Top News

🏕 In 2025, Booking.com awarded a record 1.71 million travel partners across 212 countries with the Traveller Review Award for outstanding hospitality. Italy topped the list with 207,652 awards, followed by France with 155,141, and Spain with 147,603. France climbed to second place, overtaking Spain since 2024. Apartments received the most awards globally, over 847,000, while capsule hotels saw a significant increase in popularity. The awards are based on over 360 million verified customer reviews, with a 16% increase in recipients from the previous year, including 1,711,539 accommodations, 1,329 car rental companies, and 124 taxi firms.

📖 The École de Paris des Métiers de la Table (EPMT) will hold an Open House on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, from 9am to 5pm, at 17 rue Jacques Ibert, Paris 17th. This event offers free and paid apprenticeship training from CAP to Bac+5, including the new 2025 License Pro Management de Projets Événementiels. The "Étoiles & Terroirs" project allows select apprentices regional mobility with a partner CFA. Visitors can also see culinary demos, meet educational teams, apply and interview on site, with continuous training for employees and those changing careers. Pre-registration online is available at: epmt.fr/32263-portes-ouvertes.html.

📖 Thomas, an enthusiast for contract analysis, compares his skills with ChatGPT's ability to assess the B00king.com agreement. ChatGPT, within 10 seconds, identifies critical points like parity clauses, commission and fees, overbooking management, intellectual property rights, ranking and marketing, dispute resolution, termination and data management. Thomas highlights the importance of understanding contracts to protect one's establishment, emphasizing that while ChatGPT is impressive, it does not replace professional legal advice.

🏖️ HUTTOPIA, a French camping-nature pioneer with over 140 campsites in 8 countries, acquired a 34% stake in ELEGANCIA, handing over management of its café-hotel division HOSCAR. ELEGANCIA, with 20+ years in hotel project management, is known for unconventional hospitality approaches. This strategic partnership aims to reinforce both companies' expertise in the hospitality sector and accelerate regional development. HUTTOPIA's vision began 25 years ago, foreseeing urban vacationers' need to reconnect with nature, and HOSCAR was launched 10 years ago to create community-centric Café-Hotels.

🎂 A Lightspeed Commerce Inc. study reveals a 24% increase in the average spending of French customers during the holiday season in 2024, despite decreased restaurant outings. Lightspeed, a comprehensive commerce platform, analyzed over 1,700 restaurants using their all-in-one cash register software in France to conclude this festive period as a growth driver for restaurateurs, positively affecting revenue and average spending per head.

💳 In a study by Adyen, 11% of travelers prefer paying by phone, while 51% of hoteliers believe it's a popular option. However, 26% of clients wouldn't book if asked for credit card details by phone, and 71% worry about fraud risks. The average loss per traveler due to fraud in 2024 was €670. Only 53% of hosts feel fully PCI compliant. The Bank of France is reforming MoTo payments due to high fraud levels after a June 10 plan. About 10% of hotel customers have experienced payment fraud. In 2024, 38% of tourism businesses saw a rise in fraud attacks, with up to 20 incidents a year for 7% of them. The average fraud-related loss could reach €1 million.

🏦 Christophe Laure, leader of InterContinental Paris Le Grand and seven other establishments in Southern Europe, with education from École Hôtelière de Lausanne and Cornell University, presides over the Prestige section of a major hotel professional union. Despite a luxury sector "a bit out of time," a slowdown is evident, especially post-Olympics in Paris, with luxury hospitality showing modesty and decline. Geopolitical instability affects the market, with Chinese and Middle Eastern demand not recovering to previous levels.

🏦 Maud Bailly, an ENA and ENS graduate, began her career in public service, alternating between major corporations and ministerial offices. She joined Accor Group in 2017 as Chief Digital Officer and executive committee member. By 2020, she led Group activities in France and Southern Europe, and as of January 2023, oversees brand development for Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems. The luxury market experienced annual growth of approximately 2% in hotel inventory versus 5% in economic growth. Despite the COVID crisis affecting the sector into 2022, under Bailly's charge, the Southern Europe division, with 1,900 hotels, continued to open a new hotel every four days.

💾 A study on arXiv suggests that accurate demand forecasting in hotel revenue management can increase revenue by 13.3%. The guide discusses the use of two essential concepts: pickup, to anticipate demand, and compset, for competitive analysis, combined with external factors to maximize revenue. The article illustrates how to track reservations (pickup) and adapt pricing strategies dynamically, as well as how to monitor competitors (compset) and market signals to remain competitive. The case study highlights a 75% increase in pickup year-over-year, prompting a price increase of 15% during an international event, and implementing a minimum two-night stay to optimize occupancy.

🏨 During the broadcast of "Check-In, l'émission" on January 30, Pierre Ferchaud discussed the concept of "invisible" hotel clients, shedding light on this overlooked demographic in the hospitality industry. The interview was featured in La Tribune de l'Hôtellerie, a key source for hotel industry news.