Check-In - August 2024

We are delighted to share the August 2024 edition of Check-In, Bird & Bird's quarterly newsletter for hotel, hospitality & leisure businesses. This edition brings the latest in our regular features, Employment Corner (covering, amongst other things, the new Statutory Code on Tipping) and HMA Bites (looking at legal structures used by management companies embarking on international expansion).

We are also delighted to include the latest episode in our Inspirational Women in Hospitality podcast series, where Carine Bonnejean, Managing Director of Hotels at Christie & Co, shares her experience in building a successful career path in hotel advisory work. 

This edition also includes spotlights on the Spanish and German hotel markets, and highlights our ESG Navigator tool and International Franchise Laws Tracker. We also detail forthcoming events, such as our next co-hosted webinar on 24th September titled “Decrypting Data and AI in Hotels”.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the matters covered by these articles, or visit our webpage for more information about Bird & Bird's Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure team.

In this newsletter:

• Podcast: Influential Women in Hospitality
  
• HMA Bites
  
• Employment Corner
  
• ESG
  
• Franchising
  
• Spotlight on Spain
  
• Spotlight on Germany
  
• News & Events

Podcast: Inspirational Women in Hospitality

Interview with Carine Bonnejean: Building a Successful Career Path in Hotel Advisory Work

In the latest episode in our series of interviews with inspirational women in hospitality, Head of Bird & Bird’s Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure group, Karen Friebe, speaks with Carine Bonnejean, Managing Director of Hotels at Christie & Co.

Carine shares insights from her career journey to her current role, including her progression through Christie & Co as a working mother. Carine discusses the challenge of juggling multiple priorities, and the importance of collaboration and a strong support system to help us overcome these challenges and encourage us to step outside our comfort zone. She also provides insights from three of the most memorable deals she has worked on and lessons learnt from these experiences.

Listen to the podcast here

Host: Karen Friebe

HMA Bites

HMA Bites: International Expansion

Welcome to HMA Bites - our regular column in Check-In where we take a look at an issue relating to hotel management agreements (HMAs) and provide insight, tips and advice based on our experience in practice. In this edition, we take a bird’s eye view over the two main legal structures used by management companies taking flight abroad.

International expansion is a practical reality for many a hotel management company – whether it’s an operator looking to manage a hotel overseas for the first time, or a seasoned global brand opening up its first managed hotel in a virgin territory.

Read the full article here

Authors: James Fowler, Matthew Vance. 

Employment Corner

Employment Corner

In each edition of Check-In we explore the latest developments in Employment law and their importance to the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure sector. In this edition, we will look at some updates from the UK, including the:

• Implementation of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, including the publication of the new statutory Code of Practice.
  
• Proposed reforms to TUPE Regulations and abolition of the European Works Councils framework.
  
• Migration Advisory Committee’s recommended retention of the Graduate visa route.
  
• TUC draft AI Bill and what this means for employers.
  
• New statutory flexible working regime and its practical application.
  
• Confirmed changes to annual leave and holiday pay for irregular hours and part-year workers.

Read the full article here

Authors: Alison Dixon, Stephanie Creed.

The new Statutory Code on Tipping – Where are we now?

As employers in the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure sectors will be acutely aware, a new regime for the treatment of tips, gratuities and service charges is due to come into force shortly. The legal changes set out in the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, will now come into force on 01 October 2024. Our earlier article, here, sets out the background to, and details of, these changes.

Read the full article here

Author: Stephanie Creed.

ESG

ESG Navigator Tool: Simplifying the ESG Regulatory Landscape

Companies operating in the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure sectors are under increasing pressure to develop robust environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies. While the implementation of ESG practices has historically been voluntary, driven by consumer demand for more sustainable and ethical businesses practices, there is now a shift towards regulatory enforcement. The EU in particular has focused its regulatory efforts on mandatory reporting, carbon pricing, anti-greenwashing measures and ‘greening’ supply chains. This shift is relevant for the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure industry, which has a reputation for generating significant waste, from water to food to energy.

It can be challenging for businesses to know what ESG regulations apply to them and how best to avoid the growing risk of enforcement action or negative press. It is for this reason that Bird & Bird has developed our ESG Navigator tool, which helps you address that first and often most important question of regulatory compliance. It allows you to quickly simplify, identify, assess and address ESG regulations and directives that affect your business.

Find out more and access our ESG Navigator here

Franchising

International Franchise Laws Tracker: the Legal Frameworks Governing Franchising in Different Regions

Our International Franchise Laws Tracker provides a comparative analysis of franchise-specific laws across 38 jurisdictions. The tracker was developed by our experienced international franchising team in collaboration with local franchising experts. It provides invaluable insights for franchisors in the Hotel, Hospitality & Leisure sector, helping you understand the legal frameworks governing franchising in different regions.

