News & Stories

Berlin. Young travellers, employees and CEOs, new hotel concepts and sales channels – on Thursday, 7 March 2013, at this year’s ITB Hospitality Day in Hall 7.1b/ the London Room, the focus is on new, dynamic and unconventional developments. In his keynote, Claus Sendlinger, CEO, Design Hotels will talk about the hotels of tomorrow and the principle of "being neighbourly." Afterwards, experts will engage in a discussion with young people about their demands on travel and hotels. Two students will be interviewing employers to find some concrete answers to Generation Y’s concerns. At the CEO Panel the founders of 25hours Hotels in Hamburg and Unlisted Collection in Singapore will span a bridge between boutique hotels in Europe and Asia. What is more, the Hospitality Day will present four exceptional hotel concepts from Germany, Spain, Italy, and Shanghai. The last hour will be devoted to mobile technology and the question of ”What power does the mobile world have?".

Belek. In Belek, near Antalya, the Gloria Olympic Arena will be constructed within the next two years; it will be the largest Olympics sports complex in Turkey including a boutique hotel and a health centre. Backer of the project is the construction company Oezaltin from Ankara to which the Turkish Gloria Hotels & Resorts belong.

Berlin. The joint hospitality stand was launched at ITB 2012 as "hospitality X-PERTS Lounge". In 2013, its name will change to ITB "World of Hospitality". Its location in the hotel hall 9 will remain unchanged. Seven co-exhibitors already confirmed their participation, a few more are welcome! Preparations for hospitalityInside SPECIAL ITB 2013 are also underway. The magazine, both in print and online, promotes the hotel industry. Details, prices and conditions.

Warsaw. Poland has seen a dynamic expansion of both national and international chain and branded hotels in the last years. A "Guidebook" summarizes challenges and opportunities and provides investors, owners and hotel companies with figures.

Berlin. As the world gears up for 21.12.12, Papaya Playa, a Design Hotels Project in Tulum, Mexico is planning to step up its efforts in nurturing its precious environment. Papaya Playa, originally planned as a singular event has become a laboratory for alternative hospitality models.

Berlin. At ITB Berlin 2013, tours and travel packages will be sold to private visitors on the weekend of March 9 and 10 for the first time. In doing so, ITB Berlin provides all exhibitors with an additional distribution channel. The German Travel Association criticises this strongly.

Zug/Baden-Baden. With the 4-star hotel Spreewald Thermenhotel, Swiss Kannewischer Management AG, which is specialised in the construction and operation of spas and thermal spas, is breaking new ground. The family business around the management expert Stefan Kannewischer and his brother Juergen, an engineer, is well known in the spa scene. Among others, they operate the famous Caracalla Spa in Baden-Baden. Their first own hotel next to their own spa is the run up to more thermal spa hotels. They want to profit from the theme tourism trend.

Berlin. Asia continues to be the driving force in global tourism. According to the latest "ITB World Travel Trends Report", this year the number of outbound trips from Asia rose by seven percent, due in part to rising wages. Yet again, the most frequent travellers came from China and Japan, both countries reporting double-digit growth in outbound travel.

Geneva. If you did a Google search for the words "Kempinski" and "Pyongyang" this week, you got around 611,000 results. In a nutshell: Kempinski CEO Reto Wittwer caused headlines recently when he casually announced an intention to operate a hotel in Pyongyang, the capital of communist North Korea, at the beginning of November. From July or August 2013, Kempinski intends to operate the 105-storey, pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel with 100 or 150, later perhaps even 350 rooms - originally, the government had planned 3,000 rooms. The monster building, the construction of which the government began as far back as the eighties and which it now wants to complete, rises to a height of 337 metres. Is Kempinski reaching for the stars? Just one day before the news came out, Wittwer made an announcement in South Korea that Kempinski intended to participate in a mega project in Seoul. Is the commitment in North and South Korea set to become a massive political balancing act?

Berlin. Berlin West catches up again: After the reunion, the eastern part of the city was long in the focus of investors and developers, now after 20 years, the page turns again to "old" Berlin around Kurfuerstendamm. The Berliners speak, in the meantime, of the "Boomtown City West". Now, as an architectural competitor to the "Zoofenster" Tower including the new Waldorf Astoria Hotel the new Tower "Upper West" was announced. And also the new tower will include a hotel: The German Motel One is the largest with 582 rooms. With this, the low budget design hotel chain has succeeded in a coup in an absolute 1A-location. However, before Upper West is opened, the "Zoobogen" on the opposite side of the street between the Zoo station and the zoo will be completed. And also to be seen there is the trendy hotel of the 25hours Hotel Company. With it, a new urbanistic development is being initiated all around the Gedaechtniskirche.