Expo Real 2014: Best grades - Exhibitor comments on "World of Hospitality"
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| More Co-exhibitors, more visitors at the booth: This year, hotel companies were in demand at Expo Real. |
Munich (October 10, 2014). "Come to World of Hospitality", the visitor spoke into his mobile phone. He didn't even say which hall or stand number. What began in 2011 with a little stand and seven co-exhibitors at the Expo Real in Munich, has three years later become an extended trade fair platform with 20 co-exhibitors. The little corner stand has grown to become an island stand, and the joint stand "World of Hospitality" in hall C2 was this year impossible to miss. The inclusion of all co-exhibitor logos, both on the in- and outside of the canvas also gave a considerable boost both to the individual brands as well as to the entire sector.
Several factors contributed to the success of the 4th "World of Hospitality": the persistently positive sentiment in the real estate and investment sector, the high-quality mix of exhibitors from various sectors (hotel operators, investors, developers, consultants, lawyers), the location of the stand directly adjacent for the conference forum and the visible increase in the number of high-calibre visitors interested in hospitality. The following provides an overview of the impressions and statements made by co-exhibitors, compiled by Susanne Stauss.
Sabrina Gambino, proprietor of Gambino Consulting GmbH and product development/strategy, LetoMotel: My expectations of the trade fair are presence and contacts. Lots of people come to the World of Hospitality stand to inspect various hotel products. For this reason, we are very well positioned here. The Expo Real is increasingly becoming a meeting place for hotel project developers and hotel companies looking for contacts to investors and to cities and regions and their developers.
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| Magnet: Many visitors just met in front of the booth. |
Marco Nussbaum, CEO, prizeotel: For us, it was a first this year. It was the first time we were represented with a stand at World of Hospitality. We felt more than comfortable among the big brands and were able to benefit from the strong presence of investors, bankers etc. and draw attention to our brand. Our virtual hotel tour was very popular and was proof that maximum performance can be achieved in the smallest of spaces. We will certainly be on board again next year.
Olivier Harnisch, COO, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group: The Expo Real is becoming increasingly relevant for hospitality. The World of Hospitality is growing. Practically all key partners in German-speaking Europe are to be found here. We are here for the first time with the Carlson Rezidor stand and this has proved exactly the right decision. This trade fair is a must for us in the future.
Roland Presetschnik, Director of Finance/Development, Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences: We are planning an expansion in Germany, and for this reason the Expo Real is for us as hotel operator and Falkensteiner Group a very important platform for meeting future partners. We were able to make very important contacts, our expectations were completely satisfied.
Frank Mustaff, Managing Partner, Horwath HTL: For us as international hotel consulting group, the Expo Real is a very important event. We were present this year for the first time as exhibitor. The World of Hospitality stand is for us the right environment and we are very satisfied with the frequency and stand design.
René Schappner, Development Director Germany, InterContinental Hotels Group: Expo Real has meanwhile become one of the most important trade fairs for the hotel real estate sector and provides an opportunity to meet decision-makers and market participants in the smallest of spaces. A joint stand is the ideal opportunity to offer a central meeting point. The mood is very good this year and the development of World of Hospitality shows that this was the right path. We are convinced that the concept will continue to develop well.
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| The Mix makes it: big chains, project developers, capital providers, consultants... |
Yannick Wagner, Senior Manager Development Central Europe & Nordic Countries, Accor: The Expo Real is a good opportunity to make new contacts as well as to maintain existing contacts. There is active exchange with colleagues with respect to the market. We also have here direct access to locations and investors and are able to come up with solutions for projects together with them, in particular as we have recently acted more ourselves as investor.
Walter C. Neumann, CEO, Azimut Hotels: For us, the Expo Real was very important as we are not yet a strong hotel brand in Germany - in contrast to Russia. The trade fair gave us the opportunity to establish contacts with potential hotel locations, investors, banks and real estate developers. For this reason, we will continue to focus on the German market in future. We have the opportunity to meet good and trustworthy partners here.
