News & Stories

Dubai. With increasing hotel competition in the Middle East, the push for a sharper, more refined profile is also increasing. And this should please both Western and Chinese travellers as well as those coming from GCC countries. Talks at the Arabian Travel Market just four weeks ago in Dubai demonstrated: Halal, F&B and technology offer the most efficient opportunities here. As regards Human Resources, things are trickier. Everything always has a cultural component..

Frankfurt/M. Germany remains the leader in business travel for Europeans and the German event market as a whole remains positively dynamic. However, its segments are developing differently. Stakeholders in the MICE industry must constantly adapt to the increasingly heterogeneous market.

London. Good news from the world of business travelers: European companies remain optimistic in view of the continuing political and economic uncertainties and attach great importance to the satisfaction of their traveling employees.

Milan. The year 2019 is expected to be a record year for hospitality real estate investments in Italy. Recent estimations see overall transactions climbing up to more than 2 billion euros. The figure does not include the 300-million-euro transaction of the American fund Oaktree currently trying to acquire 15 hotels of the Italian asset management company Castello SGR. Of course, it's not all sunshine and roses. International investors are still reluctant to move beyond the "big four" cities and explore resort opportunities in the countryside. The continued bureaucracy and a lack of knowledge about new hospitality concepts like Co-living and Co-working has often led to missed opportunities. Nevertheless, big tourism companies like TUI look at Italy as a stable leisure market, constraints included.

Dubai. There's movement in the region that doesn't know what it is to stand still – that is the picture left by the Arabian Travel Market 2019 in Dubai last week. Whether for the better or for the worse, it's is still unclear. A year before Expo 2020, it was strangely quiet when it came to the exhibition. All the louder is the hum of the hotel pipelines throughout the Middle East – despite falling KPIs. Dubai's supremacy as THE leisure destination in the region could be shaken in the coming years.

Berlin/Beijing. From 100 million in 2014 to 149.72 million in 2018. This represents the "healthy" growth of Chinese outbound visits according to the local Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Although numbers showed a slowdown in the last quarter of 2018, authorities are expecting healthy prospects in 2019. Alibaba, Fosun and Ctrip travel divisions all intend to serve these customers wherever they go. It will accelerate their global scale – and strengthen their global power. They explained the whys and hows during an interesting panel session at ITB in March.

Innsbruck. Over the next few years, summer tourism in Austria is to be given a push with the international campaign "You like it? Bike it!". The focus here is on pleasure cyclists and on mountain bikers. The Austrians themselves are increasingly going abroad for holidays this year though, as travel analysts show.

Moscow. Neither the international sanctions imposed on Russia in reaction to its annexation of Crimea in 2014 nor sluggish economic growth has put a stop to hotel chain expansion in the country. International chains dominate the market, Russian chains are gradually increasing their presence but lag  behind – with Azimut as an exception to the rule. Macy Marvel takes a closer look on the market, including Moscow and St. Petersburg backed by a lot of figures.

Istanbul. Despite the political and economic crises in the past few years, in 2018 Turkey attracted more than a record number of 46 million tourists with is breathtaking coastlines, iconic destinations and Turkish cuisine. All KPIs have been up significantly.

Dubai. In four weeks, when the "Arabian Travel Market" starts in Dubai, it will once again be all about new hotel brands and a lot of glamour. The tourism trade fair will also be a massive advertisement for EXPO 2020. Insiders have known for a long while: The moment of truth for the sparkling desert city will come after the Expo and the question then will be who will survive the oversupply? It was under these conditions that the Emerald Palace Kempinski came into being. It is located on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai and opened last December with a good start. Baerbel Schwertfeger recently visited this imposing Arabian version of Versailles, an enormous golden palace... It is to become Dubai's new destination.