News & Stories
Stockholm. As a booking platform, the travel group TUI promises itself more shares in the solo booking business. Sweden has already kicked off with its hotel portal. The TUI booking function is also already available in the DACH region. So far, mainly non-TUI hotels are listed on the portal.
Latschau/Bludenz. The Falkensteiner Hotel Montafon in Vorarlberg opened its doors on December 16, 2022; on Christmas, 200 children were in the house. The youngest Family Hotel of the Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group has been positioned as a 5-star resort, and The Leading Hotels of the World will introduce a "Family Hotel" label. Four weeks after its opening, the resort in the west of Austria can impose rates like in Sardinia. The secret of success: the new "Open Plaza" concept.
Gurgaon. Oyo, the Indian unicorn is making the headlines again but not necessarily for good reasons. The lodging platform announced it is now downsizing and letting go 10% of its workforce to increase efficiency. But the truth is, it is restructuring prior to filing for an IPO in early 2023, something the travel tech company has been postponing due to bad results, Covid and significant mistakes in China.
If you don't turn off the illuminated round mirror at night, "the sun rises" in the morning behind the frosted glass pane between bed and bathroom. An illusion in the middle of London, in Zedwell Piccadilly. None of the 730 hotel rooms has daylight. Nevertheless, the rooms are anything but claustrophobic. An elegant Spartan style but high-quality space with lots of wood and a decelerating design concept make sure of this.
Munich. In 2019, it already became apparent that the business needs a new structure. Corona challenged everyone; the sales figures dropped by more than half, "but we were able to manage the situation, even before we obtained aids from the state," says Marco El Manchi, CFO of Gorgeous Smiling Hotels. According to COO Edwin Jebbink, there is only one goal right now: "We have to reach the finishing line faster than all of our competitors."
Munich. A seat on the plane always needs a bed - but not a hotel brand. This is how simply the FTI Group thinks now. "Tour operators have to reinvent themselves after Covid," says Sabine Dorn-Aglagul, CEO Hotels at the group since May 2021 and explains further: "Through FTI as a strong operator, we want to double the hotel portfolio - without brands".
Frankfurt. Oliver Bonke has seen around 40 of 132 hotels in his first six months as CEO of Deutsche Hospitality, analysing costs as well as P&L. His spontaneous strategy was: How do we get through 2022 in profitable shape? Plans now go beyond that. After all, 2023 is just around the corner and the next decisions will also follow the motto: Costs down, efficiency up, profitable growth. Completely in the Chinese tradition.
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Düsseldorf. Lindner Hotels made a name for itself this week with a vague press release on the "2022 business year": One day before the new, listed distribution partner Hyatt published its business figures for the 3rd quarter, the German hotel group also wanted to spread optimism. However, this went wrong, at least from hospitalityInside's point of view - which resulted in an interesting conversation with Lindner CEO Arno Schwalie.
Munich/Hamburg. Although Novum Hospitality announced 35 new hotels at Expo Real, to be implemented over the next four years up to the end of 2026, expansion will slow at the end of this year. CEO David Etmenan's priority is: "At the end of 2024, we would like to take the company out of the economic stabilisation fund." He wants to accelerate the plan to build up a PropCo next to OpCo - Novum Real Estate. The Novum CEO took time at Expo Real for a conversation with hospitalityInside.
Wiesbaden. The Dutch developer Borealis Hotel Group has taken over the German hotel operating company Bierwirth & Kluth. Together, the two partners want to further develop the company in Europe, focusing on their respective strengths.