Read the latest hotel industry news from around Europe.

Accor has has exceeded the 1 million rooms mark in rooms in operation and in its development pipeline. The French company said it achieved this mark at the end of 2023 but prefers to publicly underline only rooms in operation.

Also in presenting first-quarter 2023 earnings, Jean-Jacques Morin, deputy CEO and CEO of premium, midscale and economy, said the firm is confident enough to raise revenue per available room guidance for 2023 from 5% to 9% to between 10% and 14%.

Two anticipated United Kingdom events, the Royal Coronation of King Charles II on May 6 in London and the hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool on the following Saturday, May 13, have driven hotel occupancy on the books, according to Forward STAR data from STR, CoStar’s hotel-analytics division.

STR’s Thomas Emanuel, business director, said Eurovision demand has hit high notes.

“Eurovision is an event that always attracts significant demand for hotels and this year is no different. Last year, [2022 host city] Turin hotels reached an occupancy of 83% on the final night, while back in 2019 … Tel Aviv’s occupancy peaked at 84%. Bookings are only projected to grow even more as we get closer to the event period,” he said.

The new head of Whitbread, CEO Dominic Paul in his first earnings call said there is reason to be confident in the budget and economy sector of the U.K. hotel industry and added the firm's relatively new German portfolio is already showing signs of maturity.

The firm, which owns and operates Premier Inn, the U.K.’s largest hotel company by property number, now has as many hotels open in the U.K. as it did in 2013. Paul said “This is hugely significant, and we think [this] represents a major structural shift in the hotel cycle.”

Geneva, Switzerland-based real estate investment fund Stoneweg Hospitality announced it has acquired two Spanish seaside resorts from Globalia Business Corporation for a total of 83 million euros ($91.6 million).

Operating under brand Be Live Hotels, the hotels are the 226-room La Niña in Tenerife, Canary Islands, and 184-room Palace de Muro in Mallorca, Balearic Islands, with the additions expanding Stoneweg’s hotel portfolio from 1,281 to 1,691 rooms, an increase of approximately 25%. 

Dimitris Manikis, president and managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, said the adage that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” is true of the COVID-19 pandemic more than any other event. In a video-interview with Hotel News Now as part of its “Pandemic Reflections” series, he said while he is keen on looking to the future, the best future is only possible if the past is remembered and acknowledged.
 
“I have to tell you," he said, "I feel really sick with myself sometimes when I realize how I became the same person I was, and how there are glimpses of opportunity to bring me back and to realize what is going on, but I am really worried that we are going to totally forget."

For more of his comments, click here. 

• Owned by Luxury Hotel Partners, the seasonal 35-room hotel Teranka Formentera has opened on the Balearic Islands’ isle of Formentera for its first year;
• Primestar Group and owner Crown, a Luxembourg-based institutional fund are set to open in June the 46-room June Stay Lake Garda, Italy. Primestar founded June Six Hotels and June Stay Hotels in 2022 with two June Six hotels in Germany, in Berlin and Hannover;
• IHG will debut its soft brand Vignette Collection in the U.K. with the 133-room The Halyard at Ropeworks Liverpool. Molo Hotels is the owner, and Lighthouse Hotel Management is the operator. Formerly the Mercure Hotel Heilbronn, in a small city north of Stuttgart, the hotel will increase its room count by four before opening by the end of this summer;
• The Park Inn by Radisson York City Centre in the Yorkshire city of York is to be transformed into the company’s Raddison brand as the 200-room Radisson York City Centre;
• Choice Hotels has bolted on four Fortress Hotels-owned hotels in Scandinavia to its Ascend Hotel Collection brand — the 26-room Torreby Castle in Sweden, as well as the 86-room Oscarsborg Fortress, 28-room Kongsvinger Fortress and 28-room Reenskaug Hotel, all in Norway;
• Accor brand Swissôtel has signed a deal with owner Grathon Business to open the 130-room Swissôtel Mariánské Lázně Resort & Spa in 2024 in the Western Czech Republic spa town of Mariánské Lázně. Five hotels will be merged under the new name;
• RBH has been appointed the management firm for three U.K. hotels under the umbrella of two Accor brands and ownership of Fragrance Group. Two are in Paignton, Devon — the 160-room Mercure Paignton and 121-room Ibis Styles Paignton. The third is the the 179-room Municipal Hotel Liverpool, MGallery Collection. All three will be reopened by the end of the year;
• PPHE Hotel Group will open the 88-room Radisson Red Belgrade in the Serbian capital. Currently undergoing an upgrade, the hotel will open by the end of this year. Arena Hospitality Group, PPHE’s Croatin-house management company, will operate the property;
• Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotels & Resorts is set to make its debut in the United Kingdom with two hotels in South London — the 70-room Centro Mew Malden, to open by the end of 2023; and the 31-room Centro Kingston, to open by the end of 2024;
• Dutch hotel company Zoku has made its debut in France with the Zoku Paris. In the city’s 17th arrondissement, the hotel has 109 rooms;
• Nobu Hospitality and Millennium Hospitality Real Estate have opened the 25-room Nobu Hotel & Restaurant Sevilla in the Spanish city of Seville. The operator is Mercer Hotels;
• Zannier Hotels has announced it will open in 2026 the 93-room Zannier Hotels Bendor on the French Mediterranean island of the Île de Bendor, a small isle once owned and first developed by Paul Ricard of the Ricard pastis drinks company;
• Accor is set to debut its Mercure brand in Moldova, where it only has one other hotel, also in capital Chișinău. Owned by domestic hotel firm, Coriap SRL, the 74-room Mercure Chișinău is to open by the end of this year.

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