kicking off the "Luxury Hospitality 2013" conference in Lausanne. Biver, who is chairman of Hublot, a Swiss luxury watchmaker, now wholly owned by LVMH, didn't have in mind a 1960's-style love-in, but was emphasising the need for passion and devotion to the task of creating luxury products. Nevertheless, it would be reasonable to assume that Biver's numerous accomplishments as a leading figure in the revival of the Swiss watch industry were also attributable to some hard-nosed elbowing … The underlying theme of the various presentations during the conference is that luxury in the hotel business is moving away from the stiff, formal traditions of bygone eras and is more emphasising the liberation of guests to allow them to dress and behave as they wish, pursuing their own specific interests. The lifestyle change makes new companies rising in the market and offering sophisticating products – absolutely competitive to the luxury hotel industry.

Bethesda. Marriott Hotels, the signature brand of Marriott International this week launched a new multi-year global marketing campaign called "Travel Brilliantly" which will also engage young travelers.

Berlin. "With the present school holiday regulation, the Ministers of Education and Arts are giving away revenue opportunities running into the billions," the Deutsche Tourismusverband e.V. criticized the German bureaucracy a few days ago. They presented a study on the implications.

Doha. "It all starts with a good property deal," said Christopher R. J. Knable, who has been the new Chief Operating Officer of Katara Hospitality in Doha, Qatar, since April 2013. Prior to this, the hotelier and developer worked for Kingdom Hotel Investments, overlooking the investment goals on behalf of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud. Katara's CEO, Hamad A. Al Mulla, can therefore be sure that Knable speaks the same hotel language. The new second in line at the top of Qatar's former national hotel company recently announced that the company was thinking about a new brand as well as a relaunch.

Lausanne. The newly created "World Luxury Index Hotels" has determined that Marriott's Ritz-Carlton flag and Four Seasons are the most searched luxury hotel brands on the Internet. However, taking into account upper upscale brands, as well, the Hilton brand was the most searched overall, as noted by a new study, which was based on 133 million searches of 70 hotel brands in over 900 destinations during 2012 and Q1 2013. While the index does not reflect actual purchases of hotel rooms, it does give some indication of potential demand for the various brands included in the study, as well as for destinations targeted by luxury hotel clients.

Bremen. The poker game involving the Parkhotel in Bremen continues. In the meantime, the operators of the Atlantic hotel group from Bremen have purchased a share of the property. And the lease agreement provided by Dorint has not yet been signed by the insolvency administrator.

Cologne. The owner of the Parkhotel Bremen has spoken out for a new operator of the hotel: In all probability, Neue Dorint GmbH will take over the property on the July 1, 2013. However, the insolvency administrator has the last word.

Geneva/Dubai. The Global Hotel Alliance has moved their headquarters from Geneva to Dubai and has now announced the introduction the new "Individual Collection" – a type of White Label for smaller luxury hotel chains.