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🌊 Opened on July 15, Aquascope, the new water park at Futuroscope, offers a unique experience blending water and digital art in Vienne. Spread over 7,000 m², Aquascope can accommodate 1,700 visitors and features thrilling water slides. The park aims to "revolutionize water parks with a unique immersive experience in France." Over 140,000 visitors since its launch, Aquascope is part of a broader renewal plan for Futuroscope, with a total investment of €304 million, €57 million dedicated to Aquascope, aiming to increase its revenue by 60-70% over a decade.

🏖️ GetYourGuide published its "Travel Experience Trend Tracker" report, showing US consumer spending habits in the travel sector and global booking habits. US consumer behavior trends indicate a shift toward digital platform bookings and experiential spending over material goods, despite slowed global travel industry growth post-COVID. Key findings: US consumer spending on experiences for the 12-month period ending August 31, 2024, surged 32% from the period ending January 1, 2019, outpacing overall US consumer goods spending, including essentials like groceries, which saw a 21% increase. Purely discretionary goods spending only rose by 5% in the same timeframe. ????

🏨 Hotel industry revenues are projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2024 for the first time, with a timid recovery in business travel and professional overnight stays increasing in Europe, and a stronger rebound in the Americas. Amadeus' September report points to a shrinking inflation rate at 2% and a possible economic upturn. GDS bookings have risen by 1%, indicating Europe as the most active region globally as of September 2024. OTA's share in Europe dropped from 35% to 33%, while CRS fell from 6% in 2019 to 4% in 2024. U.S. CRS market share decreased from 8% to 6%, and in Canada from 8% to 5%; China saw a shift towards direct bookings, now over 51%.

🏦 SHBM de l'Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (UM6P) est désormais la seule école en Afrique avec la certification de l'EHL, marquant un pas de géant pour l'éducation hôtelière au Maroc. Célébrant ses premiers diplômés en 'Bachelor in Hospitality Business and Management', SHBM affirme son engagement envers l'excellence académique. Le programme de qualité et les infrastructures de pointe sont soutenus par des enseignants tous certifiés QLF, assurant des standards élevés et une reconnaissance internationale.

📖 In a ruling on September 18, 2024, the French Cour de Cassation decreed that an employer cannot refuse an employee's parental leave request due to non-compliance with the notice period. This aligns with a March 12, 2002 decision (case no. 99-43501) that favored the employee who did not follow the formal notification procedure. The legal framework requires at least one month's notice following maternity or adoption leave, and two months' notice otherwise. (Cass. Soc. 18 September 2024, no. 23-18021).

🛡 Le règlement intérieur, obligatoire dans les entreprises de 50 salariés minimum depuis le 1er janvier 2020, est un document qui établit les droits et obligations des salariés. Il doit contenir des mesures de santé et sécurité, des règles de discipline, et rappeler les droits de défense, le harcèlement moral/sexuel, et le dispositif de protection du lanceur d'alerte. La procédure d'élaboration inclut la consultation du CSE, la transmission à l'inspection du travail, le dépôt au conseil de prud'hommes, et une publicité effective dans l'entreprise. Des sanctions pénales sont prévues si ces étapes ne sont pas respectées.

💸 CDS Groupe, a French business hotel solutions company, expanded its relationship with travel technology leader Amadeus after acquiring Goelett, an online booking tool, and Corporate Rates Club (CRC), a Germany-based HBT. This expansion in Europe allows the clients of the three brands to access Amadeus Hotels and Amadeus Value Hotels content, offering over a million establishments worldwide, including 320 major hotel chains. The partnership supports CDS Groupe's large-scale European expansion and provides global coverage to meet client and distributor needs.

🏨 Mews, valued at over $1 billion, announces a $100 million funding round from Vista Credit Partners, following a previous $110 million round just 7 months prior. The travel tech startup aims to accelerate growth through acquisitions, having already acquired 9 companies, including HS3 Hotelsoftware via Mews Ventures. Boasting a portfolio of 5,500 global brands, Mews reports a 250% increase in North American clients over 12 months and equips over 1,000 hotels in France with its PMS, featuring AI-powered virtual assistants and a kiosk solution reducing check-in times by a third.

🏨 Mews, a cloud-based hotelier, secures $100 million from Vista Credit Partners, a strategic credit and financing partner focused on enterprise software, data, and technology markets. This funding aims to propel Mews' growth and its M&A program to become a market leader amid the $15.5 trillion global travel and tourism sector's cloud adoption. Mews Ventures, the company's investment and business development branch, has acquired nine hospitality companies and will continue investing in technology and teams to drive industry-wide tech transformation. Mews CEO Matthijs Welle emphasizes the opportunity to enhance the digital transformation of leading hospitality brands with this investment from an experienced enterprise software investor.

💡 ADEME, OID, and the French Ministry of Ecological Transition released an analysis of over 740,000 declarations, covering 46% of the French tertiary sector's surface. Key findings include a decrease in the improved knowledge of the weight of different activity categories and energy consumption indicators. The tertiary decree, part of the Eco Energy Tertiary Device (DEET), requires tertiary buildings over 1,000 m² to cut energy consumption by 40% by 2030, 50% by 2040, and 60% by 2050, using a reference year between 2010 and 2019. DEET is managed by the DGALN of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, with ADEME developing the platform.