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💰 Eurazeo, via its Mid-large buyout team, entered exclusive negotiations for a majority investment in Mapal, acquiring from PSG Equity, alongside the management team and employees who will retain a minority stake. Mapal, headquartered in Madrid, serves over 2,000 clients in 40+ countries with AI-powered SaaS for the hospitality industry. PSG Equity acquired a majority in Mapal in September 2019, fueling its growth and expansion through acquisitions like Flow Hospitality and GetCompliant. Transaction details will be disclosed post-finalization, pending regulatory approvals.

🏨 Berlin-based HR Group acquires H-Hotels on 25 February, adding over 60 hotels to its portfolio in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Hungary. H-Hotels, headquartered in Bad Arolsen, Hesse, operates brands such as Hyperion, H4, H2, H+, H.ostels, and H.omes. The acquisition represents a one-third increase in HR Group's portfolio and strengthens its position as a leading European multi-brand hotel management firm. CEO Ruslan Husry acknowledges the vital role of H-Hotels colleagues Alexander Fitz and Thomas Querl in the acquisition. HR Group plans to further develop the H-Hotels brand, which will continue to operate under its original name, emphasizing the strategic importance of the business model and its strong presence in the European hospitality market.

🏚 Four Points Flex by Sheraton Lourdes Sanctuaire, scheduled to open in 2026, is a conversion project of the current Hôtel Christ Roi in Lourdes, France. With 180 rooms, the hotel is aimed at business and leisure travelers, ideally located near the Lourdes sanctuary and Grotte de Massabielle. Launched in 2023, Four Points Flex is Marriott's response to the growing demand for affordable lodging in EMEA. This introduction brings Marriott Bonvoy's presence in France to 15 brands, joining names like The Luxury Collection and JW Marriott.

📈 DEPLOYTOUR, a European project funded by the European Commission's Digital Europe program, aims to create a European data exchange infrastructure in the tourism sector to ensure data sovereignty. Coordinated by AnySolution, a Majorcan SME, and including a consortium of 43 actors such as Eona-X, Amadeus, and City Destination Alliance from France, the initiative is in phase 2 of building and deploying the European Tourism Data Space (ETDS). It features 5 pilot projects addressing issues like overtourism, SMEs' access to new technologies, and sustainable competitiveness. Eona X leads a pilot project in Île-de-France focusing on personalized recommendations for business travelers. DEPLOYTOUR, which started in October, is tackling the challenge that 80% of industrial and operational data in Europe is not shared by creating a decentralized and structured access to data, aiming for interoperability of European dataspaces. With a budget exceeding €15 million over 3 years, the project looks to leverage data for AI applications, potentially sparking new European projects focused on AI.

🌍 Accor, Booking.com, and University of Surrey's study focuses on engaging communication for eco-responsibility in travel. The report outlines challenges for hoteliers in promoting sustainability and provides four key strategies to change traveler behavior. The research emphasizes the essential role of customers in successful hotel sustainability efforts and highlights communication as critical for fostering virtuous behavior. The white paper aims to bridge the gap between intentions and actions in sustainable practices within the hospitality industry.

📝 Les Pages Jaunes, célèbres pour leurs annuaires papier, ont lancé leur site en 1998 et ajouté les avis clients en 2010 pour aider les consommateurs à comparer les prestataires. Aujourd'hui, leur e-réputation est un atout stratégique, souligné par un rapport IFOP qui cite les avis internet comme le premier critère de choix d'entreprise pour les internautes. Les avis Pages Jaunes favorisent également le SEO local, étant visibles sur des applications comme Mappy et Apple Plans. Pour bénéficier de cette visibilité, une entreprise doit créer un profil sur Pages Jaunes, où la note moyenne et le nombre d'avis sont mis en avant. Les avis influencent les taux de clics, avec des augmentations jusqu'à 7% pour une note de 5 étoiles. Pour supprimer un avis Pages Jaunes, celui-ci doit contrevenir à la charte éditoriale du site.

💸 Mirai integrates with Mews' hotel management platform to automate data transfer, maximizing revenue opportunities and real-time accuracy to prevent overbookings. By eliminating manual entries, the integration reduces human errors, eases operational frictions, and improves overall management experience for hoteliers. No initial or monthly fees are charged by Mirai for the integration. Mews offers an intuitive interface, new revenue generation methods, frictionless payments, a customer-focused approach speeding up check-in by 80%, and over 1000 integration options without connection fees. Interested parties should contact their account manager or Mews directly for setup assistance.

👨‍💻 Frédéric Robles, an attorney turned tech entrepreneur, co-founded Namastay to connect reservation and payment technologies for hotels. Launched in July 2022, the company now partners with over 300 hotels in 29 countries and is an official partner of Relais & Châteaux. Namastay's solution, embedded via iframe in hotel websites, enables secure online payments, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, with tokenization and encryption. Offering faster, secure transactions and mobile adaptability, it improves customer experience and hotel operations, charging around 1% commission per booking with no setup costs. Namastay plans future integrations with PayPal, deferred payments (Clarna), and cryptocurrencies, and is exploring new markets like Morocco.

🎱 Cannes is integrating cryptocurrency payments at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès and local businesses, anticipating the 8th Ethereum Community Conference from June 30 to July 3, 2025. Cannes, hosting 3 million visitors annually, half for business tourism, adopts crypto to enhance its international appeal. With global crypto ownership at 8% in 2025, Cannes aims to educate tourism players without mandating crypto usage, while the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès becomes France's first convention center to accept crypto via Coinhouse. Already, 30 local merchants offer crypto payments, and over 450 attended a workshop in early February to learn about crypto.