Contemporary Hotel and Tourism Issues

This report focuses on Berlin as a tourist destination, exploring the market potential, transport and accommodation development, crisis and risk management, and social media influence on the tourism industry. Berlin offers a rich history, cultural diversity, and cost-effectiveness, making it a popular choice for tourists. The report also highlights the challenges faced by the industry and the unique visitor experience in Berlin.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY HOTEL AND TOURISM ISSUES
Berlin as a tourist destination
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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Berlin as a tourist destination.................................................................................................2
Body...........................................................................................................................................3
Tourist market potential for Berlin........................................................................................3
Transport development of Berlin tourism industry................................................................4
Accommodation development of Berlin tourism industry.....................................................5
Crisis and risk management of Berlin tourism industry.........................................................6
Social media influence on the business of Berlin tourism services.......................................7
Visitor experience development.............................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Tourism is a vast sector, which has undergone radical transformation in the recent
times. Interconnectedness to the other sectors reflects its enlarged scope and arena, which
works towards the common goal of achieving customer satisfaction. This interconnectedness
reflects the wide supply chain network, adding value to the hospitality services (Huertas and
Marine-Roig 2016). In order to cover all the parameters, the report focuses on Berlin as a
tourist destination. Within this, the main focus is on the market potential in terms of social
media influences for increasing the trafficking of the audience towards the brand image.
Within this, crisis and risk management gains a prominent position for shedding light on the
aspect of gaining trust, loyalty and dependence from the customers.
Berlin as a tourist destination
Amidst all the transformations, Berlin achieves accolades and glory by persevering
the traditional history and culture. After 20 years of the incident of the fall of the Berlin Wall,
reunification strategies have beautified Berlin, making it a young, dynamic and cosmopolitan
city for the natives and the visitors (Visitberlin.de 2019). Consistent innovations have
increased the popularity of Berlin as one of the prominent choice for spending vacations.
Splendid and mesmerizing scenic beauty along with emerging metropolitan life suffices the
need for relaxation and escape from the drab monotony. Along with this, cultural diversity
attracts the tourists across the world. Cost effectiveness is one of the other reasons, which
Berlin tops the list of the preferred tourist destinations. News coverage addresses the queries
of the customers regarding the feasibility of tourist destinations like Berlin in terms of
planning vacations (Telegraph.co.uk 2019).

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Body
Tourist market potential for Berlin
Tourists travelling with the families would have productive potential for Berlin. This
is because since 2016, the overnight stays have increased to 33.2 million (Visitberlin.de
2019). Flexible pricing of the service would influence the head of the family to bear the
expenses, fulfilling the needs of the family members without straining the budget.
Introducing family tourism packages would be beneficial in terms of catering to the specific
needs of all members. Typical example of these packages can be free passes to the
amusement parks upon mobile app booking of the hotels. Along with this, the decision maker
of the family can be benefitted with some points or credit value to the wallet, if he avails the
schemes and offers on the tourism packages.
These aspects reflect the joint venture, which Berlin tourism needs to consider for
serving to the tourists with families (Novy 2018). In order to indulge in partnerships, Berlin
tourism needs to ensure that there is enough financial flexibility. Without this step, none of
the measures would seem productive in terms of the entertainment needs of the tourists.
Within this, one of an effective activity would be consulting the members of the trade union
for gaining an insight into the latest revisions to the taxes. Along with this, it would also be
assistance in terms of coping up with the instabilities of inflation and high exchange rates
among others.
Berlin tourism industry can practice explorative tourism. This is in terms of exploring
the unexplored realms regarding the services, which can strengthen the bondage between the
family members. Within this, focus can be placed on the children, whose would be a
prospective source of income for Berlin tourism industry (Novy 2016). Reasonability in
Spoken English skills, in case of the children, would help the personnel to increase their sales

