HVS identifies five key issues that hotels need to consider moving into the new decade, including the fact that travellers are now expecting a more personal service, the issue of corporate responsibility and the importance of attracting and retaining good staff.
The Sporades are an island complex along the east coast of Central Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. They consist of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited, namely Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros. Skiathos is the westernmost island in the Sporades group, east of the Pelion peninsula in Magnesia on the mainland, and west of the island of Skopelos.
Those who live there today continue to enjoy lodgings and dining that belong to a centuries-old tradition. It was the beginning of hospitality in Europe. Later, with the development of economic exchanges throughout the old continent, inns and hotels flourished.
The region of the Ionian Islands consists of the islands in the Ionian Sea on the western coast of Greece. Since they have long been subject to influences from Western Europe, the Ionian Islands form a separate historic and cultural unit than that of continental Greece. The region is divided administratively into four prefectures (Corfu, Lefkada, Kefallinia and Zakinthos) and comprises the islands of Kerkira (Corfu), Zakinthos, Cephalonia (Kefallinia), Lefkada, Ithaca (Ithaki), Paxi, and a number of smaller islands. The Ionian Islands are the sunniest part of Greece, but the southerly winds bring abundant rainfall.
It's wild times in the UK. At least that's the perception of this here Yankee. Regardless of politics, ever since Jan. 20, 2017, the U.S. has been on a rambunctious ride of its own, and now, with the appointment of Boris Johnson as UK prime minister on July 24, 2019, the UK has gotten to join in the rollicking fun, as the calendar moves closer to Oct. 31, the day the UK is slated to leave the EU bloc.
Since our previous article in April 2018, the business environment in France has experienced positive change with a decrease in unemployment rate and an increase in purchasing power, following the 'gilets jaunes' disruption. The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts modest GDP growth to pick up to around 1.5% for the foreseeable future. In terms of tourism, Paris enjoys an exceptionally well-balanced mix of business and leisure demand, which allows the City of Lights to have both a broad seasonality and strong average rate. Paris has remained, alongside London, one of the two most desirable destinations for hotel investment for more than a decade.
Researchers at Ecole hôteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland are developing a forecasting model to predict guest stays at Swiss hotels but how useful will the model be for hoteliers?
My thesis set out to answer these questions, based on a sample of 525 graduating students from four Swiss hotel management schools: EHL, Les Roches, Glion and SHL (Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern). Specific emphasis was placed on the Employer Branding aspects which employers can offer in order to appeal to the young graduates.
Amsterdam is in the province of North Holland, in the heart of the Randstad, Europe's sixth-largest metropolitan area. The city of Amsterdam is the capital and the largest city in the Netherlands, with a population of just over 850,000 recorded in 2018. While Amsterdam is known globally for its historic canals, art museums (Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum), red-light district and 'coffee' shops, it is also a significant European financial centre. Approximately 2,000 foreign companies have established offices in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, and more than 200 of these companies have headquarters in the city. The Dutch capital is consistently ranked among the best cities in which to live and has become an increasingly popular gateway destination thanks to its excellent connectivity via Schiphol Airport, the port of Amsterdam and high-speed rail services such as Eurostar.
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. The largest city, and the island’s capital, is Heraklio. The island is currently the most popular destination in Greece in terms of international visitation. Administratively, it is divided into four prefectures (namely Chania, Rethymno, Heraklio, and Lassithi) while major cities and tourism destinations are Heraklio, Chania, Agios Nikolaos, Rethymno, Sitia, Ierapetra, Malia, Hersonissos, Elounda, and Kissamos.
After months of anticipation, the Direct Booking Summit EMEA opened its doors this morning - and if the first day is anything to go by, this could very well be the best event yet. Hundreds of innovation leaders gathered in the heart of Paris for the biggest event in hospitality, with 25 influential figures within the industry presenting keynotes, panels and debates across a wide range of fascinating topics. With many common themes including cultivating brand loyalty, optimizing the customer experience and the importance of prioritizing long-term success, there was an abundance of valuable, engaging and practical advice for hoteliers to apply to their own organizations.
Succession planning plays an important role for any entrepreneur and has become a central strategic component for company owners and managers. A recent study on Swiss small and mid-sized enterprises (SME) by a large Swiss bank highlights the importance of this topic. According to this study, 3/4 of managers have spent time and effort on succession planning. This is not surprising considering that some 70'000 to 80'000 SMEs will face a generational change in the upcoming years in Switzerland alone. This step is not only important for each individual company, but also for the Swiss economy as a whole as these companies account for about 400'000 employees.
The purpose of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) events is to understand, improve, and share teaching and learning practices across disciplines and schools to prepare a new generation of lifelong learners. Following this philosophy, the first international SoTL conference hosted at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) was entitled "Reflecting-in and Reflecting-on Teaching and Learning through Research". For two days earlier this year, 27 participants from 13 different schools attended workshops and shared best practices.
Entrepreneurship is en vogue! Not a day passes by without reading or hearing about how entrepreneurship supports most European countries' GDP growth, the groundbreaking innovations that entrepreneurial ventures bring about, or the importance of getting more young people excited about launching their own startup.
Despite a mostly conservative vision concerning their experience at a restaurant for 2030, Swiss consumers do want to see drastic changes in some areas, mainly related to customization. Are restaurateurs aware and ready to respond to their clients' expectations? A new study provides insights and recommendations for restaurateurs and F&B professionals.
RevPAR in the UK’s regional hotels dropped 2.8% in Q1 2019, according to the latest UK Hotel Market Tracker: Q1 2019, produced by HVS London, AlixPartners and STR.
Using new technologies for pedagogical purposes is more than just a fad. It seems to be quickly imposing itself as the future of education. In fact, most professionals working in training and education are already well-versed in various fields such as augmented reality, virtual reality, e-learning and blended learning. Although still quite expensive to implement, there is every reason to believe that the costs will come down quickly and the high-tech classroom will continue to develop. To get there, however, the Internet giants - Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google - are investing massively in virtual reality R&D, which could durably modify the way we approach training and education.
Below you'll find insights from Bill van der Valk from Van der Valk hotel Schiphol; Dita Guth, the founder & owner Salotto Rosso; Kristel Dom, hotel manager at Canal House Amsterdam and Anne Gorthmanns owner and manager of Strandhotel at Cadzand Bad.
A proverb states that prudence does not avoid all misfortune, but a lack of prudence never fails to attract it. This is why due diligence is a vital step in buying a hotel. In a hotel acquisition context, the term "due diligence" refers to the investigations carried out by the prospective buyer. These investigations focus both on the hotel assets (i.e. the operating building as a whole) and the company that owns these assets or operates the hotel. Due diligence must also enable the buyer to fully appreciate the hotel's business, understand its structure, environment and market, and analyse the long-term viability of their project.
It's almost impossible to read through a hospitality or travel publication these days and not find the latest jaw-dropping statistic on the Chinese traveller market. Here's one: according to The China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), the number of overseas trips made within a year by Chinese tourists will exceed 400 million by 2030. And, another: in 2017, China led the world in its investments toward travel abroad, investing a total of US$258,000 million, according to the UNWTO.