Trend: Truffle hunters, rethinkers, extreme adventurers

Dear Insider,

The noise level in the Expo Real halls was already high on the first morning. On the second day, the suburban trains were hopelessly jammed... Messe München counted over 42,000 visitors, more than expected. There was a need to talk everywhere. The asset class Hotel remains coveted by investors, although new projects, especially resorts, have currently been declared dead. For operators, Hotel have become a problem child. Zero profit makes everyone tremble, as does the high-speed market cleanse. Expansion is only possible in the "operator buys operator" style. Germany is currently considered a very difficult country. But non-Germans continue to believe in Europe’s largest market.

Foreign investors are already on the starting blocks, as they were after Lehman: They are waiting for Pac-Man. He's still hungry. What he leaves on the plate will still be picked up? In the discussions at the hotel conference, you could feel the tugging and pulling from all sides. Franchise: fees must be reduced, contracts shortened. Lease: Can the investor defend himself if a new, unwanted brand comes in after the change of operator? We still have a lot to report from the highly interesting discussions at the very well-attended "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" conference. Susanne Stauss starts today with a five-page, detailed description about the market cleanse and recorded the experiences of seven executives from Covivio, Art-Invest, Whitbread, Revo Hospitality, IHG, Motel One and Erste Group.

Treugast made headlines with its annual "Investment Rating". The Munich-based consultants withdrew the rating of Europe's fastest expanding hotel group, Revo Hospitality. The media greedily soaked up this headline, while at Expo Real there was discussion as to whether Treugast's reasoning was damaging to business or not. Revo's expansion does indeed raise many questions, but only facts, not more rumours, can provide answers.