The impact of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on the tourism and hospitality industry of the host country: market overview of the hotels launched in Russia in H1 2018, hospitality sector statistics and factors affecting the tourism industry.

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Beverly Hills, USA) appeared in a famous American romantic comedy film “Pretty Woman”. The exterior and the lobby shown in the film are the real hotel, though the room settings were built at the studio.

Waldorf Astoria New York is an official New York City landmark. It was the first hotel to offer room service. This hotel has played host to more than two dozen of famous films, including the romantic comedy “Serendipity”.

The Pierre Hotel (New York City) appears in a famous American romantic comedy film “For love or money” under the name of a luxury Bradbury Hotel. The plot of the film is centred on the main character, who works as a concierge at Bradbury Hotel fulfilling a huge amount of various duties.

A landmark event in the hospitality industry happened in April as Kempinski Hotels, one of the oldest hotel operators, turned 120 years old.

In the “Lost in translation” film Sofia Coppola took us to the noisy Tokyo into the luxury five-star hotel. Almost all scenes took place in the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel, where main characters are feeling lost.

As traffic between Finland and Russia is growing day by day and the number of travellers increases rapidly, there is a certain need of finding the right transportation. In this inspection we would like to concentrate on shuttle buses Lux Express.

London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch was shown in the two-hour season 4 finale episode of the world-famous TV-show “Friends”.

Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest appears in a new comedy “Spy”.

Canada is the second largest country in the world, which means it has a lot to offer and lots of beautiful places to explore. We will also try to get to know people living here and get an idea of a true Canadian spirit.

InterContinental Hotels Group has launched a new design concept called H4. In order to anticipate as much as possible the future guests’ needs, H4 design has been developed together with the owners and frequent guests of Holiday Inn hotels.

From July 1, 2013, Priority Club Rewards will be rebranded and renamed IHG Rewards Club. Rebranding will strengthen the link between InterContinental Hotels Group and all of those brands.

Today’s hospitality is not only about a comfortable room, a stylish design or exquisite cuisine. Professionals of the hotel industry have long revealed a direct dependence of the company's success on the level of service provided. According to statistics, only 30% of complaints are related to the product while the remaining 70% comes from dissatisfaction with the service.

The Bundestag is the world’s most-visited parliament. Reichstag dome with its observation deck definitely played an important role in this worldwide recognition.

Hotel inspection of a truly fabulous hotel – Viceroy Bali. The hotel is located in Ubud, Indonesia. The minimalistic designs of villas boast a contemporary elegance that exemplified its sophistication.

IHG has announced the opening of InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, the hotel built into the side wall of a formerly abandoned quarry in Southwestern Shanghai. This new hotel is mostly subterranean, with two floors above ground and 16 below ground, including 2 floors underwater.

We had visited the city of Winnipeg in 2012, now 5 years later we are going to take a new look at this city to see what has changed and to explore new corners of this unusual place.

We are pleased to announce the biggest update of the TOHOLOGY: Tourism & Hospitality project – launch of the brand new www.tohology.com website and other changes within the company.

The event as part of the Hotel Kämp’s 130th anniversary – one of the icons of the hotel business in the capital of Finland.

If you are in Toronto, Canada, you are most likely to hear of and actually to see the world-famous CN Tower. The tower is located in downtown Toronto on 301 Front St. W. Toronto, Canada.

This time we go to Helsinki to a ‘chain boutique hotel’. We continue to improve the format of our inspections: we avoid looking at the dust particles, that can be found in any hotel, if desired, and pay our attention to important, interesting or simply useful features of hotels.

On June 3, 2019 citizens and guests of Helsinki could witness a historic event, an opening of the first Signature hotel by Scandic in Finland – Marski. This hotel was part of regular Scandic hotels, however having historic value; but on this day a new chapter of Marski hotel has been written.

Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow hosted 5th Hotel Business Forum on November 8-9, 2018. The event gathered hoteliers, business owners and hospitality professionals from Russia, the CIS and other countries. TOHOLOGY prepared photography coverage of the event.

