Innovation

⛷ E-Outdoor, a Swiss company, showcased electric-assist skis named E-Skimo at CES 2025, designed to climb slopes with minimal effort. These smart skis, equipped with a motor, battery, and rubber band, can adjust assistance using sensors and GPS, offering an 80% time saving on ascents and 30% less effort. The battery lasts about three hours, covering several kilometers of elevation.

🚙 At CES Las Vegas, LG and Pininfarina unveiled cutting-edge RV concepts. LG's MX Platform RV, with AI-enhanced modularity, transforms into an office or multimedia lounge. No release date is set for the subscription-based model. AC Future, with Pininfarina, showcased a $250,000 extendable caravan, the AI-THt, expanding to 40 m², and an autonomous energy solar-electric RV, the AI-THd, with a price TBA. Both integrate AI and sustainable design.

📱 FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is designed for individuals, offering shared fiber infrastructure, asymmetrical speeds (e.g., 1 Gbps download, 300 Mbps upload), widespread accessibility, and is suitable for standard residential activities. FTTO (Fiber to the Office), contrastingly, caters to organizational connectivity needs with dedicated fiber, symmetrical speeds, customized services, and prioritized repair in case of outages, beneficial for large companies, or those relying on stable connections for operations in sectors like IT, finance, and education. The choice between FTTH and FTTO depends on organizational size, criticality of the connection, and budget, with FTTH being economical and FTTO offering a long-term ROI for critical connections.

🏂 Pierre & Vacances, France's leading proximity tourism company with 56 mountain residences, reports a positive year-end holiday season. Occupancy rates reached 97% over two sunny, snowy weeks, a slight increase from last year: 94% for Christmas week, consistent with the previous year, and 100% for New Year's week, up by 2 points. Average spend grew to €2,131 for Christmas and €3,223 for New Year's, a 35% increase. The Premium segment showed a 97% occupancy rate, up 2 points. Stays averaged 7 nights, with a 14-point increase to 72% opting for week-long vacations. Sunday arrivals rose slightly to 12%, a 2-point increase, thanks to the "Dimanchiste" option to avoid Saturday traffic.

✈ Delta Air Lines announced new in-flight entertainment and technology advancements at CES Las Vegas on January 7. CEO Ed Bastian revealed a partnership with YouTube, offering SkyMiles members access to the platform on most flights via cloud-based systems. By 2026, Delta will introduce Delta Sync seats with 4K HDR QLED screens, Bluetooth, personalized content, and 50x more storage than current systems. The AI-driven "Delta Concierge," connected to the Fly Delta app, will assist passengers with personalized notifications, including passport expiry and visa requirements, and future updates like weather conditions for packing, auto-connecting to Delta Sync Wi-Fi and seats. These innovations were showcased in Las Vegas's Sphere event space.

🏨 My Hotel Reputation (MHR) has launched Angel-IA, a SaaS platform aimed at revolutionizing online review management for the tourism sector by combining personalization with human interaction. The technology, capitalizing on over seven years of experience in the field, is designed to offer hotel chains, restaurants, and campgrounds the ability to centralize and optimize their online reviews. Angel-IA features extreme personalization, allowing establishments to tailor the AI to reflect their unique communication style and values, thanks to continuous learning from thousands of expert-crafted responses. The platform automates the collection of reviews twice daily and publishes tailored AI-generated responses on major platforms like Google and Booking.

🏠 Portrait Milano, a luxury hotel in Milan, collaborates with Italian linen brand Frette to launch an exclusive home collection titled "Rencontre de deux icônes". The collection includes house linens such as sheet sets, duvet covers, pillowcases, towels, and a bathrobe, embodying Milanese elegance. Available at Milan's flagship Frette store and online at Frette.com, it extends the hotel's refined hospitality and Frette's renowned comfort to homes.

🏖️ Belambra, French holiday club leader, saw a 19% increase in revenue in 2024, thanks to its premium 5B clubs, contributing to 80% of annual growth. The company reported a €40 million increase over 2023 and a 3.5% rise in average sales price. Customer satisfaction tripled in mountain clubs, reflecting the success of a transformation strategy initiated three years prior. High occupancy rates were recorded in summer 2024, with full clubs during peak weeks and year-end holidays.

🏨 Accor manages over 45 hotel brands, from luxury to economy. It employs more than 330,000 Accor Heartists worldwide. The Orient Express La Dolce Vita by Accor and Arsenale SpA will launch in Spring 2025, offering a "slow travel" experience through Italy, with Michelin three-star chef Heinz Beck. The Orient Express La Minerva, Accor's first-ever hotel of the brand, will open in early 2025 in Rome, Italy, featuring 93 rooms and suites.

📺 CES 2025 in Las Vegas introduced Google's AI Gemini integrated into Google TV, revolutionizing user interaction by enabling voice commands without a remote and showing personalized dashboards via proximity sensors. Google TV's new features include built-in long-range microphones and AI-powered recommendations for travel destinations, harnessing YouTube videos and Google results for trip planning. Amadeus previously experimented with a similar concept, Travel Cast on Apple TV in 2016, which remained a prototype.