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January 23, 2015

Colliding Megatrends and In The Round sessions – New Content for IHIF 2015

The International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) continues to set the industry standard for conference speakers and programme content. Information on some of the topical and engaging sessions new for IHIF 2015 will be detailed over the following weeks.

Questex

January 20, 2015

Steigenberger staffs up to grow e-business, IT and digital services

The Steigenberger Hotel Group's main focus this year will be strongly directed towards achieving increased quality and productivity. Both Head Office and the hotels themselves are carrying out fine tuning processes to deliver improved solutions and innovations which will ultimately lead to even higher levels of comfort and guest satisfaction. The main thrusts here are the continuing development of digital booking channels and of customer loyalty programmes and the expansion of e-commerce and IT platforms to accelerate international growth whilst also bringing about a significant improvement in cost of sales via the deployment of digital media. Responsibility for the implementation of these ambitious objectives has been placed in the hands of the newly created Division of E-Business for E-Commerce & Distribution and Online Travel Agencies (OTA), which is headed up by Vice President Ralf Denke. Mr. Denke has been involved in the e-business industry for more than twelve years and will take on a central role in moving the company into the digital age. He will share this remit with Niklas Unger, the new Head of the IT Division. Adapted to the international strategy of the company in terms of applications, architecture and sourcing, IT creates the necessary basis for the successful implementation of innovations. Mr. Unger has already worked in a number of branches as an IT and process consultant and has held responsibility for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), digital transformation and website relaunch projects. "We are delighted to have been able to secure the services of two such high-calibre candidates for these two new Head Office management roles," said Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG. "We took a conscious decision to recruit outside the hotel branch, and Mr. Denke and Mr. Unger will bring the necessary know-how to the table that will enable the Steigenberger Hotel Group to continue its successful development both in e-business and in the field of IT. We are making great strides in terms of realising our digital vision."

Germany

January 15, 2015

Hilton Touches Down At Munich Airport

Hilton Hotels & Resorts has opened its first hotel at Munich Airport in Germany. Hilton Munich Airport started welcoming guests on New Year's Eve, following an agreement between Hilton Worldwide and owners Allresto Flughafen München Hotel und Gaststätten GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH.The 389 guest room property is the only hotel to provide direct access to the terminal building and establishes a Hilton Worldwide presence at more than 35 major airports across Europe.Simon Vincent, president and executive vice president, EMEA, Hilton Worldwide, said, "The opening of Hilton Munich Airport follows new Hilton Worldwide airport hotels at London's Heathrow and Gatwick as well as Krakow in Poland. With nearly 40 million passengers travelling through Munich Airport in 2014, we are uniquely positioned to give guests direct and convenient access to the terminal building. This addition to our portfolio in Germany marks more than 20 hotels trading and in the pipeline in key locations throughout the country."Rob Palleschi, global head, full service brands, Hilton Worldwide, said, "This year will see us increase our presence at key transport hubs around the world, and this hotel is an incredible example of our signature Hilton brand. Hilton Munich Airport continues our heritage of opening at prime locations internationally, including our award winning Hilton Frankfurt Airport and upcoming opening at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. We are proud to bring our Hilton values and service to guests travelling to Europe's top airports."Hilton Munich Airport boasts a full height glass atrium which contributes to its spacious public areas. Guests at the hotel benefit from a range of quality amenities including large scale state of the art conference and business facilities spread over 20 meeting rooms. The hotel is also undergoing a significant extension which will see 160 guest rooms added to the building in 2017.Hilton Munich Airport offers a range of dining options, including local cuisine and international dishes served at Charles Lindbergh. Cocktails and snacks can be enjoyed in the stylish Nightflight Bar, while business and leisure guests wishing to keep fit away from home can take advantage of the hotel's fitness facilities which incorporates a 17 metre swimming pool, whirlpool, sauna, steam bath and fitness area.Munich Airport was voted third best airport (and number one in Europe) by passengers at the 2014 World Airport Awards. Its geographical location at the heart of the continent means it is well placed for passengers travelling to Germany or in transit to other destinations. Flughafen München GmbH originally developed the hotel in 1994 to enhance the quality and customer experience at Munich Airport and will commence the hotel extension following completion of the conversion under the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand.Munich city has emerged as an important business and leisure destination, hosting events which include investment show ExpoReal and the popular annual Bavarian beer festival - Oktoberfest.Hilton Munich Airport is situated at Terminalstrasse, Mitte 20, 85356, Munich, Germany. For more information or to make reservations, please visit Hilton Munich Airport, or call +49 899 7820. The hotel joins two other Hilton Hotels & Resorts property in Munich - Hilton Munich City and Hilton Munich Park. View more news about Hilton Hotels & Resorts openings and a development map at news.hilton.com/openings.