Thorsten Purkus, Vice President Feasibility and Development Finance EMEA Southwest-Asia, Hyatt Hotels: For Hyatt, Expo Real is one of the most important events of the year. It is a crucible of developers, investors and operators. The World of Hospitality is an excellent concept. It offers a successful mix of participants and attracts many interesting guests open to talks.
Gesa Rohwedder, Head of Hospitality, Drees & Sommer: For us, the decision to join World of Hospitality has paid off. We are comfortable surrounded by hotel experts and have been able to use this platform intensively for networking and to make contacts.
Philipp Linder, Consultant, Hotour Hotel Consulting: As stand partner from the very beginning, we are pleased with the positive development of World of Hospitality. The stand is growing steadily and is increasingly becoming a meeting point for all trade fair visitors who are active in the field of hotel investment.
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| ...and it leads to individual talks at the tables. |
Moritz Dietl, Director, Treugast Solutions Group: The World of Hospitality stand has performed excellently and further expanded its interesting mix of operators, developers and consultants. This attracts high-calibre visitors from the fields of hotel development and operation. The stand is increasingly becoming a meeting point for all relevant players on the market.
Georg Schlegel, external Management Consultant for Choice Hotels: The World of Hospitality stand has evolved to become the very focus of the hospitality business at the Expo Real.
Philipp Bessler, Director Development, LFPI Hotels Management Germany: As hotel investor and operator, Expo Real is for us the most important trade fair in Germany. For a number of years, World of Hospitality is the stage for our sector so that we, as partner, have found the perfect framework for our business.
Tim Dueysen, Direktor Marketing und Vertrieb, Derag Livinghotels: We are represented for the second time at the World of Hospitality stand and are very satisfied. We appreciate the synergies from the joint stand and its ability to position hospitality firmly within the real estate sector. hospitalityInside's offer is finished off by the hotel conference "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" where current issues are presented to an interested public.
Nima Davoodzadeh, Vice President of Development Europe, Wyndham Hotel Group: Over the last few years Expo Real has become one of the most significant platforms for hospitality and hotel development in Europe. Wyndham Hotel Group had record breaking growth in Germany last year, virtually doubling in size, and events like this give us the opportunity to support our existing strategic partners as well as to meet new partners with whom we can continue to grow our iconic brands across the continent. As the place to meet high profile people that can make decisions and move projects forward, Expo Real has a firm place in our event calendar.
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| All logos were visible at all sides of the booth. |
Markus Beike, Managing Director, Christie + Co: The joint stand has once again proved itself to be an excellent hospitality stage and again saw growth this year. Bets have been made as to whether this year the 2 billion mark for hotel transactions will be crossed in the industry. All in all: again a more positive mood than the year before. The sky is the limit.
Tina Froboese, Managing Partner, bbg-Consulting: This year too we had many constructive conversations, contacts and interesting projects. The stand has developed into a platform which has grown in international significance. Next year again!
Dr. Mathias Jung, Managing Partner, Jung & Schleicher Solicitors: The World of Hospitality stand has been a tried and trust home from home for us at the Expo Real for years. For a long time, we have had roots in all fields of hospitality (purchasing, finance, development) and meet all key contacts here - often to push forward with concrete projects, sometime also just to "catch up" among friends. Of course, the incorporation of hospitality within the general framework of a real estate trade fair is helpful as many "hotel-interested" project developers, banks etc. are here.
Philipp Henle, Vice President Development Europe, Kempinski Hotels: For Kempinski, the Expo Real is an important platform on which to secure and maintain contacts to decision-makers as well as for pushing forward with concrete projects. The open networking atmosphere at the World of Hospitality stand contributed to this, both this year as last year.
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Apart from World of Hospitality, there were two new separate stands alongside the Motel One and B&B Hotels stands - these were from Meininger Hotels and Steigenberger Hotels Group. Steigenberger CEO Puneet Chhatwal sees the independent presence of a German hotel group as a means of differentiating itself from global chains. Meininger CEO Navneet Bali aims to hold his brand up above the other better-known budget brands. Lindner Real Estate was also back at the trade fair after a year's break and maintained a joint stand with its project partners from the fields of development, real estate marketing and buildings technology. All companies told hospitalityInside.com they were very satisfied with the resonance and quality of conversation at the Expo Real.
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