News & Stories

Vienna. The Congress of Vienna does not dance any longer. The bottom line of the current trend in the MICE business, as the leader of the Vienna Convention Bureau, Christian Mutschlechner, on the trade fair for meetings, incentives, conventions and events "Access '13" in Viennese Hofburg drew. Apart from the perfect organisation, only content and contemporary forms of the mediation counted today, the event programmes stepped into the background for several reasons. "The touristic environment of the venue is becoming dull", he describes one of the results. This places the Austrian MICE marketers in front of new challenges. But probably not only the other countries - the trend will emerge far beyond Austria.

Hamburg. Horst Rahe, Head of Deutsche Seerederei in Rostock, which has recently made the transition to a pure hotel and real estate company, has separated from his long-term Managing Director for A-Rosa Resorts and is now in the process of reshaping the strategy of the four hotels in Germany and Austria.

Munich. The hotel industry has been one of the smallest sectors represented at Europe's leading property and investment trade fair, the Expo Real, in Munich. Nevertheless, the "asset class hotel is no longer niche, but mainstream," Simon Redman, Managing Director of Invesco Real Estate London, said in his keynote speech at the Expo Real Hotel Conference last Monday. Hotel performance is driven by exactly the same factors as apply to every other commercial property: confidence in the location, in the tenant and the concept. For this reason, every hotel owner and operator should listen intently today and learn how the entire real estate sector ticks. "The show must go on!" was the motto this year yet again. Yet in contrast to Cannes, there are no beach parties in Munich, rather time is put to use in intensive meetings. Later, there's the odd get-together allowing leading companies and specialists from the industry to feel the pulse of the trade fair with greater clarity. A first summary.

Chamonix. There is still no talk yet of a common, even successful marketing of the Alps. The Internet is too coarsely netted and the differences between the tourism regions in the East and the West Alps are too clear. The sales platform, theAlps, and a symposium through which the Austrians are struggling to bring the interest groups more closely together has recently found its continuation in the French Chamonix. While valuable new contacts with the Alps visitors have been made, the organisers stand before great financial challenges in the border-covering marketing. At the same time, there are strong content differences: On the one hand, the playgrounds in the summit regions are being conferred awards and on the other hand, tourism researchers plead for the new discovery of the "native country" in the Alps. And the tourism managers should become experience managers… The look in the soul of the Alpine marketers also indicates the diversity of Europe.

New Delhi. The Indian hospitality industry is likely to be granted an infrastructure status soon. The demand for this coveted status that would put the industry at par with other industries such as roads, railways, among others, has been a long one spanning over a decade. Now, it is believed that the file has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India and waiting for the Finance Ministry's final nod to be officially declared. Therefore, in all probability, it will happen "any day" soon.

Berne. In the Swiss hotel industry, the demand stabilised for the most in the first half of 2013. In the meantime, the booking figures range from good to very good according to the industry association hotelleriesuisse.

Wiesbaden. The travel behaviour of Italian visitors this summer clearly demonstrated the crisis of the Italian economy. This is registered both by Italy's neighbouring countries where many wealthy Italians preferably go on holiday in the summer, but also by Italy's domestic tourism. In contrast, Germany recorded a slight growth in Italian visitors. Taking stock after "Ferragosto" in Italy.

Paris. Summer 2013 was a disappointment for the French hotel industry. While Paris recovered in August, occupancy of hotels outside the capital grew only slightly.

Cairo. Egypt's tourism industry is facing another meltdown after six weeks of violent turnmoil in Cairo. Several countries advised against travel to Egypt meanwhile which will definitely slow down tourism. But Moevenpick Hotels and Orascom Hotel Development remain confident despite declining occupancy and RevPar figures. The hotel group, one of the first big hotel mover in the area does not consider a withdrawal from Egypt at all. "I can even tell you that we are currently considering two new projects in this country," says Alan O'Dea, Senior Vice President of Africa for Moevenpick hotel group. Samih Sawiris of Orascom, an Egyptain native himself is deeply convinced that Egyptians who will not accept a fundamentalist dictatorship. "The country will move faster than after the Arab Spring," he says.

Dubai. More than 5.5 million guests visited Dubai in the first half of 2013. At an increase of 11.1 percent compared to the previous year, Dubai remains on course with its defined goal to welcome 20 million guests every year by 2020, according to the tourism board.