Franchising markets are organised into red, amber and green categories depending on the time, cost and regulatory burden of franchising in that market. Further information regarding franchising regulation; pre-contractual disclosure requirements; registration requirements; and any other specific issues are detailed on the relevant country sub-page. We also direct you to the appropriate contact should you have any further questions regarding franchising in that jurisdiction.

Whether expanding into new markets or simply looking for opportunities, be sure to take a look at the tracker here.

Spotlight on Spain

What’s on the Horizon in the Spanish Hotel Market? Overview of H1 2024 Market Trends

The first half of 2024 has exceeded all forecasts of the performance of the tourism sector in Spain, even the most optimistic. International demand has once again broken its own record, with data from January to May 2024 showing a growth of more than 4 million international tourists compared to the same period in 2023 (+13.6%). These figures(source: Colliers Report on the first semester of 2024) have positively surprised the sector, which is on track to reach an expected 90 million annual international tourists by the end of 2024.

Read the full article here

Author: Conchita Sainz.

Podcast: Interview with Colliers on the Benefits of Branded Residences 

Join us in this new series of real estate podcasts dedicated to commenting on the most innovative trends in this sector.

In our first episode, we are joined by Luis Valdés, Managing Director of the Residential Sales Advisory area of Colliers, to discuss “branded residences”, a type of real estate asset within the luxury residential segment. Branded residences are here to stay, especially in cities such as Madrid, Marbella, Malaga and Barcelona, where we are already seeing their boom and demand and where, over the next few years, we will see the arrival of numerous operators, brands and specialised developers for their development and operation in Spain.

Listen to the podcast (in Spanish) here

Hosts: Conchita Sainz, Laura Sánchez.

Spotlight on Germany

Update on German Holiday Apartments, Boarding Houses and Serviced Apartments

The private letting of apartments via large online platforms and the commercial letting of furnished apartments have both enjoyed increasing popularity over the last few decades. However, many of the larger European cities that face a housing crisis due to a lack of residential units (and consequential rental increases) are seeking to limit or oppose such activities - as most recently seen in Barcelona.

In Germany, several cities have issued ordinances on the so-called “prohibition of misuse” or “ban on misuse” (Zweckentfremdungsverbote) to address this issue. We take a closer look at the resulting impact on the letting of holiday apartments and boarding houses.

Read the full article here

Author: Elie Kaufman.

News & Events

We Hope to See You at the Annual Hotel Conference in Manchester

Members of our UK Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure team, Karen Friebe, James Salford, Matthew Vance and James Fowler, will be attending the AHC on Monday 30th September - Tuesday 1st October. Please do get in touch if you will also be attending - we'd love to meet you there. 

Our Team at 2024 International Hospitality Investment Forum in Berlin

Our international team was represented at this year's IHIF in April 2024 by Karen Friebe, James Salford, Matthew Vance, James Fowler, Charlie White, Conchita Sainz, Elie Kaufman and David Dederick. 

Karen chaired a panel session titled "Enhancing Operating Agreements: Investor-Operator Partner Alignment for Enhanced Returns". Karen was joined by experts from Melia Hotels International, Pandox, Aimbridge EMEA and Extendam, to explore the critical dynamics of the relations between stakeholders and how innovative operating agreements can drive value.
As sponsors, we also had the opportunity to network with delegates at our conference booth, where we enjoyed catching up with industry peers and contacts. We look forward to seeing you at IHIF again next year!

Report from our 20th Anniversary Webinar

In June 2020 the Bird & Bird Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure team, together with our friends at HVS, AlixPartners and EP Business in Hospitality, embarked on the first of what was to become a series of webinars.

Four years later and our 20th webinar together returned to our original theme of Unlocking the Potential of the Hotel Sector. We were delighted to be joined by our guest speaker, Kate Nicholls OBE (the celebrated CEO of UK Hospitality), who shared her views of where the UK hospitality sector is heading. This was followed by a series of short contributions from a number of hotel sector luminaries and a panel session involving the four host organisations.

The event was a great success, and we look forward to our future webinars with HVS, AlixPartners and EP (see below for more!). 

If you missed it, access the recording here

Webinar: Decrypting Data and AI in Hotels

In our latest webinar with HVS, AlixPartners and EP Business in Hospitality, we aim to help hoteliers and investors to make the most of data to create value and also to manage the associated risks. Data Protection Associate, Heather Catchpole, will be joined by Olivier Abtan, managing director of AlixPartners Paris office to set the scene from both an investment and legal perspective. This will be followed by a lively panel discussion with hospitality sector experts from Rare Restaurants, IHG, Cedar Capital Partners and NUMA.

We hope you're able to join us - please RSVP here