Family succession (generational handover in family-run hotels)

Family succession in a hotel describes the generational handover -- the shift from parents to children in running the business. It is one of the most complex tasks in an owner-operated property: operational, commercial, and human at the same time.

The handing-over side wants to let go, but not too soon. The taking-over side wants to shape things, but not at the parents' expense. Between them sits a business that accommodates both and has no clear leadership.

What we see in practice: A family hotel in the Berchtesgaden region, 45 rooms. Father hands over to daughter. No formal handover plan, no controlling handover, no SOP documentation. After 18 months, the daughter formally takes over -- and inherits three open construction sites the father had under control. The open topics weren't deliberately withheld. They were just never written down. An outside view and a structured handover plan make the difference. Not as an intervention in the family, but as professionalization of a process that, far too often, doesn't have one.