Hilton

Munich, Germany

January 13, 2015

Steigenberger Hotel Köln to open in 2016

The Steigenberger Hotel Group will be taking over the Hotel Cologne Rudolfplatz in Cologne with effect from 1 January 2015 and has now signed an agreement to this effect with the owner company Carey Property, S.L. of Madrid. €15 million has been budgeted for renovation and modernisation works, and the property will be opened as the Steigenberger Hotel Köln in the second half of 2016 once these have been successfully completed. During the conversion phase, Carey Property S.L. will continue to operate the hotel under the name of Hotel Cologne Rudolfplatz and will receive specialist support from Steigenberger Consulting, a one hundred percent subsidiary of the Steigenberger Hotel Group. The future Steigenberger Hotel Köln will offer 301 rooms and suites, a ballroom, seven meeting rooms, a restaurant, a spa and gym area and 110 parking spaces. Luis Miguel Martín, senior executive of Carey Property S.L. Madrid said: "The Steigenberger Hotel Group and Carey have had a highly successful partnership in place for many years with the Steigenberger Hotel Berlin. We are delighted to be able to continue this close collaboration in Cologne and see it as the basis for future projects of this magnitude." Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG, stated: "Cologne was one of the very few blank spots on our map. We could not imagine any better partner than Carey with whom to launch the multi award-winning Steigenberger service in this attractive Rhine metropolis."

Press Release Markets & Performance

Koln, Germany

January 6, 2015

HotStats European Chain Hotels Market Review – November 2014

Both Budapest and Munich hoteliers reported significant year-on-year increases in gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) by 25.1% and 52.8% respectively, according to the latest data from HotStats.

HotStats

Munich, Germany

December 17, 2014

Bloggers and the travel industry meet at ITB Berlin

More and more companies are exploiting the wide-ranging impact of travel blogs in order to target customers. At the upcoming Blogger Speed Dating event ITB Berlin will be offering members of the travel industry an opportunity to meet with experienced travel bloggers from around the world for the third time. During the eight to ten-minute time slots both participants will be able to briefly introduce themselves, discuss topics and business, and establish initial contact.

The next-gen metrics that move hotel P&L

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Tambourine

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Mews

December 16, 2014

Steigenberger opens third InterCityHotel in Hamburg, Germany

The InterCityHotel Hamburg Dammtor-Messe opens on 1 December to become the 37th property in the portfolio of Steigenberger's subsidiary InterCityHotel. The hotel offers 275 rooms, a conference area on the 13th floor with up to six meeting rooms, a restaurant, a bistro lounge and a bar. The "FreeCityTicket", which entitles guests to use local public transport free of charge, is included in the price of overnight accommodation and provides real added value for city travellers and business visitors alike. "Hamburg is an important market," said Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG. The opening of the InterCityHotel Hamburg Dammtor-Messe forms part of our strategy of expansion, which places an emphasis on the further development of our brands at attractive and strategically significant locations." "The launch of a third InterCityHotel in Hamburg enables us to bring the year 2014 to a successful conclusion," added Joachim Marusczyk, Managing Director of InterCityHotel GmbH. "We will begin 2015 in a similar vein when the InterCityHotel Enschede opens in January and becomes our first venture into the Netherlands". InterCityHotel GmbH is operating the hotel via a lease agreement. The owner and project developer is the Hamburg-based B&L Group. Architectural planning is by "ingenhoven architects" of Düsseldorf. The public areas and rooms have been designed by "Dreesen und Partner" from Düsseldorf and "Burbacher Objekt Consult" from Burbach.