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revenue and profit margin through services like free movie tickets, meal boxes with the
online bookings.
Transport development of Berlin tourism industry
Rental cars have assisted the tourists to complete their sightseeing in the cities.
However, strict parking rules and scarcity of parking lots around the hotels have compelled
the rental car service companies to encounter customer switchovers to the train, boat and bus
services, which are the quickest mode of transportation between the cities. Along with this,
car rental services are expensive due to the high prices of gasoline (Sommer and Helbrecht
2017). High costs of the car insurances is also an issue, which compels the tourists to prefer
train, bus and boat services to experience a hassle free sightseeing with the family members.
Not all of the rental cars are costly in Berlin. Hertz, Avis, Sixt and Europcar provide
quality services at cheaper rates, which help the tourists to roam around in the countryside. In
order to avail the benefits, the tourists need to make advanced booking. Mention can be made
of the joint ventures with TripAdvisors, which solves the queries of the tourists regarding the
transport services from the airports and railways. Selection of transport accommodation along
with the bookings expands the supply chain network for Berlin tourism (Sanz-Blas, Buzova
and Carvajal-Trujillo 2017). Online mode of doing this selection has increased the ease of the
tourists, travelling with the family to just relax and enjoy the mesmerizing beauty of the
landscape, once they reach the destination.
Provision of tour guide maps at rail stations, airports and bus terminus saves the
tourists from getting lost in unknown place. One of the positive points is the presence of
police station numbers in the maps, which the tourists can avail in case they face any kind of
difficult or emergency situation. Reference can also be cited of the commercial and freight
transport, which contributes largely to the economic growth and development of Berlin. Tests

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and experiments regarding air quality, climate, noise and traffic levels ensure safety of the
tourists (Schmiz and Kitzmann 2017).
Accommodation development of Berlin tourism industry
Berlin hotels accounts for 8% increase in the sales revenue. Reduction in the
operational costs per rooms has mounted the profit margin to 29%. Consistency in research
and innovation has provided A class accommodation experience to the visitors with families
and guests coming for business purpose. According to HotStats, growth revenue per room in
March encountered an escalation of 7%. The major drive behind this is the presence of more
franchises and operators, which have assisted in achieving infrastructural development
(Hotstats.com 2019). However, investments in the residential markets have obstructed the
productivity of the hotel business in Berlin. As a result of this, customers are thinking of
settlement rather than coming for vacations. Demands for new units are constantly increasing,
which has aggravated the complexities towards sustaining the hotel business.
Some of the hotels like Estrel is away from making wrong investments. Estrel
achieves accolades and glory by being the city’s tallest and largest hotel with 1939 rooms.
Adequacy in the number of rooms is assistance for catering to the accommodation needs of
all kinds of guests. Overnight stays have enabled Berlin hotels to achieve tremendous growth
in the sales revenue. Along with this, RevPAR also increased by 3.4% in addition to the 1.9%
growth in GDP. According to the needs of the guests, the number of rooms was increased.
Mention can be made of Accor Hotels, which emerged as market leader, offering 14% of the
branded guestrooms to the visitors (Hotstats.com 2019).
Joint venture with Airbnb expands the supply chain network of the hotels. However,
its contribution is merely 10%, which does not hold any significance in terms of unique
selling proposition. Consistency in research and innovation has digitalized the business of

