Top News

📲 Unravel, a travel video and conversational booking platform, secured €6.9 million in a Series A round led by Nauta Capital, with former Booking.com executives Kees Koolen and Olivier Bisserier, Slingshot Ventures, Active Partners, Antler, Nodes, Upscalers, and athletes Ben Stokes and Anthony Joshua through the Players’ Fund participating. The London, New Delhi, and Dubai-based startup, which leverages AI for personalized video feeds and booking assistance, has seen a sixfold increase in annual revenue since its initial funding in October 2023.

🏨 The hotel sector is experiencing regular growth, with Southern Europe and Asia being key regions. Despite a slight occupancy slowdown in February in Spain and Portugal, investment attraction in Southern Europe's hotel industry remains strong. Barcelona's development moratorium is pushing investments to the outskirts, while cities like Rome and Southern France gear up for high season with timely openings. The UK, particularly outside of London, is witnessing increased activity.

💰 In October 2024, Cryptorefills added a Travel vertical to its crypto marketplace app, enabling users to book flights and hotels with cryptocurrencies. By November 2024, Cryptorefills integrated 1 million hotels and offerings from 300 airlines, handling up to 10,000 transactions daily. They focus on "super adopters" in crypto hubs and digital nomads using stablecoins, with 80% of crypto holders preferring stablecoin transactions. Cryptorefills relies on a certified IATA partner's API for reservation management while taking care of payments, marketing, and customer service.

🏨 Global Asset Solutions emphasizes the importance of owner-led project management for hotel development and renovation, highlighting cost control and spending optimization as key benefits. This strategic model positions owners at the core of decision-making, aligning project goals with the long-term vision of the asset. A proactive approach, as demonstrated in the Nikki Beach project in Antigua, prevents unnecessary expenditures and focuses on the return on investment, resulting in adhering to strict budgets and avoiding costly operator-imposed choices.

🏖️ Acquired in July 2023, Vacancéole joined Villages Clubs du Soleil for a full year with positive results. 590,000 guests (140,000 from Vacancéole) stayed across 120 operational sites (17 being Villages Club), totaling 38,000 beds (8,000 at Villages Club). Revenue reached €142M, with Villages Clubs du Soleil earning €81M and Vacancéole €61M. 2024 is a transition year, aiming to create a major tourism accommodation group in France with a focus on social and solidarity economy.

Un échange de données automatique pour accroître la productivité et la rentabilité des hôtels français    PARIS —2 avril 2025— IDeaS, société du groupe SAS et premier fournisseur mondial de logiciels et de…

🧠 Icelandair surveyed 1,000 French travelers, revealing 54% wish to ban AI use in destination marketing. The study shows 81% worry about encountering AI-generated or fake reviews online. 57% distrust AI-generated travel images, while 53% actively check image authenticity before booking. Icelandair commits to using authentic Icelandic visuals in ads, responding to 27% who've felt misled by deceptive travel photos. ????

🏗️ Mathieu Hanotin, President and Mayor of Plaine Commune, highlighted the transformation of the Parisian northern territory at MIPIM. The fusion of Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte on January 1 created a single commune with 150,000 residents. Plaine Commune, with over 450,000 inhabitants, now manages public services like parking and pools. They are implementing France's largest ANRU program with €2 billion invested by 2032 in 14 major urban renewal projects.

🏨 IDeaS, a SAS company and global leader in hospitality revenue management software and services, partners with Medialog PMS to enhance productivity and profitability for French hotels. The partnership enables data exchange between IDeaS' revenue optimization solutions and Medialog's hybrid next-gen PMS, benefiting over 1400 Medialog client establishments primarily in France. Hoteliers gain real-time data exchange, maximized occupancy, increased ADR, reduced manual errors, and revenue optimization for all hotel and room types. Medialog President Cyrille Bellefaix and IDeaS Global Alliances Director Olga Tolle-Rodrigues highlight the partnership's potential to boost revenues, profitability, and simplify daily operations.

🏨 Mews, a leading hotel technology platform, surpasses 12,500 global clients, recording an 85% increase in the customer base last year. In North America, Mews doubled its client portfolio and achieved a 20% market penetration in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). France saw a 37% annual growth. The company innovates with AI-generated summaries for personalized experiences and hourly bookings, catering to some of the world's most prestigious hotel brands.