Juridique et Administratif

💸 UMIH criticizes the French government's decision to increase taxes on businesses in the 2025 finance bill, impacting tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (TPE/PME) in the hotel, café, restaurant, and nightclub sector (CHRD), still recovering from the pandemic. Measures include higher costs for hiring apprentices, increased minimum wage charges, business transfer of partial sick leave compensation, raised outdoor advertising tax (TLPE), adjusted excise rates on electricity leading to higher non-regulated tariffs, and a tax on airplane tickets. The CHRD sector has seen a 20% increase in business failures over the past twelve months, with significant impacts from rising raw material and energy prices, low profit margins, and unfair competition from tourist furnished rentals.

📢 On October 17, 2024, a round table discussion titled "How to innovate in a post-cookieless, consent, DMA, IA Act world?" will feature Pierre & Vacances, Fnac Darty, Pernod Ricard, and Direct Assurance. These brands will explore how to remain competitive and customer-focused amid new regulations. They'll discuss alternatives for personalization and interaction with audiences, data strategy, and rethinking KPIs for performance measurement. The event is produced by MC Factory in partnership with Stratégies and Adobe. Marketing and e-commerce leaders from these esteemed companies will participate, addressing the challenges posed by a world without cookies and stringent regulations. Register at MC Factory's website for insights on reshaping digital marketing strategies.

💸 En 2025, la revente de biens immobiliers loués meublés en France sera plus taxée suite à l'intégration des amortissements dans le calcul de la plus-value, augmentant l'impôt à payer. Par exemple, pour un bien acquis à 122.500 euros et revendu à 150.000 euros après 8 ans, l'impôt passerait de 5.225 euros à 10.545 euros avec un taux de taxation de 19%. Ce changement, inspiré par le rapport Le Meur publié l'été précédent, est inclus dans les propositions budgétaires de 2025. Les parlementaires envisagent également un nouveau régime du micro-foncier avec un plafond à 30.000 euros et un taux d'abattement de 30% ou 50%. Ces mesures pourraient profondément impacter l'offre touristique en France pour la saison 2025.

💳 Romain Vidal, a Paris-based restaurateur and representative for Groupement des Hôtelleries et Restaurations de France (GHR), calls for pragmatism regarding the use of meal vouchers. Amidst debates on extending a derogation allowing the purchase of all food products in supermarkets, Vidal acknowledges such measures' popularity among French employees facing purchasing power issues. GHR proposes a dual daily payment ceiling: €15 in supermarkets and €25 in restaurants, a proven approach post-COVID crisis.

🏫 Patrivia, founded in 2016, to digitalize ticketing for 2,500 castles and 1,200 'Musée de France' labeled museums, announced closure due to financial difficulties, institutional inertia, and lack of support. By 2018, the company raised €230,000, followed by a partnership with Stéphane Bern's Mission Patrimoine and the 'Pass Patrimoine'. The 2019 Notre-Dame fire led to the loss of an €800,000 contract. Despite a €1 million fundraise in 2020, COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions heavily impacted operations. The anticipated channel manager, launched in February 2024, failed to attract further investment amidst the Ukraine war tensions. Co-founder Christian Clarke de Dromantin acknowledges the mismatch between startup pace and historic monument management, alongside difficulties with public sector engagement and financing challenges.

🚗 Uber aims for zero emissions by 2040, develops AI assistant with GPT-4o for driver electric transition, tested first in the US before global rollout. Uber Green to go all-electric in over 40 cities, France to be covered by 2025; CO2 savings feature to include bikes, scooters, and UberXShare. Event: Go-Get Zero in London.

🛈 The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) is investigating Ryanair's use of facial recognition for passenger identity verification at the EU's request, following numerous complaints. The inquiry will assess compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Austrian NGO Noyb filed a complaint in Spain during summer 2023, alleging that Ryanair imposes this technology without informed consent. Ryanair defends its practices as GDPR-compliant and essential for passenger safety, aimed at preventing online ticket fraud. The investigation's outcome could lead to severe financial penalties under GDPR for non-compliance.

🔒 Guest Suite, a company operating in France and globally, warns against buying fake Google reviews. Blumenthal, a UK-based local search expert, discovered Google's "badge of shame" indicating "Suspicious reviews were recently removed." This is Google's first public notification of such activities. The badge system, though occasionally erroneous, is disputable by businesses and could be influenced by the EU's stricter moderation requirements under the Digital Market Act. Sanctions include a 30-day deletion of all customer reviews for violators.

💻 The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), introduced to ensure a fair digital market, targets 'gatekeepers' like Google. By September 2023, six companies including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft were identified as gatekeepers by the EU and given six months to comply. Key changes for Google, effective March 2024, include altering search results presentation to avoid favoring its own services and incorporating reviews from various sources, not just Google. A study between January and April 2024 found a 30% decrease in clicks to hotel sites and a 36% drop in direct bookings, indicating that OTAs are benefiting. Booking.com was added to the gatekeepers list in May, with expected standard adjustments by November, and the 'rate parity' obligation was abolished in the EU, allowing price differentiation across sales platforms.

🏖️ France, the top European and second global source market for tourists, is at the core of Israel's tourism revival. The Israeli National Tourism Office (ONIT) is initiating strategic actions by late 2024 and early 2025. Key steps include meetings in major French cities, starting with an event in Nice on September 24, followed by visits to Lyon and Marseille, targeting Jewish, Catholic, and Evangelical communities, plus local media. Israel anticipates a significant influx of Catholic pilgrims during the 2025 Jubilee year. From January to August 2024, Israel saw 773,928 international visitors, reflecting a tourism rebound starting in March 2024.