Nominations are now open for the annual IHIF Young Leader Award co-sponsored by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF). 2016 marks the ninth year of the award which recognises outstanding contribution and effort from an inspiring young individual.
Dieter Müller, CEO Motel One, will be awarded the prestigious accolade during the 19th International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin next March. Müller trained as a trade clerk at BMW before joining Accor in 1975. By 1980 he was CFO for the German, Austrian and Swiss markets at Accor and then CEO of Accor Gastronomie AG in Dusseldorf. Following his role with Accor, he set up Astron hotels growing an initial portfolio of three properties to 54 hotels. Astron Hotels was bought by NH Hotels in 2002.
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) today named Jonathan Jaeger the recipient of the inaugural Lori Raleigh Award for Emerging Excellence in Hospitality Consulting. The award was presented at the ISHC Annual Conference held in Berlin, Germany.
Stefan Athmann has been appointed Area General Manager Europe for Regent Hotels & Resorts. In his new role, Stefan Athmann will continue to oversee the daily business at Regent Berlin, and he will additionally have responsibility for the strategic direction of the luxury hotel group as well as pipeline projects.
Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT) is furthering the expansion of its Hampton by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands in Germany through an agreement with Tristar Hotel GmbH which will add 10 new hotels to its growing portfolio.
Flavia PIOLTELLI ESSEC IMHI 2011 has been appointed as Product Architect for SnapShot GmbH, Germany. Upon graduation Flavia joined Mandarin Oriental Corporate office london as Revenue Coordinator for two years and as Revenue Analyst Corporate Office Berlin for two other years.
FRHI Hotels & Resortsappoints Michael Moecking as regional vice president, Western Europe and general manager of Swissôtel Berlin. Moecking brings 30 years of upscale international hospitality experience to this role, working with large brands including Kempinski and InterContinental. Moecking has been with FRHI for the last 10 years, spending six years as general manager of Swissôtel Berlin and most recently, four years as general manager at Fairmont Dubai.
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) today announced the formation of The Lori Raleigh Award for Emerging Excellence in Hospitality Consulting. The award is named in honor of Lori Raleigh, founder of The Travers Group, who served as the Executive Director of ISHC from 2000 to 2013.
Rita has more than 10 years’ experience in the hospitality market, finances and business development, holding different positions with International companies such as Sprachaffe, Vueling Airlines, Mango and Budgetplaces.com. Rita joins us from Availpro (Channel Management Platform) where she worked as Area Manager taking care of the German, Austrian, Swiss German, Hungarian and Croatian territories for the past two and a half years.
With a population of around 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populated city in the European Union. The German capital is home to numerous tourist attractions, historical sights and political infrastructures. Since its reunification in 1989, the city has undergone a dynamic development and transformed into the country's most important political, economic and cultural centre. The steady growth of overnight stays over the past decade has positioned Berlin among the top 3 European destinations for both leisure and business tourism. Our Hotel Market Snapshot provides a presentation of the German capital's current hospitality market.
The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), in partnership with the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF), presented Greg Bows of African Impact with the 2015 Young Leader Award on 3 March. Celebrating its seventh year, the award recognizes the outstanding contribution to the industry by a young hospitality leader.
All good things come to an end. The International Hotel Investment Forum here at the InterContinental Berlin has culminated, but not before one last day of valuable sessions and networking. Discussing traditional versus next-generation business models was the theme of an afternoon panel composed of four young hotel executives: Guido Fredrich, VP of special property finance-hotel properties at Aareal Bank AG; Fred Hines, director and head of acquisitions at Queensgate Investments; Theresa Jaeger, director of of real estate and asset management for Hilton Worldwide; and Jacob Rasin, analyst-business intelligence at Pandox AB.
The final day of the 18th International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF), took a new format this year with the introduction of new In-The-Round sessions. These were introduced following suggestions from the IHIF Advisory Board to facilitate more intimate and informative discussion platforms on specialist subject areas. Each session was guided by an industry expert who prepared information in advance to share with delegates to enable a worthwhile and useful conversation. The sessions covered a wide range of topics including assessing the reliability of hotel valuations, crisis management, the sharing economy, technology and improving RevPAR among others. The In-The-Round sessions also provided an opportunity for an in-depth focus on specific geographical areas and the hospitality and investment status within those countries. These included Italy, The Maldives, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Morocco, Brazil, Ecuador and Macedonia.
The mobile travel market is flourishing. This was illustrated impressively by Expedia Market Manager Arne Erichsen at the ITB Berlin Convention 2015. By 2020 there will be around 18 billion mobile devices in use. India and other Asian countries in particular are responsible for the high increase in numbers. They already rank second in the mobile device market and are 650 per cent larger than the third largest market. In Germany the market is growing too, said Erichsen. In 2016 mobile devices will be used to book one in every five overnights in Germany, twice as many as in 2013. "For Berlin's hotel industry, where over 5,000 rooms are booked daily, that means that 1,000 reservations are made with mobile devices." Good mobile device products and interfaces were now needed, he added."Customers on the move do not want to generate long pages of hotel reviews using smartphone keys or click on a series of links", said Erichsen. "Information must be easy and quick to obtain, relevant and fit onto one page." In particular, rather than just accepting online reviews one should use them to communicate with the customer. He called upon travel technology providers and developers to make an active effort to support this technological process.
Hilton Worldwide today announced that it has signed an agreement to open its largest Hampton by Hilton hotel to date, in central Berlin. With 344 guest rooms and a prime city centre location, Hampton by Hilton Berlin Alexanderplatz is slated to open in early 2018.
The second day of the 18th International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF), opened with President & Chief Executive Officer, Questex, Kerry Gumas presenting Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) with a cheque as part of Questex's long standing support of the school. André Witschi, President of the Board of Governors at EHL accepted the cheque on behalf of the institute.
The 18th International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF), has opened at the Hotel InterContinental Berlin, Germany. Over 2,000 delegates from across 70 countries have gathered for the largest and most senior event for the hospitality industry. The programme began with welcome remarks from Kerry Gumas, President & Chief Executive Officer, Questex and Jonathan Worsley Chairman, Bench Events, Board Member, STR Global. Gumas thanked the diverse delegation for their attendance as well as the sponsors and advisory board for their continued support. Worsley welcomed delegates who were new to the event and also those who were amongst the 300 who attended the inaugural event 18 years ago.
Bangkok-based hotel operator Dusit International has chosen this year's ITB Berlin as the stage to showcase its latest news and updates in the European marketplace, as it continues to pursue its aggressive expansion plans worldwide.
From the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced it is on track to open more than 40 new hotels and resorts across Europe in the next five years, expanding its portfolio by almost 30% with openings in both fast-growing and established markets. Further underlining its long-term growth strategy, Starwood is set to open five new hotels in Turkey this year, including The St. Regis Istanbul which just opened on March 1st.
Design Hotels™ will again be present at this year's ITB tourism fair in Berlin, on March 5-9, 2015. The theme of the stand, awarded best design multiple years in a row, this year is Artists in Residence – Room to Create, highlighting the ingenuity in design, art and intangible matters that bind Design Hotels™ properties with their guests. Design Hotels™ members are seedbeds of creativity where ideas are born and like-minded people come together. Each of the 279 member properties is a destination itself, inspiring and encouraging creative thinking and interaction.