The motto for the 2016 Heimtextil fair is “Well-Being 4.0”, a headline that clearly spotlights a cluster of trends related to personal comfort as the future focus of developments and activities. These are of course also highly relevant when it comes to travel, as well-being is an important factor in offerings in the luxury hotel segment. Interior design and furnishing strongly determine the perceived quality of a stay in a hotel, and home textiles play a prominent role in this regard. When it comes to choosing textiles, the majority of 4 and 5-star hotel businesses consider quality as the deciding factor, as a current study carried out by the market researchers at Business Target Group on behalf of trade-fair company Messe Frankfurt has established. A total of 42 percent of respondents in the first-class and luxury segments stated that quality was the single most important factor in their choice of textiles. Sustainability and design were also named as crucial factors, while the price of textiles plays a minor role.
Rural hotels considered design
The study interviewed 200 decision-makers for (textile) hotel interiors in the 4 and 5-star categories. Half of the companies surveyed belonged to a hotel chain or alliance, while the other 50 percent were operated and managed independently. In terms of the locations of the hotels covered by the study, an equal distribution of city and countryside hotels was ensured. A substantial majority of the companies in question had 51 or more guestrooms. While business visitors made up the main source of sales for city hotels, holiday and leisure visitors predominated in the rural areas.
Although the majority of all respondents named the trend factors of quality, sustainability (34%) and design (28%) as being of primary importance in deciding which textiles to acquire, some very interesting differences became apparent when comparing the individual segments. While as many as 59% of urban hotels cited quality as the decisive factor in their choice of textiles, 46% of rural hotels considered design to be the determining factor. However, there was not one particular style trend that came out tops: All the different facets of design were represented, ranging from simple and traditional to stylish and modern.
Chains have integrated sustainability
The study revealed a further surprising result when it came to sustainability, as 41% of hotel chains rated sustainability as being the most important factor in their choice – in this particular sector, this was the same percentage of respondents as those who had rated quality as being of highest importance. By contrast, only 26% of independently managed hotels cited sustainability as being the prime motivational factor in their choice of fabrics; this aspect therefore ranked third in importance in the independent sector, after quality and design. Chains have evidently already integrated sustainability into their corporate cultures much more firmly than independent hotels. According to the decision-makers’ responses, product characteristics such as ease of care, hypoallergenic qualities or superior combinability played a somewhat minor role in deciding which textile products were acquired, with only 14% citing these as being of major importance. Price came in last, with only 3% of respondents from the overall group of luxury hoteliers naming this as being the deciding factor in choosing which textiles to buy.
“Heimtextil 2016 – The significance of home textiles in Germany’s premium hospitality industry”
Background: The study was carried out by the BTG (Business Target Group) on behalf of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH in September and October 2015. Overall a total of 200 interviews were conducted with managers of hotels in the 4 and 5-star category, of which 50% were chains and 50% independently run, with 50% in big cities and 50% in other parts of Germany.
Presentation: The study will be presented on January 12, 2016 at 10.00 a.m. at the opening press conference of Heimtextil. A testimonial will be provided by actress Jessica Schwarz who, together with her sister, runs the “Träumerei” design hotel in her home town of Michelstadt in Hesse. The hotel boasts five rooms and a café on the ground floor.
www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com
www.businesstargetgroup.com
www.die-traeumerei.com