Research study Drivers of Change in Hospitality explores the changes we can expect as guest insight, technology optimization and the ability to hyper-personalize take effect. 

Volvo Cars, a premium car maker, and Tablet Hotels, a designer hotel booking service, have launched a joint project Get Away Lodge inviting travellers to have some rest and summon up fresh energy in a secluded hotel in the Northern Sweden.

Luxurious Ritz Paris hotel has been the set for many films. Some scenes of “How to Steal a Million” movie were shot at this hotel in Paris.

On September 17 the traditional gala dinner for the participants of the international tennis tournament ATP 250 St. Petersburg Open 2018 was held at the five-star Lotte Hotel St. Petersburg. The event was organized at The Lounge, main restaurant of the hotel, MC of the party – artistic Alexander Belov.

The nickname “King of hoteliers and hotelier of kings” belongs to Cesar Ritz – the man, under the guidance of whom this hotel was created.

One of iconic buildings in Helsinki, which was once home to the Finnish literature society and the first Finnish newspaper Suometar, will house a 5-star Hotel St. George in the beginning of 2018.

The Riga Islande Hotel is located on the Kipsala Island quite close to the old town. The location is perfect for tourists as you can even walk to the old town.

Hilton Worldwide Corporation has announced the opening of a new Hampton by Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum hotel (Russia), to be located on the territory of ExpoForum Convention & Exhibition Centre. Let's have a look at the specific character of the project and take the chance to view the hotel both from land and from air.

If you plan to book a chain hotel in Helsinki with business and leisure facilities at a moderate price, let us present you Crowne Plaza Helsinki.

There are several options for accommodation in Mikkeli and one of them is a Finnish chain of Sokos Hotels – Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna. Let us take a closer look at this hotel.

After the official draw ceremony of XX International Tennis Tournament St. Petersburg Open 2015, we continue to describe the anniversary event that took place in St. Petersburg from September 21 to 27, 2015.

Daniel and Samira Charbonnier held an open seminar “Catch the trend: the hospitality industry”.

Annual congress of the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), industry’s largest global meeting of the year, was held on 31 October – 3 November 2018 in St. Petersburg. Over 450 event professionals representing UFI members met at the ExpoForum centre to review UFI’s work throughout 2018 and confirm plans for the year ahead. 

Corinthia Hotels has announced the acquisition of the Hotel Astoria in the capital of Belgium. The unit has been on the open market for 10 years and now it is going to be completely renovated and transformed into a leading hotel in Brussels under a new name: Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria.

Solo Sokos Hotel Torni is a historic hotel located in the heart of the city in a walking distance to the central railroad and bus stations, market square and harbour, both of the ferry terminals, and any other sightseeing places.

Young and popular in the USA Hotel Indigo chain continues to expand in Europe with opening of the Hotel Indigo Berlin – Centre Alexanderplatz, which is already the second hotel of this chain in Germany.

Kempinski announced that in the second quarter of this year the first five-star hotel in Cuba will be opened. Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana features 246 rooms of various types.

A new SWISSAM business school in the hospitality industry officially opened its doors to students.

The founder of the Virgin Group corporation Sir Richard Branson is introducing his Virgin Hotels chain to the European market. A new hotel comprising 225 rooms will open in Edinburgh in 2020.

Karl Lagerfeld’s signature style will soon manifest itself in a new project: the fashion designer is launching his own hotel brand.

Amadeus announced that it has completed the acquisition of TravelClick. The transaction has now received all necessary regulatory approvals, including competition clearance in all relevant markets.

In the summer 2013 there was opened a new hostel in St. Petersburg – Giggly Hostel. We visited Giggly and met with its management.

Professional event in the Russian and the CIS hospitality industry PIR Expo took place on 24-27 September at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre in Moscow. The moto of the PIR Expo 2018 exhibition was “Raise your level at the game”: HoReCa specialists were offered to prepare for their daily game and get competitive advantages and new clients.

Julia Kostina is a professional luxury travel consultant at Renshaw Travel, one of the best luxury travel agencies in Canada.