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📊 In 2025, AI becomes crucial for companies, transforming online visibility. Google's AI Overview tool now suggests three AI-recommended local businesses, offering an interactive map for location. Initially tested in Google Labs, it builds on 2023's Search Generative Experience (SGE). With 92% of French consumers consulting client reviews and 79% influenced by them, local SEO and online presence optimization are more strategic than ever for businesses.

🏨 According to a study by Christie & Co, Lyon's hotel industry grew significantly with a 77.6% increase in 5-star hotel rooms from 2018 to 2024. Innovators like Mama Shelter, Mob Hôtel, and Tribe, as well as premium brands such as Mondrian in Bordeaux and Autograph Collection in Strasbourg, are part of this new dynamic. Lyon, the second city in France for business tourism and congresses (ICCA 2023), is evolving from business hospitality to include lifestyle hotels that blend global brands with regional concepts.

🏨 Alboran, Extendam, GV Hospitality, and Alhotel Hospitality acquire a portfolio of 8 hotels in Bourges, the future European Capital of Culture for 2028. The portfolio includes 507 rooms ranging from 2 to 4 stars, with an additional 78-room hotel under development. The hotels, affiliated with franchises like Accor, Best Western, and The Originals, focus on a strategy involving operational support, an ambitious investment plan, and a commitment to sustainable development. Alexandre Falleur continues to manage the hotels and joins the Alboran team.

🏨 In 2024, European hotel investment market witnessed a 62% increase in transaction volumes to €17.4 billion, the highest since 2019 but still a third below 2019 levels. The surge, attributed to lower interest rates and abundant private equity funding, led to a doubling of portfolio transaction volumes compared to 2023. Despite geopolitical uncertainties and global elections, travel demand remained strong, supporting Europe's tourism and RevPAR growth, setting a positive trajectory for 2025.

🏖 Infiniment Charentes launched ICIA, an AI-driven conversational agent, in partnership with GENIAL. This virtual agent enhances tourist information access through AI, geolocation, and local database utilization on the Infiniment Charentes website. It provides tailored recommendations for tourism, culture, and mobility to tourists and local residents. ICIA helps promote regional tourism businesses to a targeted local audience and prioritizes eco-responsible practices, drawing data from interdepartmental tourist databases and third-party transportation data, including Loopi and local tourism offices. Research indicates 82% of travelers prefer AI assistants over traditional search engines for local information.

📌 D-EDGE, a French company, equips over 17,000 hotels worldwide and leads European hotel technology. Formed by a strategic merger in 2019 between FastBooking and Availpro, it offers a vast array of interconnected solutions to simplify hoteliers' complex ecosystems. With a presence in 25 countries, primarily in Europe and Asia, they provide high-quality, localized customer support, evidenced by a 97.6% customer satisfaction rate. The "Hotel Distribution Report 2025" reveals insights like the average cost of a direct online booking being around 3.5%, significantly lower than OTA commissions of up to 28%. The report, based on 2024 data, highlights the importance of direct bookings and digital marketing strategies such as SEO and metasearch, where Google dominates with over 85% market share.

🏖 By 2025, the traveler defies traditional categories, eschewing age and social status classifications. With fluctuating desires, budget, and technology use, they may seek complete disconnection in July, hunt for deals in November, and indulge in luxury in January. Hotels face evolving expectations requiring flexibility, personalization, and emotional experiences, proving challenging to anticipate due to the unpredictability and informed nature of these travelers. An "Étude 'Le Guide des Tendances 2025 en Hôtellerie'" offers insights into seven emblematic traveler profiles of this new era.

🏨 Launched in 2023, Handwritten Collection has over 20 establishments in cities like Paris, Cracovie, San Francisco, and Sydney. The brand is expanding in Europe with more than 10 new locations to join, including in France, Greece, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Owned by Accor, the collection emphasizes authenticity and hospitality, with each hotel reflecting the local culture. Upcoming openings include Hôtel & Spa Kasano Calvi in Corsica, with 39 rooms, modern art, and a spa, set to open in April 2024.

📍 Sankofa Travel Studio, incubated by Provence Tourisme Innovation, promotes alternative travel through influencers. CEO Melany Fabre explains their model: influencers design custom trips with local travel agencies, overseen by Sankofa. They aim to address illicit travel sales on social media and enhance traveler-local interactions. Sankofa integrates impactful local actions into trips, like a desert clean-up in Jordan, donating 5% of trip costs to local projects. In 2025, they target producing ten journeys, with three already in development, including a Jordan trip partnering with a professional basketball player, directing 60% of revenue to local communities. Sankofa also addresses illegal travel offers by social media influencers, promoting professional and responsible travel.

🛏 "Au Chat Qui Dort," led by Baptiste and Julien Lietaert, integrates BOREAS REAL ESTATE and LEWEN'UP as strategic partners for French expansion. With 34 accommodations, the hybrid hotel brand combines traditional hospitality comfort with rental flexibility. The expansion strategy involves rehabilitating old offices, converting outdated hotels, and constructing new mixed-use projects. Long-term leases are key to their model, meeting modern traveler needs and contributing to urban territory transformation.