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🏦 Soho House, a luxury hospitality membership club network with 44 properties and 9 coworking spaces worldwide, received a purchase offer valuing it at $1.75 billion. After the takeover announcement at $9 per share, Soho House's stock price soared 43% in a single session, closing above $7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Founded in 1995 in London by Nick Jones, the brand caters to a trendy artistic and wealthy urbanite community. Locations include New York, Mexico, Paris, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and Tel Aviv.

🏨 At the Hospitality Asset Forum, Adrien Lanotte led a roundtable where hotel operators and investors discussed investment strategies. Jean-Marc Pahlon from Extendam emphasized an unchanged 15-year investment strategy, focusing on acquiring hotel properties across Europe, averaging two per month (about 30-35 hotels/year). By 2025, they anticipate more acquisitions outside France. Ideal assets include existing hotels with 100-250 rooms and a balanced mix of business and leisure guests. Value creation includes operational optimization and ownership of property walls to avoid landlord-tenant conflicts, maintaining stable performance amidst inflation and rising interest rates. They are also adapting to new hotel formats to meet evolving needs.

🏩 On December 9, the UMIH's Vice-President Eric Abihssira and the President of the Fondation Infa, Christian Laine, signed a convention to strengthen collaboration in the hotel and restaurant industry. Goals include enhancing job appeal, developing innovative training programs, facilitating integration of youth and job seekers, and promoting continuous learning, addressing unprecedented recruitment challenges. This national agreement marks a significant step in a collaborative effort to offer concrete, sustainable solutions and support the sector's evolving needs.

🌌 Millennials and Baby-boomers are the focus of Booking.com's Travel Predictions study, highlighting global travel aspirations for 2025. Despite varying motivations, a shared desire for breaking from recent past habits, influenced by the pandemic and a chaotic life, is evident. Travel, especially air travel, is not predicted to decrease but to shift towards "nature" over "urban" destinations. In France, 58% of respondents show a preference for nocturnal tourism to avoid crowds and climate change impacts, with 43% planning more nighttime activities.

🏠 Appart’City, through a study by Ifop, explores the current and future expectations of urban customers. The study, delivered in spring and involving 1,500 accommodation market users, examines the familiarity and appreciation of the apart-hotel concept, heavily favored for leisure stays. While affordability is key, a home-like feeling is crucial, akin to Airbnb's success. Vincent Compagnon, Appart’City's president, aims to combine apartment rental comforts with hotel security. Anticipated 2024 figures show a +7% growth, outperforming a +0.4% market, with a projected revenue of €216 million and a +170% business increase during sports events.

🏖️ In France, the unusual accommodation sector, including cabins, yurts, and tiny houses, experienced a 65% increase in business volume to €430 million in 2022 compared to 2021. The sector saw a 30% growth in capacity over two years, with 2,226 professional sites and a potential of 1.2 million nights to sell, a 46% increase from 2021. Average prices rose by 18% since 2019, reaching €301 for cabin stays and €265 for all types combined. Top regions include Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (17%), Nouvelle Aquitaine (15%), and Occitanie (12%).

🏗️ Amadeus, a leading travel tech provider, partnered with Globetrender in London to analyze 2025 travel trends. Five key themes identified: nostalgia, personalization, destination hotels, Asia's tourism boom, and connection seeking. Nostalgia drives the return of '90s culture and adult summer camps in the U.S. Tech advancements like AI, 5G, and VR aim to personalize in-flight experiences with algorithm-driven entertainment and hyper-personalized systems.