News & Stories

London. A hot summer and the World Cup boosted the UK's hospitality industry spirit and revenue as more Britons decided to "staycation" this year. Experts expect the growth to continue amid Brexit uncertainties although a leaked document gave professionals some sort of relief: EU citizen residents might have the right to stay in an event of a no-Brexit deal.

Rome. A summer with neither acclaim nor infamy. From June to August, total overnight stays in Italy declined by 0.2% year-on-year, stopping at an overall number of 210.3 million stays. Considering only hotels, however, overnight stays rose slightly by 0.1%. Surprising: seaside destinations suffered.

Innsbruck. Following successful years with persistent growth in overnight stays, Innsbruck continues to work on its strategy. Guests are staying longer. Though in future, under a new agreement, they will only be able to book through Booking.com.

Madrid. According to the latest briefing published by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística, in July 2018, Spain welcomed 10.0 million international tourists, 4.9% less than in the same period in 2017. It is the largest year-on-year decline in July since 2010.

Innsbruck. They act like chains, though within a smaller radius: Individual Austrian hotelier families are increasing their local presence ever more frequently through the purchase or construction of additional hotels in the region. Have you heard of Hammerle Hotels? Or Huber Hotels? No? Then you're in good company. Even Austrian insiders have little awareness of these small groups in Tyrol. Yet Hammerle already owns eight hotels close to Innsbruck and the Huber family have just as many, primarily in Paznaun.

Cologne. The hotel portal HRS will as of immediately offer small and medium-sized companies in German-speaking Europe a free-of-charge booking system. It is the only hotel portal to offer such a service. As well as hotels, HRS also offersc"SmartTrip" flights, rail tickets and rental cars.

Madrid. Thanks to strong performance growth in several markets, Spain's hotel industry has seen a surge in investment interest despite the political situation in Barcelona. After all, both the cities and the resort markets have developed excellently in recent years. But the return of tourists to countries such as Turkey or Egypt is already casting the first shadows on market developments.

Alexandria/New York. A sharp rise in travel costs is to be expected in the coming year. Hotel prices are rising significantly almost everywhere in the world – also in Europe. This is due to the expected global economic upturn and rising oil prices. This is confirmed by two market analyses of major international travel service providers.

Doha. The world celebrates France as FIFA World Cup champions 2018. The tournament in Russia is now over and all eyes are fixed on the FIFA Football World Cup 2022 in Qatar – another country looked at with suspicion due to the mysterious processes behind the FIFA decision. Qatar is also under persistent pressure due to the "dispute" with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. At the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in May of this year, there was a deathly silence when it came to Qatar. In the country itself, tourism and the hotel industry have suffered considerably over the past year. But the Qatar Tourism Authority is working to counter this: with a long-term strategy in which the FIFA World Cup 2022 is just one building block; with the establishment of a diversified, eco-oriented hotel supply and cruise travel programme which is not to lead to overtourism. Maria Puetz-Willems was unable to meet Hassan Al-Ibrahim, Acting Chairman of QTA, at the ATM Dubai, as has usually been the case. For this reason, he has conceded an interview now.

Rome. The Italian congress industry is still in good shape and hotels are the segment most benefitting from increasing demand. However, the southern European Peninsula is losing appeal among international organizers, due to the rising competition from other countries.