External Articles

Winter Tourist Season In Austria Not Very Successful | tourism-review.com

In the current season 2016/17, the number of overnight stays in Austrian hotels, guesthouses and apartments has declined by 1 percent to 29 million compared to the year before. Although the number of holidaymakers recovered slightly by 0.4 per cent to 8.6 million, the stays decreased according to preliminary statistic data for the winter tourist season in Austria.

The two most important markets – Germany and the Netherlands – decreased quite considerably. In terms of overnight stays by Germans, there was a drop of 3.3 percent to 11.2 million compared to the previous year, while the Dutch recorded a slump of 5.2 percent to 1.8 million. Italian visitors also booked significantly fewer hotel nights during the winter tourist season – here was a sharp drop of 6.5 per cent to 661,900.

Amsterdam Hands Out Half-million Euros In Fines For Airbnb Renters | nltimes.nl

Since autumn last year Amsterdam imposed a total of 526,500 euros in fines for illegal vacation rentals, mostly through sites like Airbnb and Booking.com, the Telegraaf reports. A large part of that amount is made up of 297 euros in fines imposed on a Airbnb renter and key business Iamb&b earlier this year. Last week another mega-fine of 175 thousand euros in total was imposed to renters and another key business Keyokay, according to the newspaper.

Russia: Outbound Travel Market To Go Up By 30% | tourism-review.com

More than 3 million Russians are expected to travel to Turkey in 2017, according to experts. The outbound travel market is likely to grow again.

Turkish authorities make all efforts to restore the inflow of tourists this year. In 2017, 3-3.5 million Russian tourists will visit Turkey. The Russian outbound travel market is booming again.

French 'bubble hotel' allows guests to sleep under the stars, with all the luxuries of a proper hotel room | dailymail.co.uk

A French hotel is making a name for itself among travellers who want to spend the night under the stars, but in comfort. The Attrap'Rjves family hotel, in the heart of woodland in Allauch, gives adventurous guests the chance to spend a night in the wild without resorting to tents. From £100 a night, outdoor lovers can enjoy a stay in a two-person bubble room, made from transparent plastic that gives 360-degree views of mother nature.

Spain Has The Most Overnight Hotel Stays In EU | tourism-review.com

Last year, Spain was the country in the EU that registered the most overnight stays in hotel establishments, with 454 million nights, 7.8% more than in the previous year. These figures were published by the EU statistical office, Eurostat.

It is the second consecutive year that Spain has been the leader in this statistic, which includes overnight hotel stays for leisure and work.

Tax, not tech, gives Airbnb advantages in UK | theguardian.com

Airbnb may be known for offering frugal travellers savings over traditional hotels, but a new investigation reveals that a lot of the savings the company can offer in the UK come not from fancy technology, but tax advantages.

According to the Financial Times, around one third of the savings the company offers customers on accommodation in London comes from having a lower tax bill.

Britain's first underground hotel will treat guests like troglodytes, councillors say | telegraph.co.uk

A plan to build Britain's first underground hotel has angered councillors in London's West End who claim guests will be treated like “a bunch of troglodytes”.

Permission was granted last month for developers to build a 166-room windowless hotel fifty feet below the streets of Bloomsbury.

The project's backers have described it as "innovative" and "exciting", and argue it will make the best use of limited space in the crowded capital.

Inside The Woodsman's, Dorset: Is this England's most luxurious treehouse? | telegraph.co.uk

It’s hard to resist the allure of a treehouse, whether to recover a childhood idyll or to spark our lost connection with the forest which once cloaked England. The concept of a luxury treehouse might seem like an oxymoron – one which Robin Hood would have scorned. But lovely Woodsman's Treehouse pulls off the feat of being both fabulously comfortable and in tune with its leafy environment. The setting is the Crafty Camping glamping site near Axminster in Dorset. A network of high-hedged lanes lead to Crafty Camping, where a wooden sign from the car park points its modest way down to the site. Heading downhill, the trees become denser, and you encounter the first Tolkein-esque construction – a camp kitchen which is open to the elements. Paths wind their way to secluded shelters – yurts, a teepee, a shepherds hut and three bell tents – this is a quiet adult-only site, and the space between each structure ensures a real feel of leafy privacy.

Which one of England’s ‘oldest hotels’ is actually the oldest? | theguardian.com

When news broke last weekend that the Royal Clarence hotel in Exeter was burning down, it was met with an outpouring of public sympathy – and confusion. The building was repeatedly referred to as the oldest hotel in England, leading some people to wonder: “Hang on – I thought I’d stayed at the oldest hotel in England. And it wasn’t in Exeter.”

Establishments in Norwich, Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire and more all claim the title – and at least two, The Old Bell, in Wiltshire and The Olde Bell in Berkshire, even share a name. Which begs the question: just how many oldest hotels in England does England have?

Overwhelming majority of hospitality employers find recruiting harder than ever | thecaterer.com

An overwhelming majority of hospitality professionals reckon it is now harder to find the quality of employees they are looking for than ever before.

