News & Stories

Hamburg. The young German hotel group a-ja plans to implement its price-conscious holiday concept in the city - and can prove this from November 2018, after the opening of the first "a-ja City Resort" – and of all locations actually in Zurich. Hopefully the Swiss tourism will have recovered by then.

Paris. While France's football team will kick off the EURO Cup 2016 later today against Rumania, tensions are higher than ever in the hosting country.

Lisbon. The Portuguese hotel sector is on a roll and the good times are set to continue for the foreseeable future. The macroeconomic backdrop is favourable due to a weakening Euro and strengthening economies in most of the country's important source markets. Lisbon is back on the travellers' map, the country is safe and secure, tour operators' booking rise and also non-European chains are stepping in.

Athens. The debt and refugee crises make the tourist scenario in Greece complex. In the last difficult years, however, the country's hospitality and travel industry has shown considerable resilience that has allowed operators to overcome many competitive hurdles. Still, more challenges are ahead and they take the form of further VAT increases, coupled with the Single Property Tax and the so-called "occupancy tax". Such measures are supposed to gradually come into effect by 2018, but they are understandably already worrying Greek operators. Massimiliano Sarti met Stefan Merkenhof, Managing Consultant of GBR Consulting - a Greek company affiliated, among others, to STR Global - in order to shed some light on the country's situation.

Hamburg. China outbound tourism is still growing, but on a much lower level than before. One reason is the significant reduction of arrivals in Hong Kong. But still many foreign markets stayed very attractive for Chinese travelers, among them for example Europe, Amerika, Thailand, Japan and the UAE.

Doha. Even Qatar is unable to escape global turbulence and threats: The milestone of three million visitors couldn't be achieved this year. Occupancy and revenues have also slumped in the hotel industry, and events are not taking place. Nevertheless, Qatar is pushing forward with its Strategy 2030. Whereas Dubai looks towards the EXPO in 2020, Doha is focused on expectations in relation to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The projected number of rooms must be reached by then. At the same time, the destination's appeal must also be raised. New beach resorts are currently being built, from next season, international cruise ships will also dock in the harbour. At the same time, a new system of hotel classification has become mandatory and applies as of immediately both to owners and developers. - At the end of this story, Jawad Khan, Director, Debt & Capital Advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers Dubai explains the current investment climate in the region.

Madrid. The Spanish Constitutional Court rejected the request put forward by the Canary Islands which would have allowed them to limit the construction of new hotels according to their category. The regional hospitality association of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Ashotel, defends its principle of "best beds, no more beds". And it is waiting for new regulations which would balance the environment and new hotel projects.

Rome. Last winter proved to be a two-faced season for Italian mountain destinations: with a difficult start, characterised by an almost complete absence of snow, followed by a good quarter from January to March. But statistics only reflect domestic figures.

Hanover/London. TUI Group continued its positive performance in the first half of financial year 2015/16 with a year-on-year increase in its result. At the same time, the company announced more strategical changes, among them the planned sale of Specialist Group. In the hotel sector, RIU achieved an improvement while Robinson suffered by the Turkey crisis and additional costs.

Dubai. Nobody can escape the impact of war, terror and political turbulence at the moment. And this is especially true of the Arab world in which the negative trends from 2015 are now intensifying. Occupancy and revenues per available room are falling sharply in the hotel industry. Banks are becoming more selective, hotel projects are falling behind schedule - and nobody wants to speak about the problem. So it was after 2008 too. All the more important then were the market analyses from experts at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference this year.