CHANEL, AUDEMARS PIGUET and VERTU are among top international luxury brands prompted by crisis to develop cheaper products diversifying raw materials. Threfore, CHANEL promotes its all new J12 white luxury watch made of special ceramics, VERTU promotes an all ceramics phone and Audemars promotes a new watch which features ceramics. Recently, HERMES launched its new summer advertising campaign ... read more

Built by monks in 1896, and formally known as Monk Hotel in its first decade of existance, CHERICA Hotel is a unique luxury hotel in the seaside city and port of CONSTANTA, ROMANIA. A member of the Sturdza family, the owners of the hotel, who had probably lived aboard many years, has applied impecable taste and has paid extreme attention to details, turning CHERICA into a top boutique hotel. Guests will be ... read more

British designers duo BASSO & BROOKE have recently made headlines all over the world with First Lady Michelle Obama photographed in their latest collection outfits. Vogue and Hapers Bazaar have called them the new VIKTOR&ROLF or DOLCE GABBANA, both created by a designer duo. The BASSO & BROOK collections are produced under licence by the AEFFE Group (owned by Alberta Ferretti) which also ... read more

Much like Belgrade and Bucharest, Sofia is a corporate destination for the five star hotel market. Unfortunately, owners of hotels such as the SHERATON SOFIA or KEMPINSKI SOFIA have taken for granted their positioning in the market and have counted on their long term reputation. Both hotels were built in 1970s and have not been renovated since. Due to the economic boom of the market and the large number ... read more

Porto Montenegro is a Luxury yacht marina and adjecent waterfront development in Tivat, Montenegro, and is located within the Bay of Kotor, on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, easily accessible from anywhere in Europe. The marina occupies a site that was, since the 1880s, used as a base and shipyard for the Austro-Hungarian, then Yugoslav navies.

Porto Montenegro offer all of ... read more

The proximity and good connections to all major European capitals as well as its astounding natural beauty and climate have turned Marrackech into a leading tourism destination for Europeans. Travellers are inspired by its bohemian atmosphere and its blend of African and Arab cultures. The past five years Marrakech has also attracted top luxury hoteliers, world leader MANDARIN ORIENTAL and ... read more

While many wordwide luxury brands are looking at restructuring, upcoming Italian HARMONT & BLAINE defies crisis with several new openings, including a lifestyle fashion cafe in Sardinia which opens this summer. Aiming the top worldwide spot as leader of luxury business lifestyle fashion brand, Harmont & Blaine seems to have found a unique positioning within the world apparel market, aiming ... read more

BOTTEGA VENETA, BRIONI and LANCIA are just some of the most prominent brands widely featured in Ron Howards latest movie ANGELS & DEMONS. The movie is hardly of Oscar material, yet, it can pass as the best advertising film for the tourism of a capital city - Rome. Major cultural landmarks as ell as hidden spots are all given an air of mystery and magic.

While the leading actor Tom Hanks wears ... read more

In spite of current economic conditions, TOM FORD is one of the few brands with a solid future outlook. Formerlly the designer who revived Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford set up his own label dedicated to mens luxury wear in 2006, with the first store opening in New York. In a recent visit to the Milan flagship store of Tom Ford, we have been impressed with the exceptionally luxurious concept ... read more

Cocor SPA, part of Cocor Hotel in the resort town of Neptun, at the Black Sea continues to impress affluent customers visiting the Romanian Black Sea side, especially considering the lower reviews of the hotel Cocor, which is a four star average standard property. It is therefore a pleasant surprise to discover a top SPA in an average hotel, the potential for future being enormous. Cocor SPA aims ... read more

Boat Show, the yacht fair held in Baneasa, has reached the fourth edition this year and has proved to be unnatractive for luxury consumers. Romanians seem unwilling to invest in boats during this season, the number of visitors for this year counting 5000, with 55% less than originally estimated.

Even in these conditions, luxury boats or yachts did not represent the main attraction point. ... read more

One of the pioneers on the Belgrade luxury market, Movem private company opened the first Hugo Boss store 10 years ago. The high level of customer service, the exceptional representation of the collections and the constant attention to maintaining the latest Boss store concept have insured the long term success of the German brand on the Serbia market. This shows once again how important personal ... read more

Although we have only spent 24 hours in the famous hotel from the romanian shores of the Black Sea, we can state that it was enough in order to realize that things have changed… for the good. The "dusted" image from previous years has been replaced by a total redecoration with a lot of good taste. We have been impressed with the attention for detalis, the originality, the new elements which ... read more

The five-star unit JW Marriott, biggest five star hotel on the local market when talking about income, is also most appreciated in quality of services, even if the architecture of the building housing it is not spectacular when targeting customers. The hotel is one of the best units on the Eastern Europe market, having the largest number of rooms and highest level for quality of services according to a ... read more

CPP Management Consultants has conducted during January and February 2009 a review for brands active on the local fashion market for men. All data collected by consultants through mystery shopping combined with reviews of at least 10 returning customers per each shop shows that Ermenegildo Zegna is the most appreciated luxury brand on the market, scoring 83 points. According to data, the seven brands ... read more

Starting with the official opening of monobrand store FRANCK MULLER in JW Marriott, the famous swiss brand has made another important step in becoming market leader in Eastern Europe, thus topping many Richemont brands.

This is not only about a presence on the retail market but also a reputation that the brand has managed to build in Eastern Europe. The most important market in the Eastern Europe ... read more

Unfortunately, the luxury travel market still remains at the very beginning in Romania and emerging markets, except for Hungary. Could this be a niche that could be exploited by the big operators ? We are talking about the major retailers, who persist in putting the equal sign between exotic travel and luxury travel, putting these pachages up for sale alongside all other offers.

... read more

The world leader in men’s fashion, Brioni, is officially present in Romania starting with 2008, as it is included in the brand portfolio of CASA FRUMOASA, the same company that has been distributing Scabal ever since the early 90s. However, Brioni’s notoriety has grown significantly since it started to be associated with the name Gigi Becali. I have seen countless articles in ... read more

Set up in 1985 at Brasov by Mihael Rolling, SAINT CRISPINS is one of the few Romanian luxury brands that made it at an international level. The business is about a shoe manufacturer who makes its collections for both bespoke (by order) and also for prêt a porter. Crispins collections can be bought from Japan, Germany, Russia and the Netherlands. Workshops are located in Brashov and the company has ... read more