News & Stories

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.

Warsaw/Kiev. The industry is awaiting the European Football Championship UEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine with mixed feelings. A few days before the starting whistle, it is said that there are still rooms available. While the last beds in Poland have just been sacrificed, those in the Ukraine largely remain unperturbed and hope for a lasting effect. Both have invested much: According to media reports, the investments in the Polish infrastructure in the approach of the UEFA Euro amounted to about 20 million Euro, the Ukraine forked out ten million Euro. There have also been numerous private investments. One week before the starting whistle to UEFA Euro 2012 – insiders report.

Vienna. Thanks to cable cars, the hotels in Austria's ski centres are open in summer more often now. Within one decade, the number of cable car users has doubled in summer. Besides new attractions, regional all-inclusive tickets are the incentive.

Innsbruck. Declared as the "best", Innsbruck's hotel and catering trade show, "Fafga", wants to provoke the undisputed industry leader in Salzburg, "Everything for the Guest".

Frankfurt/M. With its "Business Trips 2012", the German Centre for Tourism is hoping to give one of German tourism's biggest revenue-providers a further boost. And this appears to be working. Speaking at the IMEX in Frankfurt, Petra Hedorfer, DZT Board Chairwoman, provides new figures on the tourism market, both generally, on added value and specifically for the business travel market. Germany has become one of the most popular business travel destinations for European travellers. Business travel is an important source of revenue for the hotel industry and demand from Chinese tour operators is strong.

Frankfurt/M. Over the past year the percentage of providers that have integrated a sustainability management system in their companies, has increased by ten percent to 37.7 percent. This now means that more than every third provider has firmly established the topic in their organizational structure.

Frankfurt/M. These results can hardly be topped: After a striking breaking down of business in 2009, results of German MICE industry in 2011 beat all records. The number of participants grew stronger than the number of events, even in comparison with growing markets like Asia, Germany benefited from its infrastructure and its excellent price performance ratio, which is mainly due to the hospitality industry. As a new plus factor „Meeting- & EventBarometer 2012“, introduced at IMEX, Frankfurt, on Tuesday, identifies the field of regional industry competence: More and more organizers are interested in company tours, matching with their conference or meeting topics, or in integrating speakers of the region. Furthermore, the topic “Green Meeting” gains speed enormously – German Convention Bureau responds to this with the development of a plentitude of activities.

Abu Dhabi. Only a super wide-angle camera is able to grasp the entire lobby at a single glance. It is an eye-catcher one way or another: sofas and armchairs stand on a slight downward slope in front of glass panes measuring 21 metres of height bringing the sky right into the lobby. Somewhere near the border between lobby and sky, there is also a reflection – it is a deco pool ingeniously visualizing this transition. The Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Abu Dhabi is the city's new 5-star superlative. The tower quintet consisting of the hotel as well as offices and residences is located right in front of the long drawn-out drive to the legendary Kempinski Emirates Palace. Behind this legend, the new presidential palace will be erected. This clearly defines the hotel's strategic positioning. After the Emirates Palace, the Etihad wil become the government's second "guest house". The giant pushes its competitors into the background.