New book on the Nürburgring
Discussion
Raify said:
eastlmark said:
what Holiday park disaster?
They've put a rollercoaster in that doesn't work, the company that built it went bust and no-one else will touch it with a barge pole. Years late, massively over-budget etc etc.At least that was what I heard from 'them' in July.
The roller-coaster nonsense is just a minor detail.
Because of the colossal mismanagement of the circuit development programme, and the financial pressures that arose from it, the owners of the circuit (effectively, the public) chose to reduce their risk by selling the commercial rights to the entire circuit to these dudes:
http://www.lindner.de/en/hotel_ferienpark_nuerburg...
That is to say, it is still owned by Nurburgring GmbH, but it's run by, and operational decisions for it are made by, a totally unrelated organisation that exists for the purpose of magnifying its own wealth.
Already, the locals are up in arms over the behaviour of the new rights-holders, which they see as abusive and predatory. Like to come to a track day? No probs, although of course the "package" will include the participant's staying at a hotel owned by Lindner.
Somewhere in the internet is floating around a video that the locals have made to explain their objections to the new regime. In addition, questions have been raised about the terms of the sale of the commercial rights.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/nurburgring-chan...
It seems like a utterly soulless place to visit, and has no connection to what I thought the place was about. I disliked it. Maybe others have a better impression,but I doubt I would bother returning to it on any other NS trip. The investment may be substantial, but it does not show up as anything compelling.
I can't get too worked up about it.
The prices went stupid at the Ring long before the Lindner group got involved. There's more competition now than there was before. Cosy little cartels of local hoteliers seemed content to sit on what they had and not offer anything new. Heck, it took years before there was anything other than dial-up internet.
There's still a long way to go. It's bizarre that a location that attracts so many paying punters doesn't have a leisure pool. I would have no objections to turning the area into a more rounded family destination than the current sausage-party.
I have no real objections to Nuro-Disney.
The prices went stupid at the Ring long before the Lindner group got involved. There's more competition now than there was before. Cosy little cartels of local hoteliers seemed content to sit on what they had and not offer anything new. Heck, it took years before there was anything other than dial-up internet.
There's still a long way to go. It's bizarre that a location that attracts so many paying punters doesn't have a leisure pool. I would have no objections to turning the area into a more rounded family destination than the current sausage-party.
I have no real objections to Nuro-Disney.
Brian Gobblehoof said:
I can't get too worked up about it.
The prices went stupid at the Ring long before the Lindner group got involved. There's more competition now than there was before. Cosy little cartels of local hoteliers seemed content to sit on what they had and not offer anything new. Heck, it took years before there was anything other than dial-up internet.
There's still a long way to go. It's bizarre that a location that attracts so many paying punters doesn't have a leisure pool. I would have no objections to turning the area into a more rounded family destination than the current sausage-party.
I have no real objections to Nuro-Disney.
You may be unaware of how predatory practices typically develop.The prices went stupid at the Ring long before the Lindner group got involved. There's more competition now than there was before. Cosy little cartels of local hoteliers seemed content to sit on what they had and not offer anything new. Heck, it took years before there was anything other than dial-up internet.
There's still a long way to go. It's bizarre that a location that attracts so many paying punters doesn't have a leisure pool. I would have no objections to turning the area into a more rounded family destination than the current sausage-party.
I have no real objections to Nuro-Disney.
In the region, there is one hotel with more than 50 rooms, and it has been there since 1927. It has been the most expensive, because it was most convenient to the circuit and had indoor parking.
All (AFAIK) the other hotels and B&Bs are family-owned and operated. If you believe that they overcharge their clients, you may wish to ask yourself what all those cartel conspirators do with their money, because it is obviously not in living lavishly themselves. You may object to their prices, but they only have income for 8 months of the year, although many of their expenses accrue for all 12 months.
The usual game of a predatory pricer is to come into a market and initially charge a lower, subsidised price, or alternatively offer more value for the same price. That practice obviously will hurt the competition and benefit the consumer.
Once the competition has been driven out of business, however, the prices go up and the value-for-money goes down. Already at least one track-day organiser has been forced to cancel his event because the "circuit" would only rent time to him if he tied track-day entries to accommodation at a certain hotel group.
Leisure pool? I suppose that having a leisure pool is better than not having a leisure pool. Fwiw, however, in this man's 100+ trips to the Nurburgring, this is the first time that anyone has ever mentioned it.
Re: the leisure pool. It's not something I'd ever thought about before either, but we were staying at the Lindner the other day and asked where the pool was. The receptionist said there was no pool and that there was no pool in the immediate vicinity. This struck me as a bit odd with such a big leisure expenditure and such extensive camping facilities. No real biggie, but I would have thought that this would have been a more sensible step in trying to attract a family audience than, say, building a roller coaster with no planning permission.
While I agree with your definition of predatory pricing (and can't condone all of the Lindner Group's actions) the truth is that there was a very cosy and complacent arrangement with local businesses that utterly failed to cater for or capitalise on the tourism potential of the Nurburgring. Although I too look back with dewy eyes on the days when you paid the guy with the cap and leather satchel a few paltry deutschmarks and had the track to yourself, the Ring is big business these days.
At least we have swapped one bunch of incompetents for incompetents with deeper pockets
. You can still overpay for steak on a stone at the Pistenklause if you want, the same as you can overpay for a meal in the Lindner. I welcome the choice.
While I agree with your definition of predatory pricing (and can't condone all of the Lindner Group's actions) the truth is that there was a very cosy and complacent arrangement with local businesses that utterly failed to cater for or capitalise on the tourism potential of the Nurburgring. Although I too look back with dewy eyes on the days when you paid the guy with the cap and leather satchel a few paltry deutschmarks and had the track to yourself, the Ring is big business these days.
At least we have swapped one bunch of incompetents for incompetents with deeper pockets
. You can still overpay for steak on a stone at the Pistenklause if you want, the same as you can overpay for a meal in the Lindner. I welcome the choice.Edited by Brian Gobblehoof on Wednesday 1st September 16:31
interesting documentary: http://ringumbau.de/misc/2010/wdr_fernsehen_diesto...
Brian Gobblehoof said:
Re: the leisure pool. It's not something I'd ever thought about before either, but we were staying at the Lindner the other day and asked where the pool was. The receptionist said there was no pool and that there was no pool in the immediate vicinity. This struck me as a bit odd with such a big leisure expenditure and such extensive camping facilities. No real biggie, but I would have thought that this would have been a more sensible step in trying to attract a family audience than, say, building a roller coaster with no planning permission.
IIRC the Landhaus Sonnenhof has a small pool (as you come down into Adenau from the B258, get half way into the town, then take a left and go to the top of the valley overlooking the town. Not a public pool though...)Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff