ITB 2010 Tweet

( words)

Berlin's travel fair ITB is the largest of its kind in the world.
Millions of smiles, tons of good hope and light-hearted optimism heaves the world's most fascinating industry back into place.

ITB twitter, names and hotel news as they were overheard in Berlin these days.

Berlin, March 2010

Brief facts:
44th ITB, 11,127 exhibitors, 187 countries
Trend:
From Sun, Sand and Sea to Culture and Content.
In 2009, 880 million people travelled.
1. Europe 52% had of all arrivals
2. Asia Pacific 21%
3. Both Americas 16%
Germany itself is the largest spender in international tourism, with 58.1 million travellers per year.
Most visited nations world-wide:
1. France 73 million tourists
2. USA 55
3. Spain 52
China, Italy, GB, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Mexico. 

Travel-Tweets:
Austria:
Bristol Vienna: our new book was presented yesterday!
Sofitel Vienna: November 2010 (glass facade, lobby with 22,000 plants)
ShangriLa: opens Vienna and Paris in 2010, London in 2012.
Czech Republic
Savoy Westend in Karlovy Vary is fully refurbished. The 1897 hotel sets new standards in the Czech republic's most famous spa resort.
Egypt:
Atef Goubran, RD of Sales and Marketing Oberoi Egypt, proudly presents the new pool at the Mena House, Cairo, and a wonderfully landscaped new garden.
Germany
Poor city of Berlin - there is no hotel of historical importance left. The two Select Member Hotels of The Most Famous Hotels in the World are the Adlon (1907), which was in fact destroyed during the war and rebuilt (1997), and the Bristol, which dates back only to 1952. The small 1932-hotel Askanischer Hof (Kurfuerstendamm) is the closest to "good-old-Berlin" feeling you can get.
Kempinski: J. van Daalen is back from Moscow and now runs the Adlon in Berlin, as he did when it reopened.
Horst Dieter Ebert: one of the most famous travel writers of Germany is to be rewarded for his train-travels-book Traumreisen mit der Eisenbahn.
Met at the Adlon's restaurant on Tuesday night: Henning Reichel, general manager of Falkenstein Grand and Villa Rothschild (both Kempinski, Frankfurt) has built a new lobby at Falkenstein Grand.
Gerold J. Held (Taschenberg Palais Dresden) enjoys high occupancy because of the new exhibition 'Turkish Chamber' next door, a permanent installation of Turkish treasures. His Taschenberg Palais hotel was best hotel of Northern Europe (north of Italy) by Conde Nast Traveller - and the 16th best in the world (November 2009).
GHA - global hotel alliance - launched a new level of their guest recognition program last night in co-operation with one of its founding members, Kempinski. Now you are awarded 'local experience awards'. You can - for example - enjoy a photo shooting on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, or, while on a business trip in Mumbay, become part of the cast of a Bollywood movie.
Hong Kong: Jonas A. Schuermann is the new general manager of the Mandarin Oriental. He is (after Kurt Wachtveitl had left) the second longest serving member of the MO team.
India: Liam Lambert, CEO of Oberoi Hotels, appears in an elegant black Indian outfit: As a former Mandarin Oriental man he explains the high standard of Oberoi: "At MO we had a simply policy: whenever an Oberoi employee applies for a job, take them, even if we don't have a vacancy. Oberoi runs its own education program (OCLD). 
In 2009 Biki Oberoi became the "Entrepreneur of the Year" in India. Next Oberois: 2010 Gurgon (Delhi), 2011: Dubai; 2012 Marrakesh; 2013 Muscat (Oman).
Lisa Film productions (Vienna) manager Thomas Hroch is celebrating! His TV series TRAUMHOTELS (the dreamhotel)  had 8,5 million people (!!!) watching on the first night. First location: Chiang Mai, next: the new Waldorf Astoria "Beach House" Maldives.
Netherlands:
Robert Jan Woltering, GM of The Grand in Amsterdam, is looking forward for his hotel to becoming a Sofitel Legend Hotel in September. We will keep you posted! (they have produced a splendid history-cookbook!) His ITB impression is "very positive this year, business is definitely back!". The announcement of Emirates to have a daily direct flight from Dubai to Amsterdam certainly helps.
Sensible Hospitality BDManager Sangeeta Berkelmann (owner Thomas Tritschler) sees this year's ITB visitors as "more focused than ever before."
SOFITEL
presents itself as ‘design brand'. Only the best can be associated with Sofitel's top brands: Jean Novel, Kenzo Takada, ...
COO Sofitel - Robert Gaymer-Jones explains the rules:
'We will never appear arrogant.
We offer approachable luxury.
We are the only company to reduce the total number of hotels to eliminate those who do not fit!'
New catch-phrases: "Salon de bien". "Mybed", etc.
South Africa:
Sandro Fabris is the new area director for Orient Express Hotels, headquarter is Mount Nelson Hotel. In three months the country hosts the Soccer World Cup.
Spain: Barcelona's Mandarin Oriental received the "Senses" Design Award for its outstanding architecture.
Sri Lanka: famoushotels on Sri Lanka enjoy gorwing political stability and growth in arrivals. 2009 448,000 tourists visited the island. 2011 is Visit Sri Lanka Year!
Switzerland:
Grand Hotel du Golf & Palace Crans-Montana: GM Francois Rielle presents special golf packages.

The Grand Hotel "Glacier du Rhone" is not A SELECT MEMBER OF THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD, but a member of Club Grand Hôtel Palace, Switzerland. Its president H.-Ueli Gubser says: 'The Glacier du Rhone is exemplary - it is famous despite the fact that it still has rooms without running water."
BTW.: the Club Grand Hôtel & Palace has just over 100 members - it got started when the Swiss Grand Hotel Saas Fee was about to drop the "Grand" in its name. Gubser protested and the hotel compromised. Now it is called "Metropole - Grand Hotel".
Thomas Kleber, GM of one of Europe's most expensive and exclusive hotels, Hotel Palais Coburg, Vienna, is also in charge of one of the SELECT MEMBER HOTELS of THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD: Parkhotel Vitznau in Switzerland. The reconstruction is on track while we are researching its history. Reopening is scheduled for 2012. So is our book about it.
Tajikistan: Minister announces easing of visa regulations and eco- and cutural tourism efforts. 
Thailand: Kurt Wachtveitl, the legendary The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok manager(who retired last year), is now in charge of hotel developments of MO. Jan Goessing, General Manager at The Oriental, enjoys his new role. He represents the hotel at social gatherings together his wife Susanne.
Turkey: Pera Palce Istanbul will reopen in June 2010 (instead of May!).
UK
Stafford London (105 rooms) is a Kempinski since 1. Feb. 2010, GM is Stuart Procter - we will investigate into the hotel's history (according to him it started in 1935).

And last, but not least:
Renard Hospitality boss Stephen Renard jokes: "You know the difference between this years and last years ITB? Well: I am a year older."

Found:
: //gadgetpro.de - software for hotels
: how to carry your waterbottle, etc. ... //dns-design.de/

follow us on twitter.com/famoushotels
Andreas Augustin