People who dislike the variety of international hotel brands may have to worry about the future: There is many more under development.

At a meeting of leading hotel chains' CEO's at the ITB Berlin the hoteliers agreed upon the fact the brand loyalty of premium customers with high demands to nich hotel brands is too strong not to be utilized.

One example is Hilton with its new lifestyle brand Denizen recently introduced at the ITB, another one is Marriott with the boutique hotel brand Edition to appear in 2010.

First hotels of this kind are going to be opened in Paris, Madrid, South Beach (Miami), Chicago, Washington, D.C., Costa Rica, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona. It is going to be the 19th brand of Marriott, but according to the management it essentially fills the boutique hotel gap the group discovered inside its portfolio.

Hiltons twelfth brand Denizen is nose to nose and will open five or six new hotels until the end of 2009. Generally the affiliation to a chain is considered a guarantee for survival the current economic crisis.

"The times are even good for expansion", Executive Chairman of Jumeirah group Gerald Lawless stated. He did not adress the possibility of acquisitions but building new properties gaining from the low costs for material, interest and constructors' salaries.

In Dubai Jumeirah has started a cooperation with an official local tourist organisation to hedge its occupancy during the crisis. So in march 2009 about 90 per cent of the rooms are sold, however the profit has decreased around 20 per cent.

Referring to the question wether hotel companies rather should posess the land themselves or leave this to local owners, Intercontinental Hotels CEO Andrew Coslett voted strongly for the last option.

The Intercontinental group actually has parted  from many lodging real estates and now merely owns 14 properties on "strategically important locations". Coslett considers it reasonable to concentrate on service - the key competence of hoteliers - and leave the headaches with local authorities, maintanance and infrastructure to locals who usually know better to deal with.