News & Stories

St. Johann. Jonas Mairhofer does not have an easy life. At 23 years of age, he is one of the youngest hoteliers, probably not only in Southern Tyrol. His family owns the only 5-star hotel in Ahrn Valley, Southern Tyrol, and in contrast to many of the valley's inhabitants, he wants to strengthen tourism and promote it in terms of quality. The Mairhofers are one of the few families that own several hotels in the region - clearly distinguishing themselves from others. However, their situation is typical for Southern Tyrol's hospitality industry.

Meran. The results for the first nine months to October 2009 show: South Tyrol is booming. The North Italian province, which is more Austro-German than Italian, has announced an overnight-stay record for the past tourism year. With its excellent value for money, the region has set itself well apart from its Austrian neighbours. South Tyrol's rural structure and largely untouched landscape are exactly what tourists are looking for. Now, the Hotel Manager and Landlord Association wants to limit hotels to a maximum of 80 rooms. This will - and is intended - to keep international hotel operators out of the valleys. Some insiders see that differently.

Bardolino/Lake Garda. Oswald Stocker has been following the development of tourism at Lake Garda since the 1960s. The owner of Europlan, an incoming agency, and hotel owner speaks about the latest trends and the attempts of turning the lake in Northern Italy into an all-year destination.

Marrakech. It was Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah who had the palace La Mamounia built in 1923 for his sons. Since then, the palace has been in royal hands. Shortly afterwards, it became hotel. And even today, royal tastes determine the fate of this art deco icon in Marrakech's Medina, Morocco. The Moroccan royal family personally selected the interior designer for the recent renovation: the Frenchman Jacques Garcia, a man with a feel for the mystical. La Mamounia stayed closed for not two year, as originally planned, but for three whole years through the renovation process. Every detail was redesigned and 208 rooms have been reinterpreted with a mix of traditional Arabian and modern aspects.1,100 hand selected guests turned up to the opening event last weekend - celebrities and skinny models. It might have been better to have skipped the cheap body show though, as the result was only to steal some of the shine from the hotel legend for the duration of the evening. Without such artificial glamour, the new old La Mamounia stands in line with charismatic grand hotels such as the Imperial in Delhi, the Taj Mahal in Mumbai and the Mount Nelson in Cape Town.

Frankfurt. Tradefairs.com, an online portal for booking hotels at trade fair times, has now gone online with its new look, introducing new functions. The booking portal is free of charge for the user. Pricing of trade fair hotels is to be flexible according to the trade fair rhythm.

Dubai. The high debt of Dubai World and the Nakheel real estate developer have driven the Emirate of Dubai into financial distress. In the meantime, investors fear Dubai's bankruptcy.

Vienna. The Austrian Ministry of the Economy and the advertising company Oesterreich Werbung will increase advertising for winter 2010. The marketing budget will be employed increasingly at home.

Venice. Natural resources and increasing tourism make Africa seem a market of the future with enormous potential. The "black continent" is just as inhomogeneous as the former Soviet republics. The political and economic conditions vary extremely between individual nations. A workshop at the 7th International Hotel Conference in Venice in mid-October featured experts who have been working with African countries for quite a while now. An overview and a short portrait of African Sun Hotels, the first Pan-African hotel group with major expansion plans.

Munich. FTI, the German tour operator, better known for cheap travels so far, will issue two luxury catalogues including 5 and 6-star hotels for the first time and will launch the new "Gold by FTI" brand. FTI managed to acquire 244 hotels for the premiere, and almost all luxury hotel groups are joining in. With this step, FTI attacks established quality tour operators like airtours and Dertour deluxe.

Bad Mitterndorf. A Thomas Cook hotel group turns its attention to Austria. The hope is that the two new Aldiana Clubs, one in Styria and one in Carinthia, will contribute to single-digit sales growth in 2010. Aldiana's love of the new club with thermal bath in Bad Mitterndorf in Styria has, however, been sweetened with the biggest subsidy ever granted up to now. In 2005, Aldiana Club was sold by Thomas Cook to the Spanish Grupo Santa Cazorla.