Hamburg, Germany

The next-gen metrics that move hotel P&L

December 15, 2014

Dr. Josef Schilling has been appointed as Sales Director at Ariane Inhotels GmbH

Ralf Bohlmann, the Managing Director for Ariane Inhotels, has decided to leave Ariane in March 2015. Ralf started Inhotels 20 years ago and has been essential in developing the business of Ariane Systems in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Poland. Ariane Inhotels is currently one of the most profitable business units at Ariane Systems. Ralf has decided to dedicate his new active life to his passion, sport and health. He will remain a shareholder at Ariane, but will transfer the operational responsibility to Dr. Josef Schilling. Dr. Josef Schilling joined Ariane on December 1st 2014 and we are very proud to welcome him to our Management Team. Josef has an extensive background in business management. He has worked in multiple roles at the Daimler Group for nearly 8 years, before moving on to new challenges as Managing Director and Commercial Manager for start-up companies. More than a decade of frequent business travels has provided Josef with a lot of first-hand experience of the hospitality industry by spending hundreds of nights at hotels. Josef joins our team with many great ideas on how to help develop business travel, hotels and our industry in general. Starting from March 2015 Dr. Josef Schilling will follow Ralf Bohlmann as Managing Director of Ariane Inhotels.

Ariane Systems

Steinheim, Germany

Ad Guide

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Mews

December 9, 2014

ITB Berlin Convention: Experts share their knowledge

The ITB Berlin Convention looks at a new trend, the sharing economy – leading experts give their opinion on the future of travel marketing, mobile marketing and film location tours – admission is free for visitors to ITB Berlin

Press Release Markets & Performance

December 2, 2014

Madeleine Marx Pauly has been appointed as General Manager at Scandic Hamburg Emporio

Madeleine Pauly Marx ESSEC IMHI 1987 has joined the Scandic Hotels chain as General manager for hotel Emporio in Hamburg. Prior to that Madeleine spent more than 10 years as General Manager in several Marriott properties in Hamburg.

Scandic

Hamburg, Germany

November 28, 2014

Tourism in Europe at record levels - ITB World Travel Trends Report

Travel-hungry Europeans are defying local crises and political unrest, having undertaken record numbers of trips this year. Compared to last year, in 2014 the number of foreign trips rose by three per cent, reaching a new record. According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report, conducted by IPK International and commissioned by the world's leading travel trade show, destinations such as Greece, Spain and the UK profited from this boom. All signs point to growth in 2015 as well.

Foremost Hospitality HIEX GmbH

November 18, 2014

Operated by Foremost Hospitality, the Hampton by Hilton Nuremberg City Centre Opens in Germany

Hampton by Hilton today announced the official opening of its newest property, Hampton by Hilton Nuremberg City Centre. The 80 guestroom property is operated by Foremost Hospitality and is the first one to represent the brand in the 11th century city of Nuremberg.

Nuremberg, Germany

Press Release General Management

November 17, 2014

GBTA Europe, Project ICARUS Announce Winners of the European Sustainability Outstanding Achievement Awards 2014

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, and Project ICARUS recently announced the winners of the second European Sustainability Outstanding Achievement Awards at GBTA Conference 2014 Berlin. The awards recognize travel buyers, suppliers, intermediaries and teams who can demonstrate outstanding leadership, innovation and commitment to delivering best-in-class sustainability programs, products and services across Europe. "The quality of entries exceeded our expectation, once again, and clearly demonstrates that companies across Europe are seeing sustainable business travel and meetings programs as a sure way to optimize travel costs, and generate a significant return on investment," said Bernard Harrop, head of sustainability for Project ICARUS. The winners in each category are:

