News & Stories

Marrakesh. With the Arab Spring on one side and a European financial crisis on another side, the North Africa country of Morocco is trying to come up with a new strategy to attract more tourists and keep one of its foreign currency sources growing through new investments in hotels. Morocco attracted close to 10 million tourists in 2012, and is forecasting a 7 percent growth this year in the number of tourist arrivals to about 10.7 million. One of the fastest growing segments of Morocco, which traditionally relies on European tourists, has been from the Arab region. Unlike other countries in North Africa such as Egypt and Tunisia, the Arab Spring has not lead to a major political upheaval in Morocco, making it a safe destination compared to it neighbours and allowing it to benefit from an influx of Arab tourists who otherwise would have travelled to countries such as Egypt and other troubled destinations. The country is rather feeling the effect more of the financial crisis in Europe, which forms the majority of tourist arrival for the country.

Berlin. The positive trend on the accommodation market goes on in the German capital of Berlin. In 2012, the city recorded roughly 24 million room nights. Latest figures confirm the positive development to continue in 2013. According to Visit Berlin, Berlin's marketing company, despite the long and cold winter, more tourists than ever before visited the city in the first quarter. At the same time, supply keeps growing and the project pipeline is only slowly decreasing. One thing is clear: Berlin needs more business travel, and the MICE sector must not decrease. But the non-operational BER airport and recent conversion activities on the exhibition grounds might put that into question. Berlin insiders already see lots of dark clouds closing in on the city.

Istanbul. The continued protests against creeping islamisation by government in Turkish cities, in particular in Istanbul, are not affecting tourism and hotel projects in any way, two Turkey experts from Servus International and Istanbul-based PFD Consulting say. The country is still stable enough that the confidence of Turkish hotel investors has not been affected. They struggle more with land and construction costs than with finance. At the same time, international operators compete for their favour. Almost everyone wants a foothold in Turkey. Flexible credit terms and high GOP margins promise investors and operators alike a good life.

Peking. The western world is discussing the subject of luxury more and more often as an immaterial value; in China, currently materially defined luxury apparently serves as a welcomed adversarial subject. In any case, the new Chinese President Xi Jinping – who is at the same time a party leader and military chief – has his own image of what a luxury is and plans to rigorously tackle and curb the luxury gluttony of the party and state officials. The hotels in China and the suppliers are also being affected by this. A hotel manager from China reports observations from his everyday life.

Páfos. "It's almost like it was before the banking crisis," the owners of the Cypriot Thanos Hotels stressed at a press conference in Munich. On the Mediterranean island, people have moved closer together and are supporting the local economy. Now the aim is to bring back sensitive European clients.

Vienna. In Austria, the biggest surprise seems to be the ordinary. When Changwei Sun, tour operator from Beijing, stood at the top of a summit in Carinthia and was told by a mountain guide of the Alpe-Adria-Trail, which leads to Slovenia, that all waters glistening in the sun are portable, for instance! For the far-travelled guest, this is one of Austria's qualities. Clear water, pure air, and food and beverages: as soon as guests from distant countries finally arrive in Austria, they are enthusiastic about the simple things. However, Austria's promoters encourage the tourism industry to be more active and offer these simple things in bite-sized pieces that go with the times.

Frankfurt/M. Like the economy as a whole, the German business travel market saw more cautious growth last year than in 2011. Pre-crisis levels have, however, almost been achieved.

Istanbul/Prague/Deggendorf. Tear gas in Istanbul, tears in the flood-affected regions of Central Europe: a traveller describes his brief experience in Istanbul, as well as the help provided by Turkish and German hoteliers.

Madrid. 2013 is being a challenging year for the Spanish economy. The country is facing its 6th year of economic downturn, and although there are some signs that could lead to consider that the recovery has started, these are still very weak and in any event hide underneath the second highest unemployment rate of the European Union. The Spanish real estate market is for sure one of the most important victims of this economic crisis, worsened by the lack of financing which impedes the flow of transactions. In today's guest article, Carlos Bardavío, Counsel at the Real Estate Madrid office of Hogan Lovells International reflects legal changes in the Spanish real estate financing and asks if this may boost hotel investments?

Dubai/Istanbul. Dubai is now counting 20 million tourists in the year, Istanbul more than 10 million. According to a current MasterCard survey, the Turkish metropolis is leaving other cities like Dubai, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Los Angeles behind. This year, the whole of Turkey has contributed 33 million tourists. Already today, the passengers immigrating from the air to the glittering city of the United Arab Emirates are dispatched in relatively short time and are said to utilise only a brief 20 seconds for the formalities in future. In the Turkish metropolis, immigrants can stand in a queue for hours at Customs. Dubai guides the traffic infarct directly and successfully while in the meantime, Istanbul is suffocating in chaos. Emirate Airlines and Turkish Airlines belong among the big "Movers" of the winds. In Istanbul, there have been battles on Taksim Square for one week and ultimately, a reaction to the Islam twist by the Turkish government. But, the young, rather European-stamped Istanbul Turks do not want this. Much of it touches the tourism.