After months of preparations EURO 2016 has started. With 24 countries participating, it is the largest EURO Tournament both in terms of teams and in terms of foreign visitors expected to come for the event: over 1 million tourists.
For anyone trying to run a business and plan ahead uncertainty is rarely welcome, particularly in the hospitality sector. Few things throw up more uncertainty than this week's referendum in the UK on the country's continued membership of the European Union. Polls show the two sides are neck and neck – and with Britain's recent run-ins with unreliable polling data, nobody is willing to make a call on which way this referendum will go until the votes are counted in the early hours of Friday morning.
This week a new kind of hotel experience debuted in Amsterdam. The opening of the very first Zoku concept represents a real turning point, one where trend becomes design, and design becomes the hype. For years hotel strategies have skirted the evolution mobile, tech, and a stoked Millennial Generation. Now Zoku makes a first-of-a-kind concept hotel, one where business dissolves into pleasure. We talk a lot about the space where high tech trends intersected with guest experience and progress, but this hotel seems designed to create, rather than to prognosticate.
Urgent responses from governments happen in parallel to a manifest will to demonstrate strength. Divided between the need to reassure the local population, the desire to prove that life goes on, and the need to not scare off those that feed the tourist economy, managers have been ensnared by critics from all sides.
Take a sector that brings together the leaders in the global ranking in its category. An economic activity that, not only participates in that country's international glory, but provides work for a million employees and feeds the economy with at least as many derived jobs. One would think that it would surely receive the careful attentions of the country's leaders to prevent such a productive machine from breaking down… Especially in these trying times. However, that would happen in a pragmatic country, in a country that values success and provides the support needed to get through difficult times or lay the foundations for development.
The UK's hotel market saw its first decline in average RevPAR (rooms revenue per available room) in four years during the first three months of 2016 adding further fuel to the suggestion that the peak of the hotel property market may have been reached. According to the latest Hotel Bulletin: Q1 2016, published by HVS, AlixPartners and AM:PM, a poor start to the year for hotels in Aberdeen saw RevPAR fall by 37% year-on-year, skewing overall results across the 12 cities analysed. Even excluding Aberdeen's results, the overall market grew by only 1%, its lowest increase since Q1 2012. While London remains a popular destination for Russian and Chinese visitors and investment continues to pour into the city, hotels in the capital saw RevPAR decrease by 2% in Q1 2016, their fifth consecutive quarter of flat or declining figures. 'These figures give us a strong indication that the peak of the UK's hotel occupancy market has been reached and the growth we are seeing now is rate driven rather than occupancy driven,' said HVS chairman Russell Kett. 'For the moment there continues to be strong interest in hotel investment in most parts of the UK, which could continue into 2017, but investors are currently delaying decisions because of uncertainty fuelled by a combination of terrorism concerns, the forthcoming Brexit vote, China's economic situation and the US elections. 'There is a risk that some operators will cut rates in an attempt to stimulate demand, forcing competitors to follow suit. Once room rates fall across the hotel sector the likelihood is that values will soften. This is a big concern for London's hoteliers, particularly with the large number of bedrooms due to open in the next 12 months unless demand starts to pick up again,' he added. According to Hotel Bulletin the best performing city in Q1 was Cardiff, with an average RevPAR increase of 8%, largely due to the World Half Marathon Championships in March. The fact that demand has not been constrained by new supply means that Cardiff has been in the top three best performing cities for the past four quarters. Since December 2011 only 18 new bedrooms have opened in the city. Birmingham was the second best performing city in Q1, with RevPAR growth of 7%, despite supply growing by nearly 800 bedrooms over the past two years. Investment in Birmingham airport means that this trend is likely to continue as new flight routes come on stream. The hotel sector has long been seen as a barometer of the wider economy, says Hotel Bulletin, albeit with inevitable regional variances. In recent months there has been a modest but perceptible shift in sentiment, especially in the investment community where a much greater sense of caution is being adopted over future growth prospects. Download the Hotel Bulletin: Q1 2016 by clicking here.
As VP of Marketing for Revinate, one of the things I love about my job is getting the opportunity to travel and speak with customers about the challenges and opportunities they face in 2016. In fact, we recently published a white paper that summarizes this.
Earlier this month upscale boutique hoteliers, 25hours Hotels opened a stunning new hotel in Hamburg, the Altes Hafenamt on the harbor. I had the opportunity to talk with the new hotel's director, Nina Quitmann about the impact, and the potential of this new property. I think you will find her in depth and detailed responses to be telling of how excellent hotels come into being.
Success in the hospitality industry is becoming ever more elusive: approximately 27 pubs are closing every week; nearly half of the UK's nightclubs have shut down over the past decade and over 40,000 hotel rooms closed in the ten years up to 2013. But it's not all doom and gloom; for example, PWC predicts that this year will see the highest regional hotel occupancy ever and the highest in London this decade.
2015 witnessed falling oil prices; terrorist attacks at the heart of Europe; the migrant crisis... but against this rather gloomy background, the hotel world saw record hotel transactions, record performance data, and a generally upbeat mood. 2015 witnessed falling oil prices; terrorist attacks at the heart of Europe; the migrant crisis... but against this rather gloomy background, the hotel world saw record hotel transactions, record performance data, and a generally upbeat mood.
