Once again, the Alpine Hospitality Summit by Prodinger brought the who’s who of Austrian tourism to Kitzbühel on May 16, 2024.
Kitzbuhel (OTS) – The forum has developed into an indispensable meeting point, especially for decision-makers when it comes to Alpine hotel properties. Many of them imparted knowledge on the podium, but the other 250 committed participants were also much more than just an audience.
Although it might otherwise be said that hope dies last, this time some concrete figures were more positive than the rumored outlook. Thomas Reisenzahnmanaging director of Prodinger Tourismusberatung, used the example of Tyrol to show that over the past decade the number of hotels and, to a lesser extent, the rooms offered in them, has continuously declined: “The number of holiday apartments offered for commercial purposes has shot through the roof, increasing by 66 percent“, he proves through the continuity of this development that Corona was by no means the trigger. “Holiday properties are currently not being sold, but are instead ending up on the market as rentals
“, he called one episode. Attorney Markus Kroner As a result, another reason was found for the boom: “In the judiciary, the trend was away from pure, commercial-free space rental. Anyone who offers their room via a platform today actually has to register a business.
“
The boom in holiday apartments leads directly to problems in Alpine gastronomy, with which a contentious group is emerging under the snappy title “Bye Bye Half Board! Hotel catering in the devil’s kitchen.” Low profitability and, last but not least, the lack of employees are causing a significant decline in hotel catering. Franz Staggl, innkeeper and industry representative in the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that the combination of reduced gastronomic offerings in hotels and fewer local restaurants jeopardized the promise of quality in domestic tourism. Those who returned to the National Council argued about how to deal with this Sepp Schellhorn – Ex-hotelier, restaurateur, blogger and author – and the PR professional and Falstaff publisher Wolfgang Rosam highly entertaining. While Rosam is convinced that the economic situation can be brought under control with successful entertainment (“In New York’s top restaurants you don’t pay a menu, but rather buy a non-refundable ticket months in advance, just like you would for a show
“), Schellhorn does not believe in the infinity of customers’ willingness to pay. “Ten percent more net of the gross for the employeesHe sees the relief of additional wage costs as the basis for a recovery in the catering industry. The opponents clashed, not least because of the return of the Michelin Guide to Austria, which was strongly promoted by Schellhorn. “Their stars are certainly a world currency. But it can’t be right to hand over 600,000 euros from the Austrian advertising budget to a billion-dollar car tire company for three years“, the Falstaff publisher still wants to forego his originally planned lawsuit for distortion of competition.
As part of the gastro discussion, they showed Harisch Hotels for Kitzbühel and Lukas Sendlhofer (“Luke•’s living room“, Bad Hofgastein) how you can be successful with innovative concepts in hotels. In any case, the summit is strongly characterized by the presentation of successful models. About as Josef May, Prodinger Steuerberatung, made it clear based on a comparison of 15 top companies how a GOP that is currently declining in the industry continues to grow among these companies. With the Krallerhof and Puradiesboth Leogang, as well as the Stanglwirt In Going, some of these hoteliers were also represented on the podium themselves. But future or recent examples of success are probably even more important. When it comes to visual appearance, there are traditionally convincing architects at the Summit, like this year Christian Rottensteiner, NOA Architects Bozen, on the podium, which also provides insights into international models of success. Among other things Elisabeth Gürtler („Alpine Resort Sacher Seefeld“), Stefan Eder („Coolnest“), René Koch (“Stoos Lodge”, Switzerland), Max Ramoser (“AEON Bozen”) and Patrick Brändle (“Re:Mind”, Jenbach) were able to present their experiences and plans themselves.
Other hotels are purely virtual. In dealing with GenZ as not-so-future customers, the new trend report “Next Generation Hotels” was co-authored Marco RiedererProdinger tourism consultancy, presented. Architect Christian Prasser presented a study for concepts for next-generation alpine hotels, which he developed with 50 students as a project at the New Design University St. Pölten. The student project, which was astonishing with its professional visualizations, showed some spectacular solutions. “OK, Boomer?“, author and Prodinger managing director Marco Riederer provocatively quoted the compassionate question of understanding from GenZ learners.
But implementing a new idea requires appropriate financing options. Sometimes international hotel groups have it easier. Accor’s top managers meeting in a discussion (Falk Laud), Deutscher Seereederei (DSR, Torsten Vey) and VAYA (Martina Boettcher) largely agreed that there was still great potential for development in the Alpine region and praised the overwhelmingly positive reception of the tourism associations in the regions.
In a final discussion at a top level Erich Falkensteiner for Falkensteiner Hotels (FMTG), how the company uses crowdfounding as an alternative form of financing and was able to raise 65 million euros within four years. There was agreement that bank loans alone were no longer sufficient. “In Austria, financing is predominantly very conservative, but the constraints of the banks are becoming ever tighter
“, complained Florian Zellmann, authorized representative of the Austrian Hotel and Tourism Bank (OeHT). Despite subsidized loans, the limit for new investments has been reached for many, given the 40 percent equity share that is now required. ÖHV General Secretary Markus Gratzer pointed out the difficult environment. As a result of the collective agreements concluded, it is already clear that employee costs will continue to rise noticeably, and things are not looking very positive in terms of inflation and interest rates either. The clearly declining hotel margins are already making banks less willing to provide financing. Thomas Reisenzahn was able to prove this trend with figures. In Tyrol and Vorarlberg, investments recently fell by over 40 percent. In order to finance with crowdfounding like the FMTG, you need a highly attractive product and bonuses for the crowd, which ensures higher occupancy of the hotels. Otherwise, this financing via venture capital will also make the operation more expensive.
„We ruined a good opportunity for attractive financing, especially in western Austria, because buy-to-let investor models are generally viewed as leisure residences and were thus deprived of their tourist core
“, regrets Travel Toothwho would like to import a solution from its southern neighbor to Austria: “Our hotels have too little equity, but too many hidden reserves. An appreciation balance would not cost the state much. In South Tyrol, this upgrading opportunity was able to boost the holiday hotel industry
“, he concluded.
Questions & Contact:
Prodinger tourism advice
Thomas Reisenzahn
t.reisenzahn@prodinger.at