News & Stories
Amsterdam. Slow Travel is gaining momentum, yet experts insist, it's more than just a trend, it is a state of mind. Slow travellers nurture new priorities: low-impact tourism, engaging with people and communities, and being aware of their carbon footprint. Brands like Six Senses or Eco-Lodges have been betting on Slow Travel for years. Now Boerenbed, a Dutch concept of lodges on farms has captured the interest of a fund – aside from a handful of other hospitality brands and platforms we introduce here.
Berlin. In March the ITB tourism trade show will be relaunching as a pure trade show with a new format. The congress programme is shrinking to so-called "tracks". Hospitality topics include the development of lifestyle brands and digital transformation.
Frankfurt. Last year, around 91,000 recreational vehicles were newly registered in Germany. This is the third-best result ever. The main reason for the lower new registration figures are supply bottlenecks. As in previous years, demand for recreational vehicles will remain high in 2023.
Valencia. The end of China's zero-Covid policy has triggered a surge in flight bookings within a week. China's aviation regulator plans to restore flight capacity to 88% by 31 January. But international travel rebound will take time.
Beijing. The Chinese are coming back: for three years the Chinese government had covered up Covid-19, condemned millions of citizens to domestic isolation, demonized the Western world. And now, exactly in this week, China has been opening doors and borders. The first wave is expected for Easter. But travellers have changed. A wrap-up by our China expert Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, COTRI, and a conversation with Michael Henssler about his perception of the turnaround in China. He has lived in China for 13 years and is the COO Asia and Member of the Board of Kempinski Hotels.
Faenza. There is no peace for the Italian winter mountain destinations. After the null 2020/2021 season, due to the Covid breakout, the last winter 2021/2022 didn’t let operators recover. Now, lift operators and hotels are planning to open only at peak times under certain circumstances. In addition, the slopes are becoming greener and greener. And the costs eat up any rate growth.
Berlin. After a three-year break from Corona, ITB will take place as a pure trade show from 7-9 March 2023. Messe Berlin has now announced first topics of the ITB Berlin Convention.
Emden. The Upstalsboom Group, which specialises in holiday hotels and apartments on the German coasts, has founded its own tour operator. With this, it wants to market not only its own rooms and apartments but also external units to travel agencies from next year.
Beijing. China continues to cut itself off from international tourism and the hotel industry. Although the number of international flights is slowly increasing again, also to Europe, the situation is different for hotel investments: There will be no more new projects in China in the future. At the same time, Chinese investors are withdrawing from Europe. What remains are small Chinese clans in cities like Amsterdam. An update.
Paris/Doha. Accor is finding more and more enjoyment in organising accommodation for mega sporting events: Around 120,000 rooms are available in Doha during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 67,000 of which are managed by Europe's largest hotel chain - and it will ensure that these homes and apartmens are also returned to the housing market after the end of the World Cup. Accor has recruited and trained 14,000 employees for this. An unusual task, which Sarah Douag talked about in depth with Marc Decrozaille, Chief Operating Officer India Middle East & Africa at Accor.