News & Stories

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.

Dubai. Dubai has been brought back down to reality, for the second time. After the global crash in 2008, the shining city and indeed the region is now being buffeted by the oil crisis, a dollar peg and global turbulence. A first impression from the Arabian Travel Market and from the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference.

Berlin/Hanover. The bidding battle over the TUI affiliate Hotelbeds is over. The sales to the investment company Cinven and a Canadian pension and investment company was finalized yesterday, April 28, in Berlin.

Bangkok. In the Soneva Kiri Resort in Thailand, Sonu Shivdasani, the founder of Six Senses, has further perfected his concept of intelligent luxury - with a luxury hotel in the form of private residences. On the island of Koh Kood, which still has very little conventional tourist infrastructure, the guest sleeps in a villa in the middle of the jungle, eats in the treetops or simply enjoys the magnificent virgin beach. Here, luxury is lived on plots of between 2,000 and 3,000 square metres. Yet so much privacy can also be purchased - for between USD 1.3 million and USD 15 million. One thing isn't for sale though: the unique Soneva lifestyle practised here. A lesson in luxury.

Alexandria. China's business travel market has overtaken the United States as the number one business travel market in the world in terms of in total business travel spending.

Madrid. This is the time to invest in historical Spanish buildings. International investors have shown a 25% percent higher interest in historical Spanish buildings since the beginning of the economic crisis in Spain. 40% of the investors want to convert them into hotels although official support has decreased or even disappeared, and the fiscal framework could be improved.