Innovation

🏠 Flexliving achieved profitability with just 620 rooms in three years, outpacing the sector average by four times, positioning for the "flexible living" market expected to double by 2027. The Proptech startup was co-founded by BNP Paribas colleagues, offering a turnkey housing solution for mobile talents facing post-Covid housing challenges. They've developed internal tools and software for efficient management, exemplified by Flexliving Business, a platform providing a seamless user experience for employees and HR departments. Their success includes a €1.5 million funding round in 2022.

📈 On February 6, the Fevad presented a study by Next Content on B2B e-commerce and digital services, revealing 79% buyer satisfaction with the ease and speed of online ordering. Buyers also seek greater autonomy through online services for professional purchasing, including order tracking and product searches.

📌 SOMHOTEL, located at ZA du haut méral, 53150 Montsurs, France, can be contacted via phone at +33 (0)6 82 70 41 18. For modification of details such as website, logo, and descriptions, SOMHOTEL can subscribe to an annual directory subscription by clicking a provided link or contact the relevant service. Reproduction of page content for private use requires crediting "TendanceHotellerie" with a link to the source or a QR Code. The directory includes various industry-related companies offering tools and services to optimize hotel performance and enhance guest experiences.

🚀 Lufthansa Innovation Hub integrates AI travel assistant Swifty into the Line messaging app for Japanese customers in 2023, offering flight bookings for Lufthansa Group airlines. Swifty, accelerated by Lufthansa's startup program, handles business travel tasks—planning, booking, payment, and billing via chat interface. It's based on GPT-4 and marks the first development phase of an autonomous AI assistant. Customers can book Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Air Lines flights through Swifty using chat or voice messages.

🚨 Google My Business (GMB) profiles serve as digital storefronts on Google, essential for directing customers to physical locations. Updating GMB profiles to reflect temporary closures or changed hours prevents consumer disappointment. The "Temporarily Closed" feature on GMB displays a red banner stating such a status and is also visible on Google Maps. Properly managing exceptional opening hours and temporary closures can impact local SEO; however, it ensures accurate information and avoids negative customer experiences. Guest Suite offers management and optimization solutions for GMB profiles, serving over 10,000 establishments.

🏨 ALL, Accor's loyalty program, and Emirates Skywards, from Emirates and flydubai, have enhanced their partnership, allowing members to convert Miles Skywards into Reward points and vice versa. Accor boasts over 5,600 hotels with 45+ brands and 5,000+ Limitless Experiences. Members can exchange 4,000 Miles Skywards for 1,000 Reward points for bookings and unique experiences at ALL.com. The two-way conversion optimizes rewards for incomparable travel and everyday experiences.

💻 12% of employees currently use AI at work, with 30% reporting AI usage within their company and 17% expecting its imminent adoption. A significant 83% of AI users employ it at least weekly, 44% daily. User satisfaction stands at 92%, with an average time saving of nearly one hour per day. AI has made work more enjoyable (84%), simpler (83%), more collaborative (58%), and 75% feel freer in their tasks. However, only 52% of AI users have received training, with 47% finding it insufficient.

🎬 In Paris, on February 5, 2025, CANAL+ BUSINESS collaborated with PHILIPS to launch an all-inclusive TV solution for hotels named CANAL+ ROOM STREAMING on SMART TV MEDIASUITE PHILIPS. The offer includes up to 90,000 on-demand contents, 80 live channels, equipment, and certified installers for setup and service. Ali ZEBOUDJ, Director of CANAL+ BUSINESS, mentions an attractive pricing starting from €0.71 ex-VAT per day/room for a 40-room establishment. The Philips Smart TVs come with integrated Google Cast™, offering wireless display up to 4K resolution without additional hardware. CANAL+ FRANCE is a simplified joint-stock company with a capital of €45,543,488, headquartered at 50 Rue Camille Desmoulins - 92863 Issy-les-Moulineaux Cedex 9, registered under RCS Nanterre 812 514 586.

📦 Lufthansa Group integrates Apple's AirTags into its baggage tracking systems to enhance transparency and efficiency for passengers. Following United Airlines, Lufthansa and its affiliates—SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings—allow customers to privately and securely share their AirTag's location through the group's digital baggage tracing channels. Lufthansa's "Digital Hangar" team, led by board member and executive Dieter Vranckx, consists of 1,000 digital product experts committed to offering new digital services monthly, aiming at improving customer experience through innovation.

📝 Cocohop, launched in beta after co-development with travel industry professionals, leverages artificial intelligence and collaborative tools for personalized travel offerings. Entrepreneurs Vincent and Molina Paulin aim to end standardized packages. The platform connects travel agents, DMCs, and travel planners, facilitating collaboration, communication, and customization of trips using a database with millions of tourist interest points. Users can interact, vote, and select trip components, with AI automating planning, generating travel booklets and quotes, and a conversational agent assisting professionals. Cocohop is collaborative, allowing customization and direct client engagement, and utilizes Google's Gemini AI for data enrichment and multilingual translations. Subscription fees range from €29 to €99 per month during the beta phase until June 2025, with bespoke packages for larger tourism entities. Cocohop aims to become the default travel organization solution, promoting local and responsible tourism, and plans to expand its professional network and AI solutions to personalize travel further.