According to STR Global, Europe's hotel industry added 332 new hotels in 2012, totaling 41,982 rooms. Hunter
The Economy segment introduced the most new rooms among the Chain Scale categories, with 11,064 rooms in 95 buildings. The Upper Midscale category (67 hotels with 8,869 rooms), the Upscale segment (39 hotels with 6,137 rooms), and the Midscale segment (39 hotels with 6,137 rooms) all added more than 5,000 additional rooms in 2012. (52 hotels with 5,537 rooms). In 2012, the Luxury segment introduced the fewest new rooms, with 2,276 rooms in 14 hotels.
According to the December 2012 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report, Europe's hotel construction pipeline has 844 hotels with a total of 141,273 rooms.
To Survive in the Internet Era, European Malls are Adding New Services.
Mall owners in Europe are adding government and medical services to keep customers as the shopping culture transitions from brick and mortar to online.
Malls must become more like full-service community centers to avoid the failure of businesses like Blockbuster, property experts at the annual MIPIM trade show in Cannes, France, told Reuters.
It's no longer enough to merely sell products that can be acquired quickly and easily online.
"The days of the stand-alone mall are numbered," architect Aedas chief executive David Roberts told Reuters.
To make malls more appealing, owners must discover new services and entertainment.
"In a Brazilian mall, I once saw a clinic where you signed in and were buzzed on a device when they were ready. You go shopping in the interim "CBRE Global Investors European retail center fund manager Florencio Beccar told Reuters. In a mall he recently purchased in Germany, he noted a significant medical center as "a big plus."
Land Securities, Intu, Westfield, and Klepierre are among the mall owners offering frequent shopper promotions that are tracked via mobile devices.
Experts warned Reuters that these modifications might not be enough. According to the property subsidiary of French insurer AXA, 90 percent of retail sales growth in the UK, France, and Germany between 2012 and 2016 is likely to be online.
Investors will view property differently as the shopping culture shifts to internet merchants. "Money is going away from all but the best and most regionally dominant malls into logistics because they are economically insulated," said Simon Hope, global head of capital markets at property firm Savills, to Reuters.
Analysts predict that high-quality logistics properties will produce six to seven percent, compared to four to five percent for top shopping complexes.
Malls must develop new revenue streams to combat the tendency, according to experts.
"Stores will grow in size and become more like adventure parks that hit all of your emotions," Christian Ulbrich, chief executive of property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, told Reuters. "Globetrotter's Frankfurt store contains a climbing wall and a cycle track where customers may try out its equipment."
Another example of shops rethinking their operations is same-day deliveries. Ulbrich told Reuters that some companies may team up with competitors to run smaller, more efficient logistics operations near city centers.
"The problem they all have is that shopping is no longer a sufficient motivation to visit retail complexes," he explained.