Juridique et Administratif

💳 On January 14, 2025, the French Senate voted for a two-year law allowing the purchase of non-immediately consumable food products with meal vouchers. The reinstatement of this derogation, dropped on December 31, 2024, is set to cause over one billion euros in lost revenue for the restaurant industry, as reported by the National Commission of Meal Vouchers. Catherine Quérard, President of the GHR, calls urgently for a modernization law for meal vouchers to adapt to the new work and lifestyle realities.

🏠 Booking's report praises small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Europe, representing 99.8% of the sector and nearly 10% of the continent's annual wealth. In partnership with Statista, Booking emphasizes the importance of these businesses, highlighting challenges like avoiding American hotel chain models where chains assert independence from OTAs. A 2021 European Commission survey found 80% of independent hotels saw an increase in bookings after joining OTAs. Booking argues customer reviews now carry more weight than traditional hotel ratings. Rural accommodation benefits from OTA visibility, with Oxford Economics data from 2019 showing platform sales in rural areas more than double the market's 16%. As of 2023, Hotrec data indicates 55% of bookings were made directly with hotels, with OTAs accounting for only 29.1% of total bookings. The report, citing a 2024 Statista study, states 74% of European tourism business leaders find online travel platforms increase profitability. Contrarily, the "chainification" trend is less prevalent in Europe, with Booking noting the importance of local recognition. An industry conference by elloha on January 8, 2025, revealed a positive outlook for 2025, with 55% expecting a good year. The report also addresses political aspects, suggesting small businesses look to government policies for stability amid economic uncertainties.

💸 WuBook's PMS, Zak, supports hoteliers in daily legal and administrative tasks including creating and sending institutional reports to local authorities for statistical or control purposes. Zak provides internal statistical reports for revenue managers with data on total revenue, room production, meal and extra revenues, room revenue rate, room availability, occupancy rate, RevPAR, ADR, TrevPAR, TrevPOR, and more. The PMS can also automatically generate and send institutional reports required by local authorities in Andorra, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, with different delivery modes: automatic, semi-automatic, and manual. The PII module of Zak manages multi-property configurations within the same or different countries and includes generic reporting for unspecified needs. Reports include check-in/out data, guest demographics, and are tailored to meet the criteria of each country or region's regulatory body.

📱 The U.S. TikTok ban, set for January 19, 2025, may greatly impact tourism professionals as 170 million American users could be unable to view their content. TikTok has been a key travel inspiration source since 2016, with 38% of GenZ travelers using it for trip ideas as of May 2024. The Château de Versailles ranks as TikTok's second most successful brand in France, with over 500,000 followers and 60 million views in 2024.

🏠 Hundreds of videos on YouTube and TikTok advise on how to earn money on Airbnb without owning any property by becoming "co-hosts." The trend is anticipated to gain significant attention in 2025. Co-hosting rules on Airbnb are strict, but videos suggest ways to circumvent them, hinting that a growing number of owners on social networks like Facebook are open to such agreements. The phenomenon is so prevalent in the US that it is expected to spread to Europe by summer. Successful co-hosts on Airbnb can manage an average of 7 properties, with Airbnb's platform receiving tens of thousands of requests on its launch day for co-hosting services. Co-host managed rentals typically receive higher ratings (4.86) than professional conciergeries (4.62), with Vacasa losing over 3,000 management contracts out of 42,000. Co-hosts can charge either commissions or flat rates, with Airbnb setting strict eligibility requirements, including at least 10 completed stays or 3 stays totaling 100 nights and maintaining a 4.8-star rating over the last 12 months.

🧠 Google CEO Sundar Pichai called employees to prepare for a pivotal year in 2025, highlighting AI as key for competitiveness. A December 18 strategic meeting at Google's Mountain View headquarters addressed challenges including increased competition, particularly from OpenAI's ChatGPT, and regulatory scrutiny, such as a 2023 federal ruling against Google's online search monopoly, DOJ actions, and European Commission investigations. Google's AI model Gemini aims to reach 500 million users, surpassing rivals like ChatGPT.

🏠 In Barcelona, by 2028, 10,000 short-term rental licenses will end, causing landlords to demand €4.28 billion in compensation. A political decision was made following a tragedy and complaints about noise and rental market pressure; Barcelona's rents have surged 68% in 10 years. Meanwhile, the city supports adding 15,000 hotel rooms, and 7,000 landlords have united under Apartur to challenge the decree-law 3/2023 passed by the Catalan Parliament. Barcelona's tourism contributes 14% to its GDP, with 170,000 daily tourist arrivals. Legal battles involve the Spanish Constitutional Court and a European Commission investigation.

🛠 Adhérents question the update of objective categories for provident and health care schemes. Employers' unilateral decisions (DUE) need updating for compliance with objective categories, distinguishing between executives and non-executives. The 1947 CCN and 1961 ANI have been replaced by the 2017 ANI, requiring references to articles 4 and 4 bis to change to 2.1 and 2.2 of the 2017 ANI by January 1, 2025. HCR branch provident and health care schemes do not require updates, as they do not reference old articles or assimilated executive status (Article 36). Companies without specific contracts or distinctions between executive statuses need no action; those with references must update them before the 2025 deadline.

💬 Tech talk on cybersecurity, DMA, and GDPR scheduled for January 9th from 4pm to 5pm via video conference. Interested participants can request the connection link from Amélie by emailing [email protected]. The CHAT team sends holiday greetings and looks forward to the meeting next year.

💸 On December 17, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted new price transparency regulation impacting short-term rentals where pricing clarity was often lacking. This rule requires all mandatory fees, such as cleaning and service charges, to be included in the total price displayed from the first page of websites or booking engines. The FTC's move aims to eliminate the "drip pricing" practice, saving consumers an estimated 53 million hours of rough calculations per year, which translates to $11 billion over the next decade. Over 70% of consumers abandon bookings due to undisclosed costs.