News & Stories

Frégate Island/Seychelles. The new GM of the eco-friendly luxury Frégate Island Private resorts on the Seychelles goes on a promotional tour in Europe: He wants to entice families and children and has put together an authentic programme with an old-fashioned fisherman for this.

Palma de Mallorca. At the start of the hot summer months, Europe's coolest surf location, the large holiday resort Calvià Beach Resort, wants to impress with its converted Sol Wave House in Mallorca. The first European "Wave House" simulates "the perfect wave", which is the classical tube of the famous three-metre high wave of the Banzai pipeline among surf pros. With this move, Meliá Hotels International is setting new standards on its home island and participating in the reconstruction of a region with eight hotels.

Gdansk. More than three million spectators watched the EURO 2012 in Poland´s stadiums and fan miles. According to initial estimates, about 600,000 guests from 110 countries visited Poland for the Football Euro Cup.

Rust/Freiburg. Amusement parks are currently experiencing a huge boom worldwide. Europa-Park in Rust, 30 km to the north of Freiburg is doing particularly well: Currently with four million visitors per year, it is the largest seasonal amusement park in the world. And there, the now fifth hotel in the amusement park, Bell Rock, will open on the 12th of July. The first four hotels register continual occupancies of more than 90 percent. Enterpriser, Roland Mack, is also the President of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA, this year. "We are experiencing an unbelievable growth", says Mack on the booming industry - particularly in Asia and Central Europe and East Europe.

Hanover. In the winter season 2012/13, tour operator TUI will be launching a new premium experience brand called "Michael Poliza Experiences" and thus enlarging its operator brands.

Cairo/Munich. More than two thirds of foreign tourists regard their own presence in the country as a little annoying for the local population. In comparison, the perception by the locals indicates a completely different picture: More than every second person feels disturbed by the presence of tourists. 63 percent say that the Europeans themselves do not adapt to the culture of the country. This is the stupefying result of a study by the Jade College in Wilhelmshaven. For Professor Torsten Kirstges, a danger lies within it for tourism development in the Arabian country. Along with this, the expert also sees the hotels as responsible.

Frankfurt/M. The cost-reduction potential for business travels has been exhausted in German businesses. Especially low-cost airlines have become obsolete as a cost-cutting measure. This was revealed in the tenth VDR business travel analysis, which was published by Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. in Berlin this week.

Zurich. Investing in the Swiss hotel market is currently in great demand – although the industry is not in good shape at the moment. However, investors are striving for "secure" locations, which is why hotels seem to be particularly popular among international investors. Zurich acts like a magnet and will experience a massive boost in bed numbers over the next few years. At present, many investors from Asia and Eastern Europe are on the lookout for major projects. "We are arousing interest for the wrong reasons," says Juerg Schmid, Director of Schweiz Tourismus. "Undead" midcaps are piling up in the meantime.

Berlin. As the Convention & Culture Partner of ITB Berlin 2013, Azerbaijan will be providing a link between Asia and Europe with a varied programme. The contract was signed this week.

Kiew/Warschau. Polen und die Ukraine werden die Fussball-Europa-Meisterschaft 2012 austragen, die nächsten Freitag, 8. Juni, beginnt und bis 1. Juli die Sportwelt in Atem halten wird. Wie aber stehen die Gastgeber touristisch und wirtschaftlich dar? In diesem Gastbeitrag wirft Martin Schaffer, Geschäftsführer im Wiener Büro der führenden österreichischen Hotel- und Tourismusberatung Kohl & Partner, einen Blick auf die Hintergründe der beiden Länder, in denen die Berater auch seit vielen Jahren unterwegs sind. Schaffers Resümée: "Die Situationen in beiden Ländern sind so unterschiedlich wie ihr Fortschritt im Transformationsprozess." Polens Hotellerie gibt sich weitaus strukturierter und zielgruppen-orientierter, die Hotel-Entwicklung in der Ukraine steckt quasi noch in den Kinderschuhen.