Nearly 82% said it was harder than at any time in the past to recruit suitable staff, with a staggering 93% of respondents saying they found it either somewhat difficult (44%) or very difficult (49%).

That's according to new research conducted by The Caterer as part of the Think Again campaign, in association with foodservice firm Sodexo.

This Amsterdam hotel has 9 one-of-a-kind rooms created by different designers | businessinsider.nl

When you look for a hotel room, you usually choose what to book based on how many beds you need, the size of the space, and the amenities offered (like a minibar or room service). Rarely do you get a room that’s completely different than anyone else’s.

But the Volkshotel in Amsterdam has a unique setup. Guests can book a one-of-a-kind room specially designed by local architects and interior designers.

British tourism: after Brexit, a record summer season | hospitality-on.com

The UK has recorded its biggest-ever month for tourist visits, with 3.8 million international visitors in July. This dynamic is expected to continue in the upcoming months, especially due to the consequences of the Brexit on the purchasing power of foreign tourists.

The weirdest requests from hotel guests revealed | dailymail.co.uk

One guest at a hotel in Whitby requested a 'genuinely haunted' bedroom. Another asked if he could bring his own mattress to use during his stay. Further unusual examples include a fridge just for butter, and a wig.

Brexit delivers cheaper hotel rooms. Here's why that's not something to celebrate | independent.co.uk

Fancy a night in a London hotel? It’s probably going to get a bit cheaper, and you've Brexit to thank for that. Good news, if you have a job and the spare funds to take advantage.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, occupancy rates in the capital will steadily fall from 82 per cent this year, to 81 per cent next year and then 80 per cent the year after that.

Partly as a result, the price per room will also fall from £143 to £141 although it is expected to pick up a little to £142 in 2018.

July: France's hotel industry continues its course... | hospitality-on.com

This July 2016, France's hospitality industry continued to follow the trend established since the beginning of the year, producing highly contrasting - and even opposing - results depending on region and range. While in the Paris region brighter skies are not always in the forecast, and the French Riviera is in mourning, other dynamics persist in the different regions.

How Premier Inn Crowdsourced Its New Hotel Room | forbes.com

When the U.K.’s Premier Inn wanted to design a new hotel to met the services expectations of its guests and the cost requirements of city center properties, it literally took a room to customers to get their input.

“We actually built a room, put it on a lorry, and went around to major cities,” said Simon Ewins, Premier Inn’s Chief Operating Officer.

Unlike a typical crowdsourcing campaign or contest however, the innovation project, begun in 2011, started with two certainties: The room dimensions, which were based on the company’s deep experience (and came to 11.4 sq. meters), and a cost “envelope” that provided a framework that would inform what was possible, or, as Ewins put it, “keep us honest.”

Hotel rates in Paris halved as visitor numbers slide | telegraph.co.uk

Hotels in Paris are offering discounts of up to 56 per cent in a bid to entice tourists back to the city.

The recent terror attacks in France have had a devastating impact on the country’s tourism industry. According to Matthias Fekl, the junior minister for tourism, hotels in Paris had an occupancy rate of just 32 per cent in the second half of July, compared to 77 per cent for the same period in 2015.

The Grand Beedapest Hotel: the ‘world’s first hotel for bees’ | telegraph.co.uk

he latest new hotel causing a buzz in Britain is a "miniature luxury hotel” designed to offer hardworking honey bees much-needed rest and relaxation. The dollhouse-sized Bee Hotel, inspired by Wes Anderson’s Oscar-winning film The Grand Budapest Hotel, loosely based on the Corinthia Hotel in Budapest, was created by British tea brand Taylors of Harrogate in partnership with Kew Gardens, in a bid to raise awareness for the importance of bees and the role they play in the production of fruits and vegetables, and their declining population, as well as inspire people to ‘bee’ more “pollinator-friendly” and build bee hotels in their own private gardens.

This Storybook Hotel in Romania Will Bring Fairy Tales to Life | travelandleisure.com

Castelul de Lut, or the “Clay Castle,” is straight out of a fairytale. Despite being called a castle, the hotel looks more like a witch's cottage (hey Hansel, hey Gretel) than somewhere Sleeping Beauty would call home. The thatched roofs, crooked doors, and curvaceous plaster walls are made of entirely organic materials like clay, straw, sand, and wood. And while organic is a very modern trend, the hotel is a throwback to days of old.

Group Makes $1.3 Billion Offer for Grosvenor House, Plaza Hotels | bloomberg.com

A U.K. multifamily office and two Middle Eastern partners submitted a $1.3 billion bid for London’s Grosvenor House hotel and majority stakes in New York’s Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels to majority owner Sahara India Pariwar, controlled by once-jailed Indian businessman Subrata Roy. The bidders “are committing our own capital resources to acquire all three” hotels, Jesdev Saggar, managing director of the U.K. multifamily office, 3 Associates Capital Management Ltd., wrote in an e-mail. “We now await the sellers’ acceptance of our bid.”