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🏕 In 2025, Booking.com awarded a record 1.71 million travel partners across 212 countries with the Traveller Review Award for outstanding hospitality. Italy topped the list with 207,652 awards, followed by France with 155,141, and Spain with 147,603. France climbed to second place, overtaking Spain since 2024. Apartments received the most awards globally, over 847,000, while capsule hotels saw a significant increase in popularity. The awards are based on over 360 million verified customer reviews, with a 16% increase in recipients from the previous year, including 1,711,539 accommodations, 1,329 car rental companies, and 124 taxi firms.

📖 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.