Munich Startup: Who are you and what does Hotellistat do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Hotel list: We are Philip Kuchelmeister, Sina Niedermaier and Tobias Haase.
Philip (36 years old) is the link between the hotel industry and IT. After a brief degree in aerospace engineering, he switched to the hotel industry. Most recently, he served as Cluster Director of Revenue at Kempinski. Philip oversees the strategic (technological) direction of Hotellistat and structures optimal software development from a hotelier's perspective.
Sina (44 years old) was Regional Director of Revenue at Kempinski for many years. A traditional training in hotel management was followed by studies at the Heidelberg Hotel Management School and an MBA from Neoma Business School. At Kempinski, she supported hotel openings, acquisitions, and regional strategies. Sina is responsible for hotel consulting on the use of Hotellistat, the optimal design of the system, and sales and marketing.
Tobias (37 years old) holds a degree in computer science and is a data analyst from the Technical University of Munich, specializing in database systems and big data analytics. He brings many years of experience in project management and software development and heads the technology and IT infrastructure departments.
Philip and Sina worked together at Kempinski for a long time, and Philip and Tobias met during their studies. This led to the infamous meeting in the beer garden one summer evening, where the idea for Hotellistat was born.
Hotels save time and money
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Hotel list: Typically, the hotel industry has its own software for every area. This results in countless disparate systems that aren't connected to each other, making it impossible to consolidate information across systems. Hotellistat provides a single system for all areas of digital market positioning and market analysis. With the innovative approach of an RMB (Revenue, Market, and Business Intelligence) system, hotels save time and money. All areas such as revenue management, business intelligence, reputation management, social media, and more are combined in a single application. Constantly jumping between systems is a thing of the past.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Hotel list: Actually, not yet in this form. There are various software providers that cover individual areas of Hotellistat, but so far there is no software that combines everything into one.
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Hotel list:
1. Initially, we ran Hotellistat as a side business, alongside our "regular" jobs. It quickly became clear that we had to decide whether to take the risk of quitting our jobs and dedicate ourselves full-time to Hotellistat.
2. Since we are completely self-financed, the first three years in particular were very demanding and labor-intensive. Naturally, we all had to make personal and financial sacrifices to grow the company.
3. The COVID-19 pandemic was also a major challenge for us at the beginning. Of course, it also affected us, and we lost licenses because some hotels had to file for bankruptcy or simply didn't reopen. At the same time, this challenge also turned out to be an opportunity.
Many hoteliers are already thinking “post-COVID”
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Hotel list: The digitalization trend is obviously helping us enormously. COVID-19 has also had an accelerating effect here, as many hoteliers are already thinking about the post-COVID era and investing in us. Fortunately, business is going very well, and we're able to grow. We now have around 200 hotels that trust us, and we've grown to nine employees.
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Hotel list: Good, but the environmental conditions are very expensive (staff, housing, standard of living…).
Munich Startup: To the sea or to the mountains?
Hotel list: Two tickets to the mountains and one to the sea, please!
