News & Stories

Dubai. With the Arab Spring entering into its third year, tourism prospects in the Middle East and North Africa are divided between 'safe haven' countries like the United Arab Emirates and countries still mired in turmoil, such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria. The clear star of the industry is Dubai, which continued to be the hot topic at the annual "Arabian Hotel Investment Conference" which took place last Sunday and Monday. And the first announcement of a deal at the conference was a Wyndham hotel in Dubai, the first for the Wyndham brand in the hotel group, which has other brands operating in the city.

Bregenz. In coordination with all tourism partners, Austria wants to become "Europe's meeting point" in 2014. At the tourism day in Bregenz, they showed "what they are made of" and declared culture the big topic of the event.

Vienna. Austria is proud of the new international names present on Vienna's hotel landscape. Luxury is now booming. After the opening of Ritz-Carlton and Kempinski and before that of Hyatt and Four Seasons, established luxury hotels have also begun to spruce themselves up. Then comes the new boutique hotels. But will the pie be big enough for everybody? New chains must raise their rates if a price war is to be avoided. Which luxury hotel chain will find its niche and where will it find it? A quick tour through Vienna's luxury hotel landscape.

Lucerne. Greece's tourism lies idle and the minister has only one tenth of the former budget at her disposal to promote the country. In Greece, a huge wave of privatisation has started, and considering the tight public expenses, online has received an entirely new meaning. Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni provided a short overview of her current hardships at the "World Tourism Forum" in Lucerne.

Moscow. The Russian hotel market has minimal branded capacity with only about 130 chain hotels out of the more than 5,500 transient lodging establishments in the country. Branded hotel expansion in Russia is primarily being led by major international players, as Russian-owned chains have shown a largely lethargic trend, with the exception of Amaks Hotels. Among the international chains, Hilton is stepping up its pace, Moscow's pipeline up to 2025 exceeds all expectations and Sochi does not have enough luxury accommodations to offer. Russia's development is focused on Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi but there will also be new – if not limited – capacities in the new casino destination of Vladivostok.

Berlin. The next new German resort brand is called Holler Hotels. They should translate unconstrained concepts into the resort hotel industry. The initiators are seeking out locations and are also taking over the projects with joint responsibility.

Berlin. With 170,000 visitors and 60,000 of these private visitors, the ITB was just as popular in 2013 as in the past year. The mood, however, was much improved: From the very start, the halls buzzed with activity, and as the event climaxed on Thursday, many exhibitors were simply overwhelmed by the flood of contacts. It was then quiet again at the weekend - at least in Hotel Hall 9. There, only a few Air France critics stirred things up with a short protest. Otherwise, visitors enjoyed ice-cream and popcorn. For the first time, travel sales were allowed at the ITB: According to a trade fair survey, every tenth private visitor came to the ITB for this reason. A walk through the hotel hall revealed various changes reflecting the transformation taking place in the hotel industry. The world's largest tourism fair must also adjust here if it's not to lose ground.

Berlin. Outside in the corridors and meeting rooms, hotel project announcements pile up along with huge investment sums. Inside, CEOs from Hilton, Starwood, IHG and Marriott try to save the hotel world. The 16th International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin's InterContinental Hotel was entitled "The Art of Innovation - Meet the Grand Masters of Hotel Investment". The Grand Masters - or in plain English: IHIF sponsors - had agreed not to gloat with their pipeline projects, but rather to give ethical and moral consideration to the economic power of travel and to think about visa restrictions and threats to the environment and hotel jobs. As Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson admitted that the hotel industry "doesn't offer good jobs" and that the jobs are "too lowly paid", hopes were raised in the room. Self-criticism from the highest level? Unfortunately, it didn't last long; by the end, everything was hunky-dory again and the hotel industry the greatest sector in the world.

Munich. Transferring Fours Seasons' sensitive touch to Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas would provide the brand with an even greater upswing... The new management team of the re-structured resort group has already been shaped by managers of this luxury hotel chain: namely by former Four Seasons President Wolf Hengst, who has been Executive Chairman at Six Senses for four years now as well as his former colleague Neil Jacobs, who worked 14 years for Four Seasons and became Six Senses' CEO just a few weeks ago. This personnel component is decisive for the plans of Six Senses: the group wants to grow much faster than it has in the past; apart from resorts and spas, it will operate hotels in future as well – ideally urban hotels in the world's mega metropolises – and it would even purchase additional hotel groups. For this reason, a development company has been founded. Neil Jacobs on the latest plans of a changed Six Senses group.

Wiesbaden. For many chains, resorts belong as an inalienable part of their portfolio because they often also bring good revenue and therefore, clearly characterise quite a bit in the pipeline. Susanne Stauss has written about this in the first part of our resort contribution and in the today's second part, the chains speak of the effects of crises on their resorts and of the trends that they define for their guests. Accor, Hilton, Jumeirah, Kempinski, Marriott, Meliá and Starwood Hotels have taken part in the hospitalityInside survey.