News & Stories

Bangkok. The hotel group Six Senses Resorts & Spas is history, since June 18, 2012. The pioneer among the eco luxury resorts continues under a new name, new ownership and new parameters. In the meantime, as reported, Sonu Shivdasani has founded his own The Soneva Group that concentrates on residences. As new President of Six Senses, the former partner Bernhard Bohnenberger wants to "establish the group and make it financially sustainable as well" in future. The first visible change: from now on, the name will contain the word "Hotels": Six Senses Hotels, Resorts & Spas. In addition, a very renowned and internationally known hotelier has decided to participate in the new group's destiny actively.

Paris. In a few weeks, the budget team of François Hollande’s new government will present in front of French parliament its fiscal measures in order to collect 10 billion Euro.

Berlin. The German Hotel Association re-elected its chairman of the board at its annual congress in Berlin last week calling on its members to defend their entrepreneurial freedom in distribution.

Stromberg. With a total of 45 new hotels, Relais & Châteaux has continued to expand its global network this year and now counts 520 members - around 100 more than The Leading Hotels of the World. The focus of their marketing remains their restaurants. A new guide now targets conference guests. Across the globe, R&CH now has 12 subsidiaries. "Over the last years, we have developed from an international into a global company," President Jaume Tàpies is pleased to say. But there's one country in particular in which Tàpies wants to fill what still is a white space: Germany.

Frankfurt am Main. "The cooperation with our parent company, New World Hospitality in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly closer ", says Peter Voit, Managing Director of pentahotels with headquarters in Frankfurt. The lifestyle hotel subsidiary has passed its baptism of fire in Europe and is now becoming tailor-made to Asian conditions – and indeed without star architect, Matteo Thun. The Asian´s development pipeline aims at the 15 pentahotels of today to 80 worldwide in 2020. An ambitious goal. However, they wish to grow not only through management contracts, but also through real estate and takeovers.

Genf. Ein einzelner Raubüberfall auf einen Chinesen in Genf hat eine Ketten-Reakton ausgelöst. Jetzt meiden chinesische Reiseveranstalter die Destination. Genf Tourismus rechnet mit Einbussen von etlichen tausend Übernachtungen. Auslöser für diese Ketten-Reaktion war die Tatsache, dass der Betroffene der Chef von Google China war und den Vorfall natürlich ins Netz hob. Im Hintergrund ist damit einmal mehr eine Diskussion um die Sicherheit von Touristen und um die Auswirkungen von Kleinkriminalität entbrannt.

Bern. The strong Franc, sinking overnight figures, second home ban, new minimum wage discussions, dramatic staffing bottlenecks, renovation delays and tenacious, few innovative hoteliers … The Swiss hotel industry can not escape the negative news any more. The industry is partially in a stranglehold of external developments on which it has no influence itself. Even more dramatic is the appeal of Guglielmo Brentel, the President of the industry association, hotelleriesuisse, to his colleagues to deal with the home-made problems. "We waste ourselves", he criticises, for example, the incorrect dispersion of marketing money. "The hoteliers must sell experiences and operate destinations like a company", he sends a reminder: "We must do our job perfectly, otherwise we have no chance." And the association defends itself - in the name of the industry: For the second time in history, hotelleriesuisse took shares again in the national reservation platform this past Tuesday. Maria Puetz-Willems spoke with Guglielmo Brentel about the current challenges through policy and economics and the reactions of the industry association.

Frankfurt/M. Without InterCity Hotels, maybe there would be no Steigenberger Hotels either. The solid 3-star subsidiary is the rough diamond among the jewels of the luxury-oriented hotel company in Frankfurt. "Without the Steigenberger family, there would be no InterCity," says Joachim Marusczyk as he praises the reliable backbone of the past. The 63-year old is not only Managing Director but also the founding Managing Director of InterCity Hotels. A rare title today, and he is looking forward to the official celebration at the end of September all the more, when he will be able to toast to the 25-year existence of "his" hotels. It was his idea to establish sophisticated, strategically oriented "station hotels" – this idea was born in a bar in the middle of the eighties. Joachim Marusczyk on the development of the formerly dull "Bundesbahn-Hotels" to lifestyle-oriented midscale products, and on the status of InterCity Hotels today.

Vienna. The future advertising line of the Austrian National Tourist Board focuses on the imagery from the eyes of the guests and their need for relaxation. And drops its colour along with it.

Vienna. A career from cook and waiter apprentice to one of the bed-richest city hoteliers in Austria. The self-made hotelier, Georg Imlauer, has invested 60 million Euro in his 900 beds since 1985. The 50-year-old also sees his native Salzburg home as a tougher market than Vienna where he officially opened his latest 10 million Euro investment in recent days. Imlauer belongs to the special hoteliers who come in as the first generation and without academic background to build up a stable bed size.