ITB Berlin News 2019 - Review Edition
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BROUGHT<br />
TO YOU BY<br />
NEWS<br />
13<br />
Launching The Originals brand<br />
New<br />
“Originals”<br />
brand<br />
targets<br />
authentic<br />
travellers<br />
A fundamental shift in tastes is<br />
driving customers to travel locally<br />
and enjoy a fuller experience in<br />
unique hotels. This desire for<br />
authenticity has breathed life into<br />
a next-generation hotel brand: The<br />
Originals, Human Hotels & Resorts.<br />
Founded 50 years ago by six<br />
independent hoteliers, the SEH<br />
United Hoteliers group developed<br />
into the fourth-biggest French hotel<br />
group. It also became Europe’s<br />
leading hotel cooperative with more<br />
than 600 hotels. With its vision of<br />
authentic hotel services, the group<br />
has now united all hoteliers under<br />
a single new brand. “We created<br />
The Originals, Human Hotels and<br />
Resorts to meet the new needs of<br />
travellers: a hotel brand offering a<br />
unique, human, full, personalised<br />
experience. Our aim is to develop<br />
this brand across Europe and<br />
showcase and pool the knowhow<br />
of thousands of independent<br />
hoteliers,” says Philippe Marguet,<br />
Chairman of The Originals, Human<br />
Hotels & Resorts Board.<br />
The wide range of hotels offers<br />
world travellers a rich palette of<br />
experiences and stays – from budget<br />
to luxury. The brand comprises<br />
six hotel offers, with different,<br />
easy-to-remember experiences for<br />
travellers: The Originals Collection:<br />
luxury hotels with exceptional<br />
spirit and character; The Originals<br />
Relais: high-end hotels located<br />
in the countryside, by the sea or<br />
in the mountains; The Originals<br />
Boutique: hotels in city centres<br />
with style and personality; The<br />
Originals Residence: fully equipped<br />
apartments, offering all the services<br />
of a hotel; The Originals City:<br />
city hotels, perfect for a work or<br />
family trip; The Originals Access:<br />
contemporary and functional hotels<br />
close to major roads.<br />
This development has also<br />
led to a digital and marketing<br />
transformation. By the end of the<br />
year, The Originals, Human Hotels<br />
& Resorts will provide guests<br />
with a booking site presenting the<br />
group’s 600 hotels and showcasing<br />
the know-how and originality of<br />
each hotelier. There will also be a<br />
quick and easy three-click booking<br />
module, and a paperless loyalty and<br />
reward programme<br />
Mauritius: Romance,<br />
culture and gastronomy<br />
Arvind<br />
Bundhun<br />
Director of the Mauritius Tourism<br />
Promotion Authority<br />
With Mauritius awarded the title<br />
“World’s Most Romantic Destination<br />
2018” at the World Travel Awards in<br />
December, it’s no wonder tourism<br />
has been enjoying a renaissance in<br />
the Indian Ocean island nation.<br />
“Tourism is a major engine of<br />
economic growth in the Mauritian<br />
economy,” Arvind Bundhun, Director<br />
of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion<br />
Authority, told <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong> <strong>News</strong>.<br />
“We have been substantially growing<br />
the tourism industry by almost 5%<br />
per year,” he said, adding that the<br />
country has quickly reached its<br />
target of 1.4 annual million visitors,<br />
a figure that promises to expand.<br />
“Tourism is quite Eurocentric in<br />
Mauritius,” says Bundhun about a<br />
Europe-dominated source market.<br />
Traditionally led by France and the<br />
UK, this market has been buoyed by<br />
a large rise in arrivals from Germany.<br />
“We are very confident of maintaining<br />
this trend,” Bundhun said of a<br />
German market that increased by<br />
10% in 2018.<br />
This uptick was showcased with<br />
over 40 tour operators in attendance<br />
at an impressive Mauritius <strong>ITB</strong> <strong>Berlin</strong><br />
stand that punches well above the<br />
island nation’s weight.<br />
As Mauritius taps deeper into the<br />
growing luxury resort market, the<br />
nation’s tourism growth should be<br />
further helped by emerging source<br />
markets such as China and Saudi<br />
Arabia.<br />
But while tropical beaches are the<br />
classical selling point, culture is<br />
another major draw in a nation<br />
where Hindu, Muslim, Chinese and<br />
Christian cultural traditions live<br />
side-by-side. “It’s not just a sun and<br />
sea destination. You have different<br />
cultures, different cuisines,” notes<br />
Bundhun, adding that “there’s<br />
something about Mauritius that<br />
other destinations don’t have: our<br />
service.”<br />
“The Mauritian is at the heart of<br />
the industry, and they are known to<br />
provide this legendary service with<br />
a smile,” he said. “That what makes<br />
Mauritius different.”<br />
Mauritius will be further showcasing<br />
this unique selling point to the wider<br />
travel industry when it hosts the<br />
World Travel Awards Gala for Africa<br />
and the Indian Ocean in June <strong>2019</strong><br />
<strong>ITB</strong> BERLIN NEWS • Friday 15 th March <strong>2019</strong>
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