News & Stories

Bucharest. Although Romania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, its economy is booming, having expanded at a rate of 7% in 2017. There will be some slowdown in 2018 and 2019, but the International Monetary Fund still sees respectable growth of 5.1% and 3.5% for those two years. In any case, Romania is ripe for hotel development and the major chains are moving in. Indeed, the country offers hotel developers the attractive combination of rising demand and lack of updated modern lodging capacity.

Berlin. 35% of business travellers are, by their own estimation, more productive when travelling than at their desks in the office. Younger travellers are especially productive when on the move. No WiFi in flight and long queues at airports are the only annoyance.

Hanover. TUI CEO Fritz Joussen is planning to strengthen and further expand momentum within the Group by redefining responsibilities on the Executive Board. These measures include the bundling of the Group's global tour operation business and airlines as well as the merger of all hotel activities.

Vienna. Alm villages and chalets are shooting up across Austria. Neither of these have anything to do with traditional Swiss chalets or aristocratic villas, above all because they are conceived right from the very start as mega complexes. Real estate and construction firms are piling in, also from Germany. Competition is growing with the pure hotels, even if some hoteliers are building chalets themselves as supplement. The overnight figures from commercial holiday properties, which are often also second homes, increased over the past winter, up by more than 17% – more than twice as big as rise as for other forms of accommodation in Austria.

Villach. Overtourism not only evokes understanding, but also criticism. At the "Tourism Forum" within the framework of the European Tolerance talks in Carinthia, the Head of Carinthia Tourism, Christian Kresse, asked with some annoyance: What does overtourism have to do with us today?

Athens. In 2017, Greece welcomed almost 27.2 million international visitors and received nearly 14.2 billion euros from incoming tourism. Arrivals increased by 9.7% year-on-year, revenue by 11.7%. Travel receipts, in particular, reached a new record level after the drop recorded in 2016.

Frankfurt/Main. In 2017, meetings, conferences and events in Germany increased. But smaller meetings, frequently winners in the past, decreased. This is caused by new technologies.

Salzburg. Austria's top winter destinations Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg are happy about a highly increased room yield – but only in the upscale hotels.

Palma de Mallorca. The summer season in Mallorca will start with a double tax that tourists have to pay in all types of accommodation, from hotels over holiday homes to cruise ship passengers. From July, apartment owners will no longer be allowed to rent out their units to tourists.

Milan. Italy, a highly desirable destination, and still investors and large international groups are struggling with their development. Nevertheless, a few turnaround signals are dangling on the horizon as discussions at the PKF hotelexperts' "Tourism Investment Forum" in Milan revealed a few weeks ago. International operators, such as Meliá International, Hyatt Hotels, citizenM, Wombat's, and Ruby Hotels gathered with American investors and French financiers to discuss concepts, make inquiries and to figure out what might be in the business for them if they invest in Italy.