Tucek asked to leave VIH
A leading hotel chain has decided to part company with executive board chief Rudolf Tucek.Vienna International Hotel Management AG (VIH) announced yesterday (Weds) that its supervisory board decided to remove Tucek from power. Reports have it that business partners and customers were irritated by his “energetic decision-making” regarding the management of existing hotels and VIHs attempts to expand.VIH announced: “The supervisory board is of the opinion that it is important to act openly but with respect when heading a company, especially in the hotel business.”The statement explained that the panel has decided to ask Tucek to leave “due to several incidents”, adding that the opinions of other board members differed from those held by Tucek on some issues. VIH pointed out that the decision means Tucek has no function or role in the company any more.Former Bank Austria (BA) manager Thomas Aistleitner will replace Tucek who held the post for seven years until a new head is appointed. VIH plans to name a new chief in around six months.VIH was founded in 1989. It manages 34 hotels in nine European countries including Austria, Romania and Russia.One of its most recent assignments regards the creation of a four-star resort in a new skyscraper in Belarus.VIH was contracted to set up the hotel, which will feature 280 rooms, in the Minsk Tower. Austrian construction company Habau Hoch- und Tiefbaugesellschaft m.b.H. (Habau) won a public tender to build the 170-metre high complex. The hotel will open in three years.News that Tucek was forced to leave VIH comes after statistic authority Statistik Austria found that 64,400 Austrian hotels did business last summer, while only 59,500 hotels were open in the 2009/2010 winter season.The most hotel beds were counted in the Alpine province of Tyrol where 23,800 businesses offer 350,000 beds. Salzburg comes second with 11,700 hotels and 206,800 beds.Austrian hotels and guesthouses recorded 124.82 million overnight stays in 2010, up by 0.4 per cent year on year.