Thomas

💰 The Conseil d'Etat ruled that vacation rental owners who selectively accept rental requests must pay the residence tax, even if they believed they were exempt. A couple in Finistère was taxed for their three gites despite a high reservation rate due to their discretionary acceptance rights. The initial ruling by the Rennes Administrative Tribunal was overturned on appeal by the Ministry of Finance in December 2022, leading to a potential widespread reinstatement of taxes for similar practices across France.

🏖 In 2025, without major events like the Olympics, seniors (60+) become a key demographic for tourism, with an emphasis on active vacations in France. Seniors have time and resources, value health-oriented travel, and enjoy multigenerational trips. Seniors over 65 made over 55 million trips in France, spending on average €435 per stay, higher than the active adult average of €356. Trends include wellness tourism, multigenerational travel, eco-friendly options, slow travel, enriching cultural experiences, and luxury. Technology adaptation is critical for bookings, with seniors valuing virtual tours and using tech like smartwatches and navigation apps. Businesses are advised to tailor offers to relaxation, culture, and wellness, communicate accessibility, and partner with health professionals. Marketing should leverage Facebook, newsletters, and blogs to reach this receptive audience.

💰 European travelers in 2025 face economic constraints and uncertainties, particularly due to the situation in Ukraine. Skift's study reveals 39-48% report no budget change from 2024, yet financial concerns shape spending. Tourism businesses offering flexible reservations could benefit, as 24% may spend more on refundable bookings and 33% will prioritize travel protection. While 28% consider increasing their travel budget, especially for summer, 20% expect to decrease it. A quarter may travel less frequently, and 22% consider shortening trip durations. In France, 60% anticipate vacation costs to rise, despite 80% of tourists being domestic. Skift suggests early booking promotions with adaptable offers could meet consumer needs.

💸 Autoentrepreneurs in France face a potential change in VAT exemption thresholds: 37,500 euros for services, 85,000 euros for trade activities. The 2025 budget initially reduced the threshold to 25,000 euros, causing concern among seasonal rental operators. Decision-makers, Eric Lombard (Economy Minister) and Véronique Louwagie (Minister of Commerce, Craftsmanship, and SMEs), are concluding debates on the matter. Options include maintaining, adjusting, or delaying the new threshold, with a potential revenue impact of 800 million euros annually. Over 200,000 French autoentrepreneurs, with 72,000 petitioners, await the final decision by the end of the week.

🏩 Booking reported an 11% revenue growth to 165 billion § (gross) and a 37% profit increase in its annual report for 2024. The Netherlands-based platform sold 1.144 billion room nights globally, up from 1.049 billion in 2023, netting 24 billion $ in revenue and approximately 6 billion $ in profit. The "Agency" model, where only customer credit card guarantees are taken, declined by 11%, now making up 37% of Booking's transactions, as the "Merchant" model gains ground. Glenn Fogel, Booking's CEO, looks optimistically at 2025, emphasizing growth in profitability and investment in AI technology.

📸 Nearly 4 billion people daily engage with social media primarily through short videos. Authentic "reels" become a cost-effective marketing tool for hoteliers. TikTok claims a well-crafted virtual tour can boost reservation chances by 130%. Successful reels often evoke emotions, offer virtual tours with human presence, showcase lifestyle content, and provide behind-the-scenes insights, all within 60 seconds or less. However, using AI to enhance content risks being exposed, potentially damaging the brand's reputation.

🎭 OTAs in leisure industry expected to rise from 9% in 2019 to 18% in 2024. Arival's report, "The State of Visitor Attractions," highlights the ease of booking tickets for parks, zoos, aquariums, and more via OTAs. With leisure companies under-digitized, offline sales remain dominant despite OTA growth. A third of attractions lack a modern online ticketing system, which could lead to OTA dependency by 2025. Airbnb and Booking are taking initiatives to boost experiences and attractions.

📅 First vacations of 2025 used to optimize post-stay messages, increasing repeat purchases and average spending of returning clients. Messages sent a few hours or days (average 2 max) post-departure, include personalization, invitations to write reviews, and offer discounts for future bookings. According to Harvard Business Review, repeat bookings cost 5 to 25 times less than acquiring new ones. Post-stay messages can increase future service consumption by 20-30% and enhance customer relationships.

🏨 The hospitality industry is witnessing a growing trend in hourly services, catering to the evolving needs of travelers looking for flexibility and convenience. Factors driving this trend include the desire for tailored experiences to fit hectic schedules, on-demand access to services like temporary gym sessions or meeting room rentals, and reaching a broader audience beyond travelers, such as remote workers and local businesses. Key opportunities for revenue generation identified are meeting rooms, wellness facilities, parking spaces, and recreational equipment rentals. These services can enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth while maximizing revenue per square meter, especially during off-peak times. Developing an efficient hourly reservation system, like the one offered by elloha, and managing it alongside traditional bookings on a single platform, can be essential for success in this innovative approach.

💻 Artiref's AI lexicon, created in February 2025, addresses AI's progressive impact on the professional sector. ChatGPT and Gemini, examples of AI, are specialized in specific tasks like a sommelier who can only advise on wines. Generative AI is hailed for creating original content, while predictive AI optimizes pricing and distribution by analyzing data to forecast. Interactive AI, found in chatbots, and conversational AI, which offers contextually relevant responses, improve customer interactions. The "Chain of Thought" mechanism allows AI to demonstrate reasoning step by step, exemplified by ChatGPT 4o-1. OpenAI, with tools like ChatGPT and GPT-4, has revolutionized public access to AI, reaching one million users within five days of ChatGPT's launch in November 2022. Google's Gemini handles text, images, videos, and sound, providing versatile digital assistance. Anthropic's Claude, with a $6.6 billion investment from Amazon in January 2025, is known for its analytical prowess. Meta's open-source LLaMA fosters specialized innovations, while French Mistral AI emphasizes lighter models for data control. Stability AI's Stable Diffusion excels in visual creation, and Midjourney is renowned for artistic outputs. Perplexity enhances information search by providing real-time, sourced answers. GPTs act as personalized assistants, and the difference between assistants and agents lies in