GBTA

Press Release Operations & Strategy

November 14, 2014

GBTA Introduces Berlin Charter

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) – the voice of the global business travel industry – today announced plans to introduce the Berlin Charter, a charter for the business travel industry, designed to further the relationships between airlines and buyers in light of continually evolving pricing and distribution strategies such as IATA's NDC. This new initiative was announced today by Paul Tilstone, GBTA senior vice president of global development, to 850 delegates at the GBTA Europe Conference being held in Berlin. Tilstone announced that the Berlin Charter will be finalized for full member review by the end of the year. The Charter will restate the managed travel principles that GBTA originally submitted to IATA during the US Department of Transportation's (DoT) review of Resolution 787, an IATA project proposing a new set of distribution standards for the airline community, entitled New Distribution Capability (NDC). GBTA will be asking all airline CEOs to endorse the charter to reinforce the vital relationship between the corporate travel buying community with airline leaders as they develop forward distribution and pricing strategies. "The creation of the Berlin Charter is the next logical step for GBTA to reinforce the needs of the corporate travel buyer as further changes start to emerge through the implementation of NDC," said Tilstone. "It will allow us to ensure that the airline community truly understands the need for control, transparency and data of airline spend as their distribution strategies evolve. Travel buyers will understand which airlines are fully committed to relationships with buyers based on these principles." Included in the announcement was a commitment by the GBTA Foundation to launch the next version of its Airline Request for Proposal (RFP) toolkit. This new version will include ancillary services, distribution channels and airline surcharging and will be completed by the end of 2015. Speaking about plans for a re-launch of the Aviation RFP Toolkit, Daphne Bryant, executive director of the GBTA Foundation said, "The toolkit will be re-designed to complement the Berlin Charter by providing a pre-contractual framework for the airline and corporate buyer to establish the nature of their relationship, affirming the services the buyer needs and those the airline wishes to provide and through which channels they both wish to work."GBTA plans to begin discussions with airlines regarding the Berlin Chapter once internal GBTA committee and leadership processes have been completed.

GBTA

Press Release Markets & Performance

November 13, 2014

GBTA Foundation Forecasts Western Europe Business Travel Spend to Grow in 2014 and 2015

The GBTA Foundation, the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), today announces the results of its latest GBTA BTI™ Outlook – Western Europe report, a semi-annual analysis of the five most critical business travel markets in Europe: Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain. These five markets serve as a good barometer of the health of the entire European business travel market. The report, sponsored by Visa Inc., includes the GBTA BTI™, a proprietary index of business travel spending that distills market performance over a period of time. Key highlights of the report include:

GBTA

Press Release General Management

November 5, 2014

Christian Prange has been appointed as Director of Sales at Swissôtel Düsseldorf / Neuss

Swissôtel Düsseldorf/Neuss has appointed Christian Prange as director of sales. Starting as an apprentice in 2004 at Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers Conference Center, he has held several positions within the hospitality industry throughout Germany. Most recently, Prange held the position of area manager sales, Marriott Hotels, in the Ruhr district.

FRHI

Düsseldorf, Germany

October 27, 2014

Kempinski to take over management of resort hotel in Berchtesgaden, Germany

Kempinski Hotels expands its presence in Germany while enhancing its alpine resort portfolio; Europe's oldest luxury hotel group will take over the Berchtesgaden International Resort, currently managed by InterContinental Hotels Group. A management agreement has been signed by Kempinski and the Bayerische Landesbank, which owns the luxurious resort hotel. The five-star hotel in the Berchtesgadener Land boasts 138 rooms and suites and is scheduled for take-over in the first half of 2015. Further details are currently under negotiation.

Kempinski

Berchtesgaden, Germany

October 7, 2014

European holiday trends: Leaving the cold winter months behind

More and more Europeans are taking wintertime holidays and travelling in search of the sun, preferring beach holidays to winter sports. The traditional winter skiing holiday in the Alps has suffered market losses. According to the latest survey of the World Travel Monitor® by IPK International, more and more European holidaymakers are fleeing the cold winter temperatures, preferring destinations where the sun almost always shines. The

Germany

October 1, 2014

Knut Anton Werner has been appointed as Senior Operations Manager at InterCityHotel GmbH

Knut Anton Werner is a true Steigenberger icon. Having completed his initial training at the Steigenberger Academy in Bad Reichenhall, a source of so much company talent down the years, he went on to obtain a further vocational qualification as restaurant specialist at the former Steigenberger Avance Hotel Bad Kreuznach.