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🌊 Lastminute.com, a European online travel booking leader, unveils 2025 trends showing French travelers favoring multi-destination adventures; reservations are up, with a spike in trans-European and international trips. Popular routes include Corsica to Sardinia and Barcelona to Majorca. Albania enters the top 10 with its unspoiled Adriatic coast, while Istanbul (+88%), Corfu (+76%), Budapest (+58%), and the Apulia region (+77%) see significant rises. Favorite sunny spots are Majorca, Crete, and Djerba, and for city breaks, Marrakech, Rome, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Venice lead the trend.

🚌 BlaBlaCar, French ride-sharing platform, plans to sell train tickets in France by 2025-2026, recently launching in Spain. Aiming to provide a complete travel solution, BlaBlaCar follows Uber's model to become a 'one-stop shop.' Co-founder Nicolas Brusson projects selling millions of train tickets and acquiring a significant customer base by 2030. The strategy includes a combined train and carpooling service addressing the 'last mile' problem, potentially intensifying competition with established players like SNCF Connect and Trainline.

🤖 Véronique Giraud from Oceania Paris Porte de Versailles highlighted the benefits of the robot Plato during EquipHotel (November 3-7 in Paris). United Robotics Group showcased the robotic technology aimed to "revolutionize employee comfort" in the hospitality sector. Plato assists staff by clearing trays and dishes, traveling a total of 200 kilometers annually and transporting 14 tons of dishes. This innovation enables staff to focus more on customer relations. Plato features a "follow me" system, enhancing housekeeping efficiency as well.

📢 Mews, a cloud hotel solution provider, acquired French event management startup Quotelo in its first product acquisition in France, expanding its French market presence with 1,000 clients. Quotelo, founded in 2021, offers technology that simplifies quotes and bookings management for the hotel industry, specifically the MICE market. Mews's French operations grew by 57%, adding a Paris office and becoming a certified management system provider for BWH Hotels. Mews CEO Matt Welle highlights the demand for versatile hotel spaces and the importance of event management solutions.

🏠 Adopted with 168 votes in favor and 54 against, the law aims to reduce tax breaks for furnished tourist rentals and impose energy renovation obligations. Tax abatement for classified furnished tourist accommodation is reduced from 71% to 50%, and for unclassified from 50% to 30%. Mairies are now equipped with new tools to locally regulate short-term rentals. Airbnb, which remitted €187 million in tourist tax in 2023, with nearly a third going to rural communities, does not foresee major impact on its activities in France.

💻 At the Corporate Lodging Forum France, former digital secretary Mounir Mahjoubi shared his perspective on AI's crucial role in companies, a view echoed by HRS CEO Tobias Ragge. Mahjoubi emphasized AI's transformative power, akin to computers, the internet, and smartphones. He warned of economic risks for companies slow to adopt AI, stressing the importance of staff training and sensitive data handling. HRS leverages AI to refine hotel program management, ensuring employee safety and personalized offers. AI's generative capabilities allow for tailored travel management and improved traveler satisfaction. The business travel market, with its vast data, is seen as an ideal AI application field. Mahjoubi urges businesses to adopt AI faster than competitors for a competitive edge.

📍 Wemap and SNCF Gares et Connexions are introducing a Visual Positioning System (VPS) for indoor geolocation in over 100 French train stations. The VPS, distinct from GPS, utilizes phone cameras to pinpoint user location and will be available in the Ma Gare SNCF app. Currently in trial at 10 stations, including Stade de France St Denis and Paris Bercy, the system requires no maintenance costs and aims to enhance user navigation and data sovereignty. Full deployment is expected by the end of 2024.

🏨 Novaxia NEO, a SCPI, generated a 7.61% yield with a long-term lease of over 15 years, signed with a leading hotel player. Aiming for a 5th consecutive year of over 6% distribution rate since its inception in 2019, it ranks among the top-performing SCPIs. The Amedia Hotel, built in 1997 and recently renovated, spans 5,762 m² with 103 rooms, and it's located in a dynamic hotel market.

🥗 Returning as the Snack Show, the iconic quick-service food exhibition is set for April 2-3, 2025, at Paris Porte de Versailles. With a fresh visual identity, it will occupy the larger pavilion 7.2. The Snack Show area will showcase food, beverages, equipment, and packaging solutions, while the Parizza zone will focus on Italian restaurant offerings. A new Smart Lab zone will feature technological innovations for fast-food services, and a novel interactive conference platform, the Smart Zone, will complement the Zapping du Snacking. The event will host contests, including the 19th French Pizza Championship, the 3rd French Pasta Championship, and the 10th Coupe de France de Burger by Socopa.

🛠 Carb0n and the Groupement des Hôteliers Restaurateurs de France (GHR) announce a strategic partnership during the Equip’Hotel trade show, aiming to guide 15,000 member hotels and restaurants towards sustainable energy transition. This collaboration provides GHR members with preferential pricing and access to Carb0n's expertise in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, addressing regulatory demands, rising energy costs, and the need to cut CO₂ emissions.