6th ITB Hospitality Day: Private hotels without successor – Chains urging
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| Midsized hotels - the backbone of the West European hotel industry. But successors are needed. |
Berlin (February 11, 2011). This mainly concerns Western Europe: tens of thousands of hotels are looking for a successor. Because of this, even successful hotels are facing the “The End for Mom-and-Pops?”. Or not? The question mark behind the title of the panel discussion at the "ITB Hospitality Day" in Berlin queries an unsuccessful transition. However, the panelists do not delude themselves: chain hotels are striving for secondary and tertiary destinations, mainly via franchise brands in the low-budget segment. German and Swiss hoteliers face this issue. The hotel conference at ITB Berlin will take place for the sixth time this year: again, hospitalityInside.com will be acting as the event’s media partner and will report about this discussion here afterwards.
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| Guglielmo Brentel. |
The question of "The End for Mom-and-Pops?" is quite explosive. It refers to demographic changes affecting the industry. However, many guest relations depend on an informal atmosphere in the mid-market sector, which is why international chains are struggling to get a grip in the German-speaking resort hotel sector. This often unique position of individual hotels is now becoming fragile due to the difficult issue of succession.
What can be done about it? Organised hotel consortia like Ringhotels Deutschland, which combine 3 and 4-star hoteliers, are increasingly doing a great deal for their members in this field - far from any kind of marketing services they usually provide. Susanne Weiss, managing board member of Ringhotels, knows about two more issues that will massively hinder succession: the increasing migration from the land and the lack of alternative usability of shabby hotels.
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| Marcus Smola. |
One third of the hotels in Switzerland are unprofitable
In Switzerland, Guglielmo Brentel, President of the Swiss hotelleriesuisse industry association caused an uproar last year when he publicly criticised Swiss 3-star hotels as being too conservative and unwilling to carry out renovations. “About one third of the 5,500 Swiss hotels are considered unprofitable”, he told hospitalityInside.com back then.
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Aside from their own insecurity concerning the continued existence of their hotel, many hoteliers are worried that chains are literally closing in on them. Are hotel groups with brands of international attraction a gift or a curse? Marcus Smola, Managing Director Best Western Hotels Deutschland can provide a more differentiated view. His company earns money by finding middle-class hoteliers willing to let global brand names be placed on their roof in order to benefit from their marketing system.
Professor Stephan Gerhard of Treugast Solutions Group, one of the few consultancies experienced in company succession issues, is able to explain the opportunities and alternatives of hotels without a successor. Steffen Weidemann of IHF Institute for Hospitality Management in Frankfurt, a well-respected brand expert, hotelier and former consultant will be hosting the panel.
"The End for Mom-and-Pops? Succession issues and franchise brands make the future difficult for private hotels" - the discussion will take place on Thursday, March 10, 2011, between 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm in Hall 7.1b, Auditorium London. Please find the entire programme under this link. / kn
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