News & Stories

Southlake. Sabre Corporation developed new Content Services for Lodging. This new solution will power agency and corporate booking tools, integrating traditional GDS content from hoteliers alongside content from Booking.com, Bedsonline, and Expedia Partner Solutions.

Brussels. Tell me where you fly, I'll tell you if it will be a successful destination. That's basically what the recent report on behalf of the non-profit European City Marketing organization, is trying to find out. Istanbul, Barcelona and Budapest are likely to be the best performing European destinations this summer.

Frankfurt/Main. A merger has been initiated in the business travel sector. American Express Global Business Travel from Frankfurt/Main will take over DER Business Travel from Cologne. With this move, the business travel expert aims above all to gain a new clientele.

Vienna. The quick end of Vienna's centre-right government headed by Sebastian Kurz leaves Austria's tourism businesses perplexed: Many things, which were already celebrated as success for the industry, have not been decided yet, including tax reliefs for employees and businesses as well as the mandatory registration for Airbnb hosts. So far, the Ibiza scandal with the resulting break-up of the government has had a great impact on tourism. In the meantime, Austria's hospitality representatives have started sorting the broken pieces.

Capri. A general reduction in fiscal pressure, more incentives for investment and stronger efforts to fight illegal accommodation, as well as an increased commitment towards the renovation of transport networks and infrastructure. Italian hotel operators repeated this mantra at the recent general assembly of Federalberghi, the largest national hotel association. This year, the event was held on the island of Capri. There, the association's President, Bernabò Bocca, had the rare occasion to list all the sore points of the industry before the Italy's Minister of Tourism, Gian Marco Centinaio. Facing the hoteliers, he himself admitted to several failures.

Frankfurt. At IMEX Frankfurt, which took place this week, its visitors appreciate the added value offered by training courses and discussion forums, among other things. ccor & meetago, Radisson, Dorint and Four Seasons have introduced new partnerships and programs.

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.