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🏨 Korner, an innovative hotel group with a tech-forward approach, is expanding to Lyon following its success in Paris where it operates nine hotels. Launched in October 2024, Korner offers a unique 3-star hotel experience with fully digitalized customer journeys and a human-centric approach, starting at 90 euros per night. The expansion into Lyon, known for its economic dynamism, cultural wealth, and tourist appeal, aligns with Korner’s ambition to provide an optimized urban experience for business and leisure travelers. Cécile Rosset-Pietri, cofounder, is actively seeking new locations in Lyon, with plans to open multiple establishments and create new jobs, thus strengthening their presence in the French hotel market.

🏨 The hotel distribution industry is undergoing a transformation to attribute-based selling (ABS), which allows customers to search for specific features rather than a particular hotel. This new model will require integration at multiple levels, affecting Property Management Systems (PMS), Online Travel Agencies (OTA), and booking engines. The ABS decomposes hotel services into smaller units, allowing guests to personalize their travel experience. The airline industry adopted a similar approach over a decade ago, leading to significant revenue increases, exemplified by a 312% increase in ancillary revenue over eight years. The hotel industry's shift to ABS is poised to enhance customer experience and boost profits, though standardization and technology adaptation challenges await.

📱 In today’s digital landscape, client interactions have become a competitive edge for customer loyalty and experience enhancement. Effective management of these interactions can convert prospects into clients, build trust, and prevent brand damage from dissatisfaction. Client interactions, proactive or reactive, occur at various stages of the customer journey and are crucial for understanding client needs and fostering strong relationships. Key to success is response quality, promptness, and the proper channel of communication. Benefits of effective interaction management include strengthened loyalty, greater understanding of client needs, transformed complaints into opportunities, encouragement of positive reviews, and continuous improvement of offerings. Guest Suite offers a French solution to centralize, personalize, facilitate, and automate client interactions, featuring AI-driven automated responses to reviews, satisfaction surveys, and semantic analysis tools for actionable insights.

🏠 Vacasa accepted a revised offer by Casago, a property management firm specializing in vacation rentals, to acquire all public shareholder-held shares at $5.30 per share. Casago has dropped initial merger price adjustment clauses, ensuring a fixed purchase price for shareholders. A competing offer from Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP at $5.75 per share was considered but not preferred by Vacasa’s Special Committee due to lack of a "superior proposal" and uncertainties, including unresolved tax agreement approvals and essential negotiations that Davidson Kempner failed to finalize, which could delay or jeopardize the deal. The transaction with Casago is poised for rapid completion, recommended by Vacasa's board.

🏠 B&B HOTELS launched B&B Home targeting the extended stay market, expected to triple in the next eight years. Sophie Donabedian, the Director of Sustainable Development, developed the new brand focusing on local immersion and sustainability. The first B&B Home hotels opened in Saint-Ouen, Brides-les-Bains, and Fort-de-France, each uniquely integrated into its local ecosystem with a commitment to local partnerships and suppliers.

💸 A January 2025 survey conducted by HomeExchange, a leading home exchange platform, found that 54% of its members have used the service to extend a business trip for personal reasons or combine remote work with vacations, embracing the "bleisure" trend (business + leisure). The trend reflects a growing desire for flexibility and new experiences among professionals. Additionally, 35% of members have combined work and leisure between 2 and 5 times, and 46% of those who haven't yet tried it are willing to consider the option.

🏛 Staying at a castle-hotel in France offers a historical and luxurious experience. The Château Hermitage de Combas in Hérault, built in 1260, sits on a 75-hectare property and offers two large, fully-equipped ground floor apartments with a terrace. Guests can enjoy a pool, tennis court, and a new spa with various facilities, located 15 km from Béziers and Pézenas. Château de Foncscolumbe, near Aix-en-Provence, part of the 2L Collection and a Relais & Châteaux member, features a Quattrocento-style façade, 50 classic rooms and suites, a French garden, and a cedar planted by the Queen of England in the 1960s. Its restaurant, led by Chef Marc Fontanne, recently earned a Michelin star.

🏨 Managing a hotel without in-depth analysis of historical data is risky, akin to piloting a plane without navigation instruments. A well-configured Property Management System (PMS) is crucial for detailed segmentation and financial data analysis. Daily revenue analysis is key, considering factors like customer type, booking methods, and pricing strategies. Budget creation typically occurs in November-December, based on comprehensive data from the past year. Accurate data analysis and understanding of daily variations enable realistic future performance projections and revenue optimization. Avoid common mistakes like vague corporate contract information, misaligned pricing, and overlooking precise segmentation. A solid budget requires a methodological approach, starting with PMS configuration and segmentation, followed by in-depth data analysis to identify reservation patterns and segment performance. This process should begin months before the actual budgeting exercise.

🏖️ In 2023, Barcelona saw 15.6 million city tourists and an additional 10.3 million in the region, totaling nearly 26 million visitors. Influenced by both leisure and business travel, the city's hospitality sector experiences strong seasonal trends. Large-scale events, strategic urban development, and infrastructure improvements have spurred Barcelona's growth and international appeal.

🍴 During the "Semaine des métiers du tourisme" from March 17-24, 2025, France Travail, UMIH, and Promocash will launch "Restaurants éphémères" for recruitment in the hospitality sector. Aimed at easing the challenge of recruiting collaborators, around thirty pop-up restaurants will be organized in various regions for job seekers to demonstrate their skills directly to recruiters, with professional immersion, interview preparation, and coaching offered beforehand.