For Swiss based luxury hotel group Kempinski last year set a record: It was the most profitable year since the group had been founded in 1897. Comments Kempinski president Reto Wittwer briefly: 'Our strategies are paying back.'

According to Wittwer the ebitda from 2012 is preliminarily estimated to $26 mio. Last year overall sales nearly touched $1,5 billions. The sales per room could be increased by 21 percent, number of overnight stays grew by 17 percent.

In spite of the slow growth Kempinski strategy there will be opened nine new properties in 2013. The majority of them is located in Africa, Middle East and China.

In Kempinski president Witter's eyes "Africa is a future market for us, there we definetely want to expand." Kempinski does not focus only on new hotels, but on lodges as well. "That's it what our guests are looking for."

However, the luxury brand continues on developing its strongest bridge head: Europe. "That continent is home for luxury and lifestyle", Wittwer summarizes the reason. There are precise plans for new properties in Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Paris, Rome, Warsaw and Zurich.

Besides, Kempinski plans to invest in South America targeting finally the Carribean, as well as India, where the first property Kempinski Ambiance Hotel Delhi just has opened its doors.

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Roland Wildberg is Travel Writer and Correspondent based in Berlin, Germany. He started as an Editor for the National daily 'Die Welt' (tourism section), later on switched to a freelanced career and nowadays mainly publishes on the Web. Observing the hospitality industry always has fascinated him as it looks like the perfect combination of sleeping and writing – work-live-balance as its best.

Roland also heads the annual 4Hoteliers ITB Berlin news micro-site journalist and video/photo teams for the 5th consecutive years.