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🏨 IHG Hotels & Resorts expanded in Europe with nine hotel brands in 13 countries since early 2024, increasing its portfolio to over 1,100 hotels open or under construction. The European expansion includes luxury, upscale, and mainstream segments, with a diversified portfolio featuring Six Senses, Kimpton, and InterContinental. Over 100 luxury lifestyle hotels are open, and 70 are in the pipeline, including Vignette Collection debuts in the UK and Hungary, and Kimpton's new establishments in Budapest and Crete. InterContinental reached 225 hotels worldwide in 2024, including the new InterContinental Belgrade in Serbia.

🏖 Nathalie Delattre, French Minister for Tourism, reports positive tourism figures for early 2025, with mountain areas benefiting from good snow and sunshine. Winter holidays showed good dynamics, despite a slight dip from UK and US markets and business tourism. Spring outlook is very positive, with Asian and German markets rebounding. Seasonal rentals maintain momentum with a 12% increase in January and 28% in February night stays compared to 2024. Metropolitan hotel occupancy rates remained stable in January and February, with spikes in Marseille (+11 points) and Toulouse (+12 points). Data source: France Tourisme Observation (Atout France and ADN Tourisme) - STR x In Extenso for Atout France.

📰 Thai economic and financial officials convened at the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) for a press conference on March 31, 2025, post-earthquake, to reassure the public and investors. The Tourism and Sports Ministry confirmed the tourism sector's normalcy, ensuring national and international tourists' safety with ongoing monitoring and safety inspections of buildings, including hotels. Hotel establishments reported no significant damage, adhering to seismic construction standards, signaling a resilient and rapidly recovering tourism and hospitality sector in Thailand.

🌊 On March 27, 2025, MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique celebrated milestones for three "World" class ships in Saint-Nazaire, France: MSC World America's upcoming baptism on April 9 at PortMiami, MSC World Asia's assembly, and the steel cutting for MSC World Atlantic. MSC World America, set to sail in 2025 as the 23rd fleet ship, offers European style with American comfort and is among the most eco-efficient in the industry with LNG engines. MSC World Asia will enter service in winter 2026-2027 offering Mediterranean cruises.

🏡 Saudi Arabia is spearheading the transition to "Regenerative Luxury Hospitality," a paradigm shift in luxury hotels aiming to go beyond sustainability by actively improving the environment, restoring natural resources, and fortifying local cultures. The Red Sea Project in Saudi Arabia exemplifies this move, focusing on renewable energy, enhancing biodiversity, and community integration. Saudi Arabia's vision is to become the global leader in regenerative luxury tourism.

🏨 Hotels' HVAC systems account for nearly 50% of energy expenses. Reducing heating by 1°C can save 7% of energy costs, according to ADEME. Passenergy offers a wireless Building Management System (BMS) to optimize energy consumption without additional investments, using wireless sensors to automate and centralize control over energy-intensive systems, even in unoccupied rooms or with open windows.

🏨 In France, the average hotel occupancy rate in 2023 was 61.8%. Occupancy rate, a key performance indicator for hotels, reflects room management effectiveness and influences revenue strategies. HiJiffy, a leader in conversational AI for the hospitality industry, showcases how to leverage technology to improve occupancy rates and profits. For instance, an 80% occupancy rate means 120 out of 150 rooms are booked, highlighting the importance of strategic rate adjustments and resource management.

🍔 A study on the UK market found that 50% of hotel guests eat outside or order food delivery. Satisfaction rates were 86% for hotel stays but only 68% for food and beverage quality, with 38% of diners influenced by online reviews. Room service frustrations included high costs (35%), limited choice (26%), cold food delivery (25%), and dirty dishes left behind (23%). Online menu publication with photos could encourage 43% of guests to dine in-hotel, while 46% would appreciate the option to reserve meals online at the time of room booking, especially with a discount. In the US, two-thirds of hotel guests use food delivery services, citing high costs and poor quality perception of hotel food, leading some hotels to subcontract room service to companies like Doordash and Grubhub.

🏡 Closed since 2016, the iconic Le Gerbot d’Avoine in Saint-Quay-Portrieux, Côtes-d’Armor, backed by Mindston Capital, is set to become a 4-star establishment. Transformation includes 43 rooms, a 60-seat gourmet restaurant with sea-view terraces, a spa with a heated pool, and several gardens, while respecting original architecture. Management will be by Hôtels Business Angels, a Breton company specializing in hotel management.

💬 CHAT du GHR offers a free digital customer service platform for the hospitality industry. Next chat session: Thursday, April 10, from 4 PM to 5 PM. TikTok’s Matthieu Flamary to discuss platform's marketing impact, claiming 2 out of 3 users are influenced by it. Join the session with meeting ID: 347 102 959 004 and secret code: dq7hd7qF.