News & Stories
Zurich. The Swiss tour operator Kuoni is to split its organisation according to region and country into an organisation with three strategic business dvisions. Each of the three newly formed divisions will attempt to achieve market leadership together with their allotted brands.
Mauritius. All lights are green: The demand for hotel rooms in Mauritius has exceeded supply, and the hotels are making the most of it. The newly founded group Sun Resorts wants to secure its good figures, and more lifestyle and better service is the way its going. Their flagship is the luxury hotel Le Touessrok. Sun resorts is an offshoot from Kerzner International.
Worms. As of winter semester 2008/2009, the Department of Traffic and Tourism at the University of Applied Sciences in Worms and the Association of German Travel Management will start a new training course: the MBA in Business Travel Management.
Hamburg. Today, out of a total of about 10,000 hotels in Germany, 600 to 800 hotels are able to call themselves conference and event hotels. Tough competition that raises the question: How can hotels distinguish themselves in this market? Apart from accommodation and conference rooms, what can they offer to organizers in order to secure competitive advantages? Among others, event managers complain about unqualified sales people who walk around as if they were "brochure racks" in person. They accuse the hotels of playing hide-and-seek with regard to the costs and reproach them for lacking fairness concerning cancellation regulations.
Muscat/Milan. The first European Chedi has just opened in Milan. It’s the fifth hotel of this brand run by GHM, the management company of Amanresort creator, Adrian Zecha. Chedis are harmonious get-aways with the extra touch, as a visit to the hotels in Milan, Italy and Muscat, Oman shows.
Augsburg. "Inshallah!" If and when something is going to happen, it is up to Allah. Many people in Dubai use this expression. Most of them are smiling and know that something is going to happen. Those, who are not so sure, make a longer emphasis in the middle of the word: "Insha'allah"! Then the projects are probably uncertain. For three weeks, hospitalityInside.com moved between locals, expatriates and experts in Dubai. A colourful picture of this city developed. A city that markets itself globally as a superlative but partly seems to be naïve in everyday life.
Dubai. The sea of construction cranes gives a clear signal: Something big is in the pipeline. Dubai's first "Palm", the Palm Jumeirah, should be ready for its first overnighters by the end of next year. When finished, the artificial island will be capable of accommodating 70,000 people - excluding day trippers and hotel guests. Yet for the moment, it remains a building site. Completion date is set for 2012. Yet despite much still existing only on sheets and charts, 3,700 apartments and villas have already been sold, and 30 hotels have been announced. The first of these hotels to go into operation will be Sol Kerzner's giant leisure park Atlantis with inauguration set for winter 2008. A visit to a construction site of superlatives, the Palm Jumeirah, the first and smallest of the islands that Dubai plans to erect in the middle of the ocean.
Hanover. By purchasing a plot of land of eleven square kilometres on which there are several old buildings, a medieval castle, a hotel, an 18-hole golf course as well as agricultural areas, TUI has furthered its plans to put into effect the biggest tourism project in Tuscany as well as the biggest in the company’s history. Hotel brands in the resort will be Robinson, Iberotel and Dorfhotel.
Dubai. The "Arabian Travel Market" still has it easy to market itself as a forum. In Dubai chains from all over the world are falling over themselves to find a foothold both in Dubai itself and in the other GCC countries - and that across their whole market network. On the local markets, Arabian hotel groups are accelerating their expansion. And whoever doesn't have a hotel group, quickly creates one. A tendency especially true of the Arab companies. Meanwhile almost everyone has a hand in the hotel business: Property developers, banks and tour organisers. An overview of hotel projects following the ATM for Dubai and the Middle East.
Our photo shows the construction site behind Dubai's Dusit Hotel at Sheikh Zayed Road down to another mega construction site - the mega tower Burj Dubai. 123 storeys have been completed, just half of the tower's expected hight.