What speaks in favour of the asset class hotel?

Augsburg/Hamburg (October 9, 2020). The world is upside down, and with it people, politics and many industries. The Investment Barometer started in 2013, a year with a spirit of optimism in the hotel industry. Now the survey is taking place for the first time in a year of crisis. Take part! The industry needs reliable guidance!

Editorial: Fighting the depression

Dear Insiders,

After the summer holidays I thought there was light at the end of the tunnel. When that end came, I realised it was a train... The mood in the industry has changed dramatically. This smashing picture - formulated by a dry-humoured information technologist this week - describes the change very well. As the number of infections rises, all kinds of measures - not always comprehensible in their logic - have been introduced. Politicians throughout Europe have been keen to react with all manner of measures, from restrictions to regional lockdowns.

Poorly communicated, this spreads even more fear. This is the wrong way to do things. Even among hotel professionals, who have already suffered enormous losses, the call for "proportionality" is becoming louder and more impatient. Meanwhile, even the first virologists have added their voices.

The fact is: Eight months after the lockdown, even the cash buffers of the medium-sized groups have been eaten away. Franchisees are doubly at risk because they have to pay rent and franchise fees. I researched the circumstances of two insolvencies, Vastint-Marriott-Moxy-Belva and Tidal/Event Hotels, IHG and Invesco. In a third insolvency case - Sofitel Berlin - there is now a concrete winner: Dorint Hotels will fly its flag there from November. For the German group, this is a coup on Ku'damm. Crises are also opportunities.

Today, we have devoted ourselves in detail to the topic of the franchise. The major franchisors, from Accor to Marriott, IHG, Choice, Best Western and Hilton, provided insight into their crisis measures vis-a-vis franchisees. They can't be said not to take care of their partners. Whether the franchisees were satisfied with it? We wanted to know, but none of them responded. Are their struggles for survival even more intense than the three insolvencies mentioned above would suggest?

At the Expo Real last week new prop- and contechs should have been introduced; as things happened, the cancellation of the event meant it all came to nothing. Beatrix Boutonnet gives them the attention they need today. Start-ups in the real estate and construction industry know how to speed processes up. They shine with their specialist knowledge in IT, with dedication and entrepreneurial spirit. But in their day-to-day business, they have quite different worries, especially as regards capital.

Money is the subject of several of our smaller reports today: Operators with rich parents are trumpeting their expansion call again, an investment house is building a new European debt platform, and Covid-19 is massively reducing the purchasing power of consumers across Europe.

The letter from over 70 US chains, investors and others to US President Trump is enough to make you shiver: Without financial relief, they will only survive for six months, it says. What will happen when even the giants begin to fall?

I don't want to know the answer to this this morning, but I would like to hear your opinion on the opportunities for the asset class ‘hotel’: Our Investment BAROMETER in collaboration with Union Investment is still running. Help out, make your contribution: Click & Go!

The industry is #OnFire. This is the motto of the second major demonstration of the event industry on 28 October in Berlin, at "five past twelve". Yesterday, the action alliance #AlarmstufeRot called the demonstration - in close cooperation with other partners from across the tourism and related sectors. Even the German Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga is taking part (www.alarmstuferot.org).

Yours, Maria Pütz-Willems
Editor-in-chief

Your opinion? maria[at]hospitalityInside.com