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🏨 MKG Consulting forecasts conservative hotel performance in Northern and Western Europe for 2024-2025, influenced by recent trends in key markets like the UK and France. Southern Europe, particularly Spain, continues to perform well. The eventful year of 2024, especially with the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in France, impacts annual growth perspectives. The year 2025 is expected to see significant disparities in performances across sub-markets and categories within the same market. Forecast details for various European countries and a focused analysis on Paris are available through Leslie Vial at MKG Consulting.

🏨 Puneet Chhatwal, CEO of IHCL, targets doubling consolidated revenue with a 20% return on employed capital by 2030, building on a portfolio beyond 700 hotels. IHCL surpassed forecasts, achieving 350 hotels with over 200 in operation and a strong pipeline. The company recorded 10 consecutive quarters of record financial performance. Backed by India’s long-term structural trends—over 6.5% GDP growth, government investments in infrastructure, hotel demand outstripping supply, and rising consumer purchasing power—the plan 'Accelerate 2030' aims for a consolidated turnover around €2 billion, leveraging India's domestic market and expanding brand offerings.

🏠 French Law No. 2024-1039 published on November 20 aims to regulate local tourism furnished rentals, with contributions from GHR and Deputy Annaïg Le Meur's proposal on April 28, 2023. Classified furnished rentals now have a 50% tax deduction on annual rental income up to €77,700, non-classified at 30% up to €15,000, effective from January 1, 2025. By 2025, rentals must have a minimum 'F' energy rating, 'E' by 2028, and between 'A' and 'D' by 2034. New rules require rental declaration with registration by May 20, 2026, and grant mayors power to set rental duration limits and quotas. Penalties include fines up to €10,000 for non-registration and €20,000 for false statements.

🌍 At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance unveiled Universal Sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) during the joint session of Tourism Ministers and COP Presidency. These KPIs set a framework for the hospitality industry to measure and report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, waste, and energy consumption. Glenn Mandziuk, CEO of the Alliance, emphasized the commitment to sustainable practices and the importance of transparency and trust for consumers, in partnership with UN Tourism.

🛌 Accor partners with Handiwork for the Handiwork Découverte program, starting in 2024 across seven hotels in France. The initiative aims to train 28 disabled individuals, extending to Lyon and Bordeaux in 2025. Trainees will receive practical hospitality training and a qualification, with career opportunities within Accor. Anne-Sophie Beraud and Lionel Satouf highlighted the program's role in promoting diversity and inclusion in hospitality. Accor's commitment includes various initiatives like DuoDay and collaborations for digital career training.

🏦 Sommet Education collaborates with Mandarin Oriental to enhance student learning through real-world corporate exposure, provide employee development with custom training programs, and create hospitality career opportunities for high-potential individuals from underprivileged communities. The partnership leverages Sommet Education's global network including Les Roches, Glion, École Ducasse, Invictus Education in South Africa, and the Indian School of Hospitality. CEOs Laurent Kleitman (Mandarin Oriental) and Benoît-Étienne Domenget (Sommet Education) affirm their commitment to fostering future hospitality leaders.

🏨 Atomize, founded in 2016 by Leif Jägerbrand, optimizes hotel revenue with real-time room pricing adjustments using sophisticated algorithms. Present on five continents with clients in over 50 countries, Atomize features include real-time dynamic pricing, granular pricing per room type, solutions for hotel chains, and strategic control for hoteliers. Mews CEO, Matt Welle, mentions a strategic partnership since 2015, highlighting the acquisition as a step towards smarter, integrated hotel technology.

🏥 Sommet Education partnered with HSMAI MEA on November 18, 2024, to enhance professional development and leadership in the hospitality industry. They will collaborate on webinars, workshops, and seminars, with faculty from Les Roches and Glion contributing to executive roundtables. The partnership aims to boost educational growth and reach a wide professional audience through research articles and white papers on HSMAI MEA's website. Additionally, Sommet Education also partnered with Mandarin Oriental to support inclusion and diversity in the sector.

📈 Lighthouse raised $370 million led by global investment firm KKR to expand AI and strategic intelligence technologies for over 70,000 hotels worldwide. This funding aims to support product innovation, strategic acquisitions, and global expansion efforts in the $15 billion travel and hospitality technology market. Lighthouse's platform processes over 400 terabytes of travel and hospitality data daily, leveraging AI to deliver real-time insights to clients.