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💰 Amadeus invested in hivr.ai, a German startup founded in 2020, to reinvent the hotel industry with AI. Hivr.ai automates sales processes for meetings and groups across fragmented channels, aiming to reduce response times from 48-96 hours and increase conversion rates from 10-20%. The collaboration includes integrating hivr.ai with Amadeus's Delphi and MeetingBroker, offering hotels new distribution channels and AI-driven automation. Financial terms remain confidential; hivr.ai has teams in Switzerland, the UK, and Romania.

🏖️ Ons Gherib plays a key role in implementing Belmond's renovation plan for its hotels, trains, lodges, and boats. With experience in luxury design and architecture, including at Chanel, Montblanc, and Saint Laurent as Global Director, he started on January 22, 2025, reporting to CEO Dan Ruff at Belmond, and is on the executive committee. His focus is on excellence, efficiency, and partnerships with world-renowned designers and architects to create unique travel experiences.

📊 Similarweb's 2025 Digital 100 ranks the fastest-growing online brands in France across 10 categories, spotlighting ChatGPT, Temu, Reddit, La Chaîne Météo, and Mappy. The annual ranking celebrates digital growth, naming a top website, app, and multiplatform winner. Similarweb's report, announced by CEO Or Offer, is used to benchmark online performance. The French ranking lists 10 winners in 5 categories and has editions for the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, India, and Brazil.

🌏 Six Senses hotels achieved the highest level of certification from Control Union, a GSTC-accredited body, reflecting their commitment to sustainable development. The certification involved a thorough audit of their sustainability planning, reduction of negative environmental impacts, cultural heritage enhancement, and socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Jeff Smith, VP of Sustainability at Six Senses, highlighted the certification as a mark of trust and credibility in sustainability.

🏨 Hotel group management faces challenges like centralizing operations, brand consistency, and security, but offers opportunities for scale and revenue growth. In 2023, 31% of the sector experienced security breaches averaging losses of $3.4 million. Cloud-native technology provides agility, security, and ease of management. Automated rate management, customer experience personalization, and integration of eco-friendly practices are key. Mews offers tailored solutions for hotel groups, aiming for operational excellence and scalability.

🏨 easyHotel secured a £24.5 million (approximately €29 million) loan from CaixaBank to bolster its expansion in Spain, initiating with a new hotel in Madrid opening in spring. Followed by Valencia and Barcelona in 2025, and Alicante in 2026, adding 361 rooms across these cities. The properties will feature low-carbon rooms, designed to emit 20% less CO2 over a 50-year lifecycle compared to competitors.

📍 Kayak's study with The Future Laboratory predicts travel trends for 2030, highlighting AI-based agents aiding in bookings and itinerary changes, and an increase in city-to-city/multidestination trips. Social media is expected to become a common booking channel, with virtual travel experiences including holographic staff, 4D room tours, and simulated journeys on a cloned Earth, accessible via phones and VR devices. 35% of travelers anticipate augmented reality tours to be standard in hotels. Loyalty programs may incorporate NFTs, offering monetizable rewards beyond miles. Six anticipated innovations include free high-speed Wi-Fi on flights, virtual room tours, eco-friendly accommodations, digital check-in/out, automatic refunds for fare drops, and QR-coded luggage.

🏖️ Pierre & Vacances in Spain operates 48 complexes with over 5,600 accommodation units. Despite signing 650 new units, net growth was just over 300 due to the cessation of operations in three establishments. The company focuses on hotel development, recently opening hotels in Granada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Ibiza, and Costa Blanca, and strengthening its presence in Andorra and the Costa Brava. Oscar Güell, the General Manager, highlights the hotel sector's importance due to regulatory changes and a decade of hotel management experience in Spain.

🏨 Minor Hotels aims to grow to over 850 properties by 2027, currently boasting more than 560 hotels—half in Europe. The group plans to add nearly 47,000 rooms within three years, with an existing portfolio of 81,000 rooms globally. Expansion includes over 285 new hotels, 100+ in Asia, 60+ in the Middle East and Africa, and 40 in Australia and New Zealand. The expansion focuses on diversifying global market presence, with strategic growth in North America, Northern Asia, Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey. Luxury and premium segments drive the growth, with a third of the pipeline dedicated to each, encompassing brands like Anantara, Tivoli, Elewana Collection, NH Collection, Avani, and nhow.

📈 Clément, challenged by his director Alexandre, aimed to reduce a 4-star hotel's reliance on OTAs and boost direct bookings via Social Ads on Meta platforms. After a 6-month campaign near the Eiffel Tower, results were impressive: €75,000 revenue from direct bookings, a ROAS of 72.50, 3,500 qualified clicks to the hotel's website, and 500,000 impressions. Key strategies included precise targeting, immersive storytelling, platform-specific content, and continuous optimization, proving that hotels can effectively compete against OTAs.