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📖 The École de Paris des Métiers de la Table (EPMT) will hold an Open House on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, from 9am to 5pm, at 17 rue Jacques Ibert, Paris 17th. This event offers free and paid apprenticeship training from CAP to Bac+5, including the new 2025 License Pro Management de Projets Événementiels. The "Étoiles & Terroirs" project allows select apprentices regional mobility with a partner CFA. Visitors can also see culinary demos, meet educational teams, apply and interview on site, with continuous training for employees and those changing careers. Pre-registration online is available at: epmt.fr/32263-portes-ouvertes.html.

🏖️ HUTTOPIA, a French camping-nature pioneer with over 140 campsites in 8 countries, acquired a 34% stake in ELEGANCIA, handing over management of its café-hotel division HOSCAR. ELEGANCIA, with 20+ years in hotel project management, is known for unconventional hospitality approaches. This strategic partnership aims to reinforce both companies' expertise in the hospitality sector and accelerate regional development. HUTTOPIA's vision began 25 years ago, foreseeing urban vacationers' need to reconnect with nature, and HOSCAR was launched 10 years ago to create community-centric Café-Hotels.

🎂 A Lightspeed Commerce Inc. study reveals a 24% increase in the average spending of French customers during the holiday season in 2024, despite decreased restaurant outings. Lightspeed, a comprehensive commerce platform, analyzed over 1,700 restaurants using their all-in-one cash register software in France to conclude this festive period as a growth driver for restaurateurs, positively affecting revenue and average spending per head.

💸 The new U.S. President denounced the OECD/G20 agreement on a global minimum tax of 15%, previously concluded by 140 countries in 2021. This accord applied to multinationals with over €750 million in revenue and was ratified by France (transposed into the 2024 Finance Law). It aimed at ensuring a minimum 15% tax rate on profits globally, projected to yield over $220 billion annually worldwide and between €1.5 to €5 billion for France. The U.S. withdrawal may lead to intensified tax competition among countries and impact international trade.

🏛 Over 229,000 tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the Mediterranean annually. The BeMed's pilot project aimed to eliminate single-use plastics in hotels, starting with Intercontinental Marseille, then replicating the success at La Badira in Hammamet, Tunisia—resulting in two guides for hoteliers. In France, a -78% reduction in single-use plastic waste equated to -165kg over three months.