News & Stories

Moscow. In terms of hotel development in Europe, Russia is king, according to the June 2009 Smith Travel Research Global Construction Pipeline Report. Moscow has the largest number of rooms in the continent's total active pipeline: 5,127 of the total 94,695, which includes projects from the planning stages to those under construction. Russia also is one of the countries seeing the most development, said STR vice president of content management Duane Vinson. "I don't think the global recession has impacted Russia as much as its own internal issues have, so we've continued to see a lot of development in that country," Vinson said in a statement. Nevertheless, new properties are reset in new contexts, one group has initiated bankruptcy procedure for tax reasons but also new groups come up. The Ukraine belongs to the prospering marktes and big plans are announced. But about 85% of the announced projects will not be realized, experts say.

Palma de Mallorca. The Spanish RIU Hotels chain wants to expand more strongly in Turkey. To achieve this goal, RIU has formed a long-term strategic alliance with a local hotel group. Yesterday, RIU also announced its first city hotel for 2010.

Side. TUI managers shine with pride when they talk of the new Sensimar brand. Last weekend, Sensimar was officially "born" - with the opening of the Sensimar Side Resort & Spa in Side in Turkey. In total, three Sensimar hotels are in operation with the hotel in Side as the flagship. With this "special, emotional product", hotel makers of the German travel giant appeal, as they put it, to the "best of the best of TUI's customers": TUI's affluent older clientele who only travel in pairs and prefer to remain among their own - among other Germans. TUI's strategy concentrates on exactly that - on the typically German. Whether the company will be able to deliver the traditionally high German quality standards remains unclear. After all, TUI wants nothing to do with operations. Sensimar is built on a franchise model and remains silent in the discussion as to quality standards.

Bonn. The Wirtschaftsfoerderung of Bonn will issue the 2009 annual economic report at the commercial real estate trade fair of Expo Real in Munich in early October. The report contains detailed figures about the city and its potential for tourism. Here are some facts at a glance, also about the hotel industry. In addition, the Wirtschaftsfoerderung commissioned a "hotel demand analysis for Bonn". Regardless of this, Bonn's most recent showpiece, the World Conference Center is hitting the headlines these days. According to media reports, Bonn's public prosecution is investigating, among other things, a case of suspected fraud and bribery in connection with the construction of the WCCB. Investigations are focussed on the Korean developer SMI Hyundai, the general contractor, and the lawyer who represented the city during the search for an investor. However, the construction of the conference centre is not affected by this.

Bonn. Since 2007, Bonn's object of prestige has been growing in the city's former government quarter: the World Conference Center Bonn, creating headlines in these days. And in the middle of it, the tower of the Ameron World Conference Hotel reaches up like a landmark. A good many hoteliers might envy the Althoff Hotel Collection for this location. For Thomas Althoff, the hotel is the biggest of his collection and poses a new challenge for him. Since his decision to take on operations of the hotel, he has unexpectedly got some competition, amongst others from the Grand Kameha Bonn, which will open up in mid-November. The former federal capital is considered a hotel location with great potential.

Frankfurt. The young Hamburg based company, Transmedic GmbH, has acquired the established Frankfurt based provider of health and wellness holidays, FIT REISEN GmbH. Both companies intend to shore up their market presence further and take advantage of attractive growth prospects "beyond wellness".

Athens. Currently, tourism in Greece is over-dependant on tour operators for the majority of holiday-makers, particularly at the lower end of the market. Nevertheless, over the past few years there is an upcoming market niche geared towards the higher end of the tourism industry, which has been particularly promising. This upcoming demand for quality accomodation is reflected by the particularly high occupancy and average room rate results achieved by some high-end hotels, which have been able to atrract clientele from differentiated distribution channels and therefore lessen their dependence on tour operators.

Athens. Hotel brands have been expanding their presence in Greece over recent years, yet their share still remains low when compared to other European countries. According to a Greek study, 4% of the country’s hotels - controlling 19% of the total room capacity - have an affiliation with one of 113 brands. Brands controlled by Europe’s large tour operators claim one fourth of all branded hotels in Greece. Nevertheless, home-grown brands have done their part in introducing new hotel concepts and more and more hotel owners are opting for consortium membership.

Berlin. In Berlin, a new trade fair trio for health will be established: At the beginning of October, "Wellness Plus" will join the five-year old fairs ""50+ aktiv" and "State Health Fair - Berlin Brandenburg" in presenting its products. All three trade fairs are geared towards the needs of end consumers and will offer a complete overview of health and wellness as well as of products and services for senior citizens. Numerous special events and trade fair shows will also take place.

Hamburg. Business travels are decreasing, while conferences and meetings are being rationalised. Companies are trying to curb costs and the hotel industry is suffering as a result. This is a well-known scenario in the meantime. What are the concepts developed by the conference hotel sector in order to overcome the crisis? What strategies will help to turn the wheel in the short and medium term? Last week, Ralph Langrock, author of hospitalityInside.com, analysed the current situation. Today, he introduces ideas and concepts for survival by international hotel chains - a lot of smart thoughts that bring additional business as well.