News & Stories

Frankfurt. The young Hamburg based company, Transmedic GmbH, has acquired the established Frankfurt based provider of health and wellness holidays, FIT REISEN GmbH. Both companies intend to shore up their market presence further and take advantage of attractive growth prospects "beyond wellness".

Athens. Currently, tourism in Greece is over-dependant on tour operators for the majority of holiday-makers, particularly at the lower end of the market. Nevertheless, over the past few years there is an upcoming market niche geared towards the higher end of the tourism industry, which has been particularly promising. This upcoming demand for quality accomodation is reflected by the particularly high occupancy and average room rate results achieved by some high-end hotels, which have been able to atrract clientele from differentiated distribution channels and therefore lessen their dependence on tour operators.

Athens. Hotel brands have been expanding their presence in Greece over recent years, yet their share still remains low when compared to other European countries. According to a Greek study, 4% of the country’s hotels - controlling 19% of the total room capacity - have an affiliation with one of 113 brands. Brands controlled by Europe’s large tour operators claim one fourth of all branded hotels in Greece. Nevertheless, home-grown brands have done their part in introducing new hotel concepts and more and more hotel owners are opting for consortium membership.

Berlin. In Berlin, a new trade fair trio for health will be established: At the beginning of October, "Wellness Plus" will join the five-year old fairs ""50+ aktiv" and "State Health Fair - Berlin Brandenburg" in presenting its products. All three trade fairs are geared towards the needs of end consumers and will offer a complete overview of health and wellness as well as of products and services for senior citizens. Numerous special events and trade fair shows will also take place.

Hamburg. Business travels are decreasing, while conferences and meetings are being rationalised. Companies are trying to curb costs and the hotel industry is suffering as a result. This is a well-known scenario in the meantime. What are the concepts developed by the conference hotel sector in order to overcome the crisis? What strategies will help to turn the wheel in the short and medium term? Last week, Ralph Langrock, author of hospitalityInside.com, analysed the current situation. Today, he introduces ideas and concepts for survival by international hotel chains - a lot of smart thoughts that bring additional business as well.

Erbach. The current trend towards holidaying at home is confirmed by the plan to build a large resort in central Germany's Odenwald - at an acceptable distance from Frankfurt. When it's finished, 720 beds are to compete with the Fleesensee resort in Northern Germany or the Club Aldiana in Southern Germany. Negotiations with banks and operators are underway; given the three-digit investment sum, firm acceptances have still to be secured.

Frankfurt. The InterContinental Hotels Group would like to enter the resort market in its "key country" Germany. The brand chosen for this purpose has, however, lost some of its shine over recent years.

Hamburg. Business travels are decreasing, while conferences and meetings are being rationalised. Companies are trying to curb costs and the hotel industry is suffering as a result. This is a well-known scenario in the meantime. However, not all segments are affected - there is still some business, but partly with different focuses. Medium-sized conference hotels, for example, are benefiting from the collapse of the top hotels. Or the pure incentive enjoyment is making way for demanding advanced training programmes. The professional conference hotel chains, however, have not consorted with the ranks of the moaners. Their business is humming. Ralph Langrock, author for hospitalityInside.com, has observed the market in a differentiated way. This is the first of two articles: the current situation.

Prague. Prague is for some a little too picture postcard perfect. The city of a hundred spires can be a wide-eyed wonder on the one hand and is a Disneyesque cliché on the other. Without doubt however Prague is a font of architectural heritage that seems to have no limit. From Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Neo-Renaissance, Rococo and Baroque to more modernist Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Cubism and functionalist modernism.  Within this world hotel developers have to work hard to find sites and then comply with the strict local planning regulations to keep within the city’s UNESCO listing as a World Heritage Site. A look at four new hotels in Prague: The Augustine, the Buddha Bar Hotel, the Kempinski Hybernská and the Sheraton Prague.

Prague. Without question Prague is suffering along with the international hotel community as the worldwide recession takes grip. And whatever the various economic indicators say with regard to the crisis bottoming out and confidence returning, the fact is that unemployment is set to continue to rise well into 2010. This will continue to impact both businesses looking to further reduce costs and leisure travellers being more carful with the use of their discretionary spending power on short or long holidays.