News & Stories

Munich. The HolidayCheck AG hotel evaluation platform has obtained a temporary injunction against Reisen.de concerning unfair advertising.

Hannover. TUI Germany is growing faster than the market in the currently running summer business. The tour operator has particularly grown in the medium-hauls. Nevertheless, it is tightening the prices for winter. Their own hotel concepts are a growth driver.

Frankfurt. The business travel market in Germany outperformed the economy as a whole last year. After the slump of 11 percent at the height of the recession, the number of business trips made by companies with ten or more staff increased by 6.7 percent to 154.8 million in 2010. Overall, companies spent 43.5 billion EUR on business travel.

Innsbruck. Fascinated by the mountains, but irritated by the iPad. This summarizes pretty much the first sales trade fair in Innsbruck, titled “theALPS” Despite a difficult start, the trade fair is planned to be staged on an annual basis. The event managed to achieve its goal of emphasizing the importance of alpine tourism by introducing a new kind of trade fair and network format. Between June 5 and 7, “theALPS” counted a total of 500 participants, among them, 200 tourist experts and 90 purchasers from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe. The eleven regions coming together at this new platform and the international “Best of the Alps” alliance represent 375 million of the 500 million registered room nights in the Alpine region.

Dubai/Marrakesh. Morocco may be reeling from the impact of a terrorist attack in its top tourist destination of Marrakesh in April that left several foreign tourists dead and the ongoing turmoil in the region, but government officials and hotel operators seem adamant about the tourism sector’s resiliency and the country’s ability to double tourist arrivals to 18 million by 2020. Should Morocco be welcomed to join the Gulf Cooperation Council tourism will experience another push. In the last five to seven years, Middle Eastern investors were also looking to replicate the Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi models in the country. Aside Marrakesh and Casablance new destinations are in focus. And hotel operators from the Thai market and the Middle East bring in fresh ideas.

Abu Dhabi. UAE-based hotel management firm Rotana plans to venture outside the Middle East and North Africa, in a bid to seek growth after planting its flag in almost all major cities in the region, where it plans to boost its portfolio to 70 hotels by the end of 2012, the company’s chief executive officer told hospitalityInside.com in Dubai on the sideline of the "Arabian Hotel Investment Conference". While international resp. Western companies try to get a foot into the Middle East and Africa, Rotana as a local but still young player is heading for Asian markets and for Turkey.

London. TUI Travel plc. in London has now officially acquired Magic Life from TUI AG in Hanover, an Austrian child prodigy turned problem child for the Germans.

Parsipanny/Dubai. US-based Wyndham Hotel Group plans to open at least seven hotels in the Middle East and North Africa region over the next few years as the firm seeks to expand its foothold despite the ongoing unrest, Martin Armitstead, the firm’s Europe, Middle East and Africa senior vice-president for development told hospitalityInside.com. "We have an encouragingly healthy pipeline given what’s going on in some parts of the Middle East," Armitstead said in a recent interview in Dubai. But: Several projects are on hold or left to the owner's decision. Nevertheless, Wyndham plans to bring in several brands, especially its budget brand.

Frankfurt. The MICE business has rallied. Companies are absolutely ready to reach deeper into their pockets once more for events. But, according to a result in this year's IMEX in Frankfurt, the demands for the event programmes have changed seriously. With smart special offers, theme-specifically trained MICE staff and "guarantees", conference hotels are trying to retreat from the masses.

Brussels. The Rezidor Hotel Group plans to open 15 new hotels in the Middle East and some parts of Africa in the next three years to boost its existing portfolio of 27 hotels in the region as part of the firm’s aggressive plans to expand in emerging markets, the company’s chief executive officer Kurt Ritter recently told hospitalityInside.com in Dubai. He brushed aside the recent political upheaval, which has affected its hotel business in countries such as Libya, Bahrain and Egypt, saying the region has a long-term potential for growth. Current results are less encouraging: In the first quarter of 2011, the Middle East, Africa and other regions, which includes 12 Arab countries, was the worst performer out of the group’s four regions.