BERLIN — Spring through fall is expected to be a period of record-high demand for BWH Hotel Group’s hotels in Europe, largely led by leisure but with plenty of business demand, too, according to the company’s top executive in the region.
“We see it as a mix of leisure business that was already there from last year, but now that’s been mixed with corporate business and corporate events,” Andreas Westerburg, head of hotel development for BWH Hotel Group Central Europe, told Hotel News Now in a video interview. “A lot of companies postponed their internal and external meetings for almost two-and-a-half to three years and now there is the need to … carry out these meetings and companies will take the opportunity now to restart their activities from now until at least the end of November.”
Westerburg said it’s important to remember that while those segments have been recovering more quickly in the U.S. as pandemic restrictions dropped, Europe has more broadly opened up relatively recently.
And the opening up of travel is welcome across the region, he said.
Hoteliers “say they could sell some of their key weeks, key months or key weekends 10 times,” he said.
But while many hotels were closed or had reduced occupancy during the worst of the pandemic, Westerburg said many of the company’s owners used that period for acquisitions and expansion. The company’s partners in the U.K. and France had record signings in 2021, and the Central Europe region should see nearly 20 hotels open either through new-builds or conversions this year.
Recent openings from BWH’s brands in the region include a 220-room Best Western in Munich and five openings of the company’s Aiden by Best Western boutique brand in France and Italy.
Lifestyle hotels are particularly attractive in Europe, Westerburg said, and it’s exciting that BWH has options now, through its boutique brands, its affiliation with Design Hotels and its BW Premier Collection.
“Lifestyle products are asked for by the new generation of travelers, but if you take breakfast in the morning in one of our lifestyle, boutique hotels, you will see every age, starting from a crying baby to senior citizens,” he said.
He cited the V8 Hotel Motorworld Region Stuttgart hotel in Germany’s car capital, home to headquarters for Mercedes-Benz Group and Porsche. The hotel, part of Premier Collection, features individually designed rooms, beds made from racecars and other classic automotive details.
“These hotels are very iconic, but the operators need support in the commercial area,” he said. “This is where we are the specialists and where we come into the game.”
In terms of growth in the region, Westerburg said the company’s typical multi-unit hotel owners and family-business owners profile is growing.
“We see also an appetite coming from … investors that are looking into hotels that are not necessarily a trophy asset,” he said. “They are looking into building a portfolio of midsized properties in secondary or third-tier destinations.”
For more from BWH Hotel Group’s Andreas Westerburg, including why it’s an exciting time to be a hotelier and traveler in Europe right now, watch the video above.