News & Stories

Brussels. All trend researchers are talking of the digital revolution: of youngsters bringing dramatic change to the world; of masses booking via mobile devices; of the absolute interconnection between online and offline activities. Those who listen to trend researchers several times a year and are led to believe in the speed of trends could become depressive. How is it possible to distinguish between trends and hypes? We wanted to know this from a hotel group, which transfers global and social trends to its own brand or creates new trends based on this knowledge - as consequently as only very few other hotel groups do. "W" is Starwoods’ strongest example for this. Oliver Bonke, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing EMEA, explains in an interview with Maria Puetz-Willems how Starwood Hotels keeps the overview and fluently moves with its customers/guests between the online and offline world.

Vienna/Augsburg. After the Billy shelf, will Ikea now provide the world with Billy hotels? The famed Swedish budget furniture chain now intends to build low cost housing and budget hotels in selected cities. And it doesn't stop there. The Swedes have even more ambitious plans for Europe: They want to move into city planning. Private investors are certainly likely to have their ideas heard by struggling municipal planners. Insofar, it doesn't surprise that Ikea's plans for student apartments sound more developed than those for the hotel industry. In Vienna, student projects have already been completed with Ikea‘s support.

Munich. The new partnership between TripAdvisor and TrustYou is another example for the increasing number of "evaluation affiliate" models on the market. At the same time, TrustYou enables hoteliers to send guest reviews to HolidayCheck by simply pressing a button.

Brussels. The first half of 2012 saw a drastic increase in revenues significantly reducing losses, but that is not the only reason Kurt Ritter, Chief Executive Officer Rezidor Group, and Wolfgang M. Neumann, Chief Operating Officer, were in a good mood one week after publishing the semi-annual report. They consider the close partnership with main shareholder Carlson and the connected hotel brands a great advantage when it comes to persuading the remaining shareholders of "Route 2015". In the course of this, Rezidor's brand development is being geared to Radisson Blu and Park Inn more than ever before. The latter will receive a new brand profile. Country Inn is being put in the hands of Carlson and the American market. Rezidor officially wants to avoid lease agreements; however, a few are being signed nonetheless as became apparent in the interview with Maria Puetz-Willems. One thing becomes clear: Rezidor is switching over to profitability leaving its pure expansion strategy behind.

Paris. Again in financial distress, Mohammed Al Jaber's hotel group JJW France faces one more time the Commercial Court of Paris.

Berlin. Design Hotels are driving forward with a massive future push on "mobile" and e-commerce: The consortium of creative hotels is in the process of refocusing distribution on to direct business. Last fiscal year, 46% of business came through direct distribution channels, Arno Schwalie reported, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy Design Hotels, at the annual meeting of hoteliers in Berlin. At the same time, the number of members continues to grow - and they are gearing up to meet the demands of the mobile era. A extensive survey of 4,000 guests also provides valuable information on their behaviour and wishes. The survey gives hoteliers a huge new pool of ideas.

Stuttgart. Flames blaze on the property facade, then it rains in streams, water gurgles from the spiral staircase and later, poison-green blades of grass will grow over the facade and finally, screws turn wheel in wheel. It glows, flashes and flickers, at times the space collapses within itself and is built anew. In the future, this light and sound spectacle can be experienced every evening by musical guests of the Stuttgart SI Centrum and hotel guests at the new Dormero Hotel. Design and high-tech have entered into both high rises of which the Millennium Copthorne had held the legends up to last September. Now is the turn of an era: The owner of the musical centre is sweeping out the plush and patina throughout. The 454-room large Dormero Hotel will provide the design line for the entire centre. "Technology is our core competence", says Managing Director, Aleksej Leunov. The expansion and concepts have been propelled forward since July, but with only two, rather than three, Managing Directors. An update on Dormero and Gold Inn AG that officially opened its seventh Dormero Hotel one week ago in Stuttgart.

Hamburg/Rostock. As part of its growth strategy, the North German DSR Hotel Holding will split its distribution activities into two groups: A-rosa Resort und Hotel GmbH on the one hand, and a-ja Resort and Hotel GmbH on the other.

Berlin/Bad Arolsen. In 2011, the first hotel of the budget brand H2 opened in Berlin. Behind the brand is German Hospitality Alliance AG, partner of the hotel giant Wyndham for the Ramada brand. Does Wyndham's own expansion with Super 8 not collide with the Germans' expansion plans?

Ibiza. Spain's banks teeter on the edge. All the more important then that companies attempt to set themselves apart from current developments and push their image themselves. "We have invested despite the crisis and have clearly differentiated our products in order to continue to expand," Alfonso Giménez Benjumea says, Marketing Director Europe for the Spanish Fiesta Hotel Group. "We have also not suffered so much under the effects of the crisis as our hotels are distributed over many different countries." The family-run chain owns and operates 48 hotels in Spain, Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Italy. The group intends to push six of its brands. Older real estate will be sold and the group will concentrate on the upscale and luxury segment.