News & Stories

St. Moritz. Today, it is already a resort in itself, but now, it should become an even larger destination resort: 100 years after its opening, the splendid hotel castle Suvretta House in the noble ski location is poised to spring into the next hotel century. In a long-running master plan that includes an up to 300 million Franconia expensive expansion, the fifth generation wants to protect the future of the hotel in the long term. Eight years ago, the owning family Candrian and their long-standing General Manager pair, Vic and Helen Jacob had already placed the first jigsaw puzzle pieces of this master plan, the core elements will follow. The only "ski in/ski out" hotel in the Engadine, with a unique in-house infrastructure with a kindergarten through to a nurse and up to an adjoining wedding chapel, the house "Above the woodlands" will now build an additional sports hotel, a suite hotel, an All Season Sport's School, a thermal pool and more on the property. A conversation with Martin and Reto Candrian from the owner's family and with General Manager Vic Jacob.

Berlin/Vienna. Eyes for ".hotel": Quite unnoticed by large swathes of the industry, a small revolution is taking place in the hotel industry 's internet presence. The European umbrella association HOTREC, the German Hotel Association IHA and the Austrian Hotelier Association OEHV would all like to own the top domain name ".hotel". The tender procedure for the domain name is underway - and among those competing with the hotel associations are companies that could damage the industry if their bid were successful.

Augsburg. The current media landscape is changing dramatically, as already described in our last issue. PR agencies and PR managers of large chains are facing entirely new situations and demands – especially the demand for paid coverage. What is the reaction of the hotels? Are they ready to participate in the game? And what do they think of online media and bloggers in general? 13 PR representatives described the expectations and wishes of their customers and their hotels in the second part of hospitalityInside's survey. One thing is obvious: hotel and tourism businesses are still very conservative and sceptical concerning virtual multipliers. And because the industry likes to celebrate itself in high-gloss, print remains the favourite medium. However, the online medium is catching up steadily. In addition, PR has become more demanding and time-consuming.

Majorca. Takeover in Majorca: The Majorca-based travel group, Barceló, intends to acquire Orizonia, also headquartered in Majorca. The acquisition would make Barceló Spain's biggest tourism company.

Paris. Accor is restructuring: starting January 1, the hotel group's organisation will be dedicated to brands – in Europe only. This means personnel changes at management level as well. Yesterday, Yann Caillère, President and Chief Operating Officer Accor, presented the details in Paris.

Augsburg. The German media industry is experiencing the biggest wave of dismissals since 1949, the German Federal Labour Agency said just a few days ago. In other words: In the mega German media market, media is in decline. This Friday, "Financial Times Deutschland" will appear for the very last time. It will cease to exist, both in print and online. And the daily "Frankfurter Rundschau" filed for insolvency just a few weeks ago. These two cases alone affect 800 employees. Yet they are only the first prominent victims, behind the scenes, much more has happened over recent years. Publishers have repeatedly explained their losses with reference to the collapse in advertising revenues and headwind from the internet. Most of them are not in a position to counter the trend with sustainable online concepts with paid content. How are these trends playing out? hospitalityInside.com interviewed eleven PR managers from renowned hotel chains and PR agencies - all specialised on the hotel industry and tourism and with considerable experience under their belts - about the changing behaviour of media and the mix of editorial content and advertisements. And it looks grim.

Neustadt. The MS Deutschland cruise liner, Germany's only swimming 5-star hotel, is to level out as a "grand hotel" at sea in future. In addition, it is trying to attract new luxury customers in Austria and Switzerland as well as new capital for investments.

Munich. When students are in the minority in their hostels and when city trips lead to long-stay apartments, then this kind of mixture is the basis for the currently most successful investment in the accommodation business. In a panel discussion, experts of GBI, Derag Living, Youniq and Adina commented on serviced apartments and student housing, a marginal area in the hotel industry, which is very interesting for investors and developers at the moment. In this segment, business models are definitely possible following the motto of the "5-star RevPar at economy rates". However, the German market still has a lot of catching up to do.

Berlin. The hotel stands on a triangular traffic island, surrounded on all sides by multi-lane traffic, a sex shop, dilapidated buildings and a social hotspot named Bahnhof Zoo. This is the site of Berlin's new Waldorf Astoria. After postponing three times, the luxury hotel by Hilton Worldwide will finally open its doors in "mid December" 2012 . Guests on the upper nine of 31 storeys will then soon forget the delays and the external environment of the hotel: As the highest building in the City West, at 117 metres high, the new Waldorf Astoria offers a magnificent view of Berlin's skyline. Inside, the luxury hotel tells its own story. The hotel repeatedly makes reference to its legendary mother, the famed Waldorf=Astoria New York, and to the history of its location in Berlin. A visit to the imminently finished Waldorf Astoria Berlin.

Paris. Two weeks ago in Turin, during the annual meeting, the 36 new members of Relais & Châteaux for 2013 were introduced to the rest of the "family”. Among them, several owners of amazing properties in Kenya, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, as well as in Guatemala, Chili and Peru. This year, business was challenging all over "but we made it", says President Jaume Tàpies. Europe is proving business to weaken. In an interview in Paris, he revealed the latest business figures and talked about future market perspectives and challenges like distribution and occupancy. In the on-going law suit against former President Regis Bulot he says: "We learned our lesson." The members of R&C are waiting for judgement.