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hotels and the flight service providers like Airbnb. Typical evidence of this lies in the online
bookings, which the tourists can avail through mobile apps (Stylos et al. 2017).
Crisis and risk management of Berlin tourism industry
According to the reports, there are still some traces of skinheads in East Berlin. These
people are bearing the legacy of the Berlin wall. Dealing with these people during the trip can
have dire consequences for the tourist, as they can be violent. The situation can turn worse
into the extent of racial harassments. The government has taken effective rehabilitation
facilities for the skinheads. It has acted as a community development, ensuring the safety of
the tourists travelling with families. Mention can be made of the Budapest square, where
scammers deceive the people for gaining money for buying drugs (Safearound.com 2019).
Government initiatives have resulted in proper upgradation of their standards of living.
Watch towers are effective during the rush hours for ensuring the safety of the locals and the
tourists.
Animal attacks are common due to the presence of bear statues. Some of the wild
boars are aggressive and can cause harm to the visitors. These boars roam freely in the streets
of Gruenwald. The sight owners hire skilled and experienced people, who catch the animal
and hand it over to the forest officials. Along with this, the visitors are warned not to feed
anything to the animals, as it can have dire consequences.
Terrorist attacks awarded 78% safety index to Berlin as a tourist destination in terms
of preference among the tourists (Safearound.com 2019). Typical evidence of this is the
terrorist attack which took place in Christmas market. Such issues raise the concerns of the
tourists travelling with families regarding security and safety. However, prior warnings on
websites help the tourists to plan their sightseeing programs accordingly. Moreover,
information centres are easily approachable, which solves the queries of the tourists about the

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sights, which they can enjoy safely. Police station numbers are printed in all of the tourist
guide maps, information and websites for enhancing the safety and security of the tourists.
Mobile apps are an effective option in this direction (Luo 2018).
Social media influence on the business of Berlin tourism services
Social media had revolutionized the business of all the companies and organizations
including Berlin tourism industry. As a matter of specification, it has addressed the queries
and concerns of the tourists regarding the services, which they can avail for cherishing the
memories of stay during the vacation. The tourism industry has a wide supply chain network,
operating on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others. Uploading the current tourism
trends on these social networking sites is an initiative towards increasing the trafficking of the
audience towards the brand image (Iannolino and Ruggieri 2017). YouTube and Snapchat are
the other communication channels through which the clients and the customers are
acquainted with the current hospitality and tourism issues. The industry maintains stable
relation with the media agencies, which conveys the important information to the audience.
Adhering to the legislations strengthen the public relations (Marasco et al. 2018).
Newsletters are uploaded in the social networking sites, which acquaints the audience
with the opinions of others regarding the tourism trends. These approaches give rise to
various perceptions regarding availing the tourism services. Therefore, the newsletters are a
means for influencing the purchase power and decision of the customers. Berlin tourism
needs to be applauded for complying with the terms and conditions of Data Protection Act
(1998), which helps in preserving the confidentiality in the opinions of the clients (Dinhopl
and Gretzel 2016).
Indirect marketing through social media involves pay per click advertising for the
tourism packages, which is assistance in terms of tracking the number of visitors to the brand.

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This advertising technique is a means for enhancing the financial flexibility, indicative of
lucrative offers, discounts and schemes for the customers. Timely intimation to the customers
regarding these offers is assistance towards retaining the clients. Apart from this, surveys and
feedbacks are the means for gaining an insight into the specific needs, demands and
requirements of the clients (Dickinger and Lalicic 2016).
Visitor experience development
According to the visitors’ experience, transportation of Berlin is convenient and well
organized. Metro and walking are the easy modes of transports for travelling in between the
cities. In order to attract more customers, taxis and rental cars service providers need to
indulge in partnership with the members of trade union. This is in terms of coping up with the
instabilities of the heavy tax obligations, high exchange rates and inflation (Marine-Roig and
Clavé 2016). Activated welcome cards add to the convenience of the tourists regarding
having a hassle free travelling experience in sightseeing. The mobile apps are assistance in
terms of finding the way, if lost. Tourist guide maps and police station numbers assist the
tourists to ensure their safety and security.
Mobile internet is one of an interesting thing, which solves every kind of query. ALDI
shops are easily available. The visitor needs to buy a ALDITALK card, which would cost
around 10-12 euros. On the purchase, a brochure would guide the visitor. Different sizes of
the card are available, except for a nano one, for which advance booking needs to be done
(Huang, Afsharifar and Veen 2016). The brochure is in German language, which would be
difficult for the visitors belonging to different culture. However, following the links would
make the process easier. Within this, choice of the surfer option helps in aligning with the
affordability power.