London will see the opening of a massive 7,000 hotel rooms this year, double that of last year's openings, putting additional pressure on occupancy levels and achieved room rates. Across the UK some 16,000 hotel rooms are expected to open this year, compared with 10,000 last year, according to the latest Hotel Bulletin: Q4 2015, which is published by HVS in conjunction with AlixPartners and AM:PM. RevPAR growth across 12 UK cities in Q4 2015 was an average of 2%, significantly lower that the 19% average growth recorded in Q4 2014, with occupancy in the same period falling in eight of the 12 cities. London's occupancy declined for the fourth consecutive quarter. 'The huge amount of openings planned for 2016 in London will be of concern to the city's hoteliers who, while historically are used to robust performance, are currently experiencing limited demand growth,' commented HVS chairman Russell Kett. 'Flat or declining occupancy is historically followed by plateauing rates indicating that a peak in hotel market trading may nearly have been reached,' he added. Over half of the UK's development pipeline opening within the next three years are in the budget sector (51%), made up of hostels, budget and two-star hotels. The second largest growth sector is that of four-star properties at 28%. Some 9% of the development pipeline are apartments, while a further 9% are five-star hotels. 'As has been the case for some time, future openings are heavily biased towards the budget hotel sector as these are relatively quick and cheap to build and offer good returns,' said Kett. 'Demand for budget rooms is still strong from both the leisure and the business sector proving the format is one of the most successful in the hotel business. This growth is likely to continue, particularly with new players emerging such as Premier Inn's super budget hub concept.' The UK's current supply of hotel rooms is split fairly evenly between the key sectors with a third (33%) of supply being budget rooms, 30% being three-star, and 30% being four-star properties. Apartments currently make up just 3% of supply, with five-star properties making up 4%. Notable hotel openings in Q4 2015 included four new hotels under various Hilton brands, totalling 654 bedrooms. Travelodge grew its presence in London to more than 8,000 bedrooms following openings in Hackney and Richmond, while IHG opened the doors at its five-star, 453 bedroom InterContinental London – the O2.
Every cloud has a silver lining... and this has proved true once again after the ordeals experienced in Paris twice this year. With a sigh of relief, the city of light felt the immense space it holds in the hearts of its citizens and the world in general and tourists in particular. The wave of solidarity, testimonials of support and humanist reactions from around the world somehow smooth over the bad reputation France has often been had to bear. For many, the attack France, was an attack on a symbol that goes well beyond its own borders and deserves to have all positive energies rise up against a new form of inhumanity.
Like any other industry, airports are seeing mobile devices becoming the most important digital gateway. Passengers can now navigate through airports and order food on the go, to make those tight connections. GPS technology, iBeacons, and services like Yelp, finding what you're looking for is no longer the guessing game it once was, so it's important to design an engaging shopping experience at the airport.
As demonstrated through a survey of the delegates who attended the 6th annual HotCop Hotel Investment Conference held in Copenhagen earlier this year, there is a continued significant optimism about the region's growth and performance potential. However, the data and panel discussions revealed some important challenges – and a few possible solutions – for international firms hoping to expand their regional presence.
IT is often described as the forgotten element in the UK hospitality industry. For more than a decade, the UK hotel industry has significantly underinvested in IT, with serious consequences. The emergence and dominance in recent years of Online Travel Agents (OTAs), for example, has impacted bottom line profits through the industry failing to invest in IT to win the battle to drive bookings through their own proprietary websites.
We know what hoteliers do during their working day but how about when they are off duty? In this limited edition series, Conor Kenny talks to well-known hotel people about how they spend their day off. "On My Day Off" by John Gately, Managing Director, Montenotte Hotel. I generally take Sunday off every week. There is usually nobody looking for me on Sunday and you hope with the right people in place you can forget about the operation for one day anyway.
As the month of August came to a close, cries of victory could be heard rejoicing over the good results for summer tourism in France. While many economic sectors continue to suffer, arrivals and activity figures of Tourism professionals exploded like fireworks in the night. But the bursts of light hide a less brilliant reality.
We know what hoteliers do during their working day but how about when they are off duty? In this limited edition series, Conor Kenny talks to well-known hotel people about how they spend their day off.
Homo touristicus is naturally a migrant animal that tended, in the past, to follow the same routes each year to return to familiar lands in the South: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and other destinations in the Mediterranean. Thanks to them and others like them, the foundations of a veritable tourist industry could be established at these destinations for which the arrival of these visitors guaranteed relative prosperity. TYPO3SEARCH_begin
During the last 12 months, the serviced apartment sector in Europe gained further momentum with major activity in development, branding and transactions putting the extended-stay market more firmly on the real estate map. There seems to be a better understanding about the differences in the main underlying business models – aparthotels and corporate housing – which illustrates that the industry is moving ahead. One might think that last year's charter signed by all major operators in the sector has helped to foster more transparency in that respect. However, there are numerous operating properties that show elements of both models and hence do not neatly fall into one the categories and do not make it easy for investors or lenders to fully understand the sector.