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Getting tickets for the seeing the museums are much easier. With these tickets, the
visitors can get a tour around the sight in just three minutes. However, the visitors belonging
to other cultures need efficient guides for understanding the historical significance of the
sights. Skilled tour guides can be an effective option. Along with this, access to the website
can also enrich their information about the culture, history and customs of Berlin. Talk shows
and seminars can also be organized for enhancing the cultural diversity (Huertas and Marine-
Roig 2016).
Conclusion
Berlin is one of the preferred destinations for the tourists travelling with families.
Lucrative offers like free movie tickets and meal boxes with online bookings would lure the
children. Buses and metro are the convenient modes of transport for the tourists. Partnership
with the trade union members can help the rental car service providers to attract more clients
and customers. Hotels have enhanced their sales revenue and profit margin; however, making
investments in the residential marketing would stall the productivity. Joint venture with Estrel
can be effective in terms of upgrading the standards and quality of the services according to
the needs, demands and requirements of the guests.
Crisis like animal attacks, racial harassments and terrorism aggravates the
complexities of the tourists towards selecting Berlin for spending vacation. However,
governmental intervention through rehabilitation measures and community development has
resulted in attaining trust of the clients and the customers. Informing the customers about the
crisis and risks is assistance towards ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the visitors in their
vacation phase. Adopting communication channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
YouTube and Snapchat enhances the stability in the relationship between Berlin Tourism
industry and the clients and customers.

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Uploading the information of the schemes, discounts and offers, along with the
visitors’ experience on the social media, is a means of practicing word of mouth advertising,
promoting the trends and services. Mobile apps are a means of increasing the convenience of
the visitors during their stay in an unknown place. Consistent research is being conducted in
terms of providing quality tourism services to the customers. Website information contradicts
the peer suggestions regarding the experiences. This is because of the authenticity developed
through the presentation of statistical data. The option of contact would address the queries of
the visitors regarding their vacation plans.
Appropriateness and adequacy is needed for the tourists in terms of getting the much
needed relaxation from the drab monotony. Seeking help and assistance from the travel
agencies reflects different kinds of customer behaviours related to the travel and tourism. As
a sequential step, it is natural and obvious to seek suggestions from the relatives, who have
already visited the place.

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References
Dickinger, A. and Lalicic, L., 2016. An analysis of destination brand personality and
emotions: a comparison study. Information Technology & Tourism, 15(4), pp.317-340.
Dinhopl, A. and Gretzel, U., 2016. Conceptualizing tourist videography. Information
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Hotstats.com 2019. Hospitality intelligence. Available at: https://www.hotstats.com/
[Accessed on 10th Feb 2019]
Huang, S., Afsharifar, A. and Veen, R.V.D., 2016. Examining the moderating role of prior
knowledge in the relationship between destination experiences and tourist
satisfaction. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 22(4), pp.320-334.
Huertas, A. and Marine-Roig, E., 2016. User reactions to destination brand contents in social
media. Information Technology & Tourism, 15(4), pp.291-315.
Iannolino, S. and Ruggieri, G., 2017. Tourist destination network analysis: The ego network
role. European Journal of Tourism Research, 15(17), pp.231-245.
Luo, W., 2018. Evaluating Tourist Destination Performance: Expanding the Sustainability
Concept. Sustainability, 10(2), p.516.
Marasco, A., Buonincontri, P., van Niekerk, M., Orlowski, M. and Okumus, F., 2018.
Exploring the role of next-generation virtual technologies in destination marketing. Journal
of Destination Marketing & Management. 6(4), pp100-140.
Marine-Roig, E. and Clavé, S.A., 2016. A detailed method for destination image analysis
using user-generated content. Information Technology & Tourism, 15(4), pp.341-364.

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Novy, J., 2016. The selling (out) of Berlin and the de-and re-politicization of urban tourism in
Europe’s ‘Capital of Cool’. In Protest and resistance in the tourist city (pp. 66-86).
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Stylos, N., Bellou, V., Andronikidis, A. and Vassiliadis, C.A., 2017. Linking the dots among
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