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Paris Olympics discourage tourism

🏆 On July 31, 2024, the Marais district in Paris faces a tourism slump during the Olympics. Airlines are experiencing a drop in summer travel demand to Paris, with fewer bookings and empty seats. High costs for accommodations and metro tickets contribute to the downturn, with hotels lowering rates after an initially slow season. The French government is considering compensation for businesses. The impact on post-Olympics tourism remains uncertain.
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Developing an AI-powered data strategy for hotels

💻 Ireckonu, founded in 2014 for CitizenM, now aids global brands like Mandarin Oriental and Loews Hotels with data platforms. Rik van Leeuwen, head of data, stresses the need for a solid data strategy before AI implementation in hospitality. On July 31, 2024, emphasizing customer profile accuracy for AI efficacy, Ireckonu was featured in a PhocusWire interview regarding AI, machine learning, and customer retention in hotels.
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Spain’s watchdog fines Booking.com €413 million

🛒 Booking.com was fined a record €413 million by Spain's competition watchdog, the CNMC, on July 31, 2024, for abusing its dominant position. The fine addresses the company's business practices over the past five years, which impacted hotels in Spain and stifled competition with other online travel agencies. With a market share of 70-90% in Spain, Booking.com's practices disadvantaged competitors by favoring hotels with higher bookings on its platform. This marks the CNMC's largest fine to date.
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Online platform tourism booming across Europe

📈 In Q1 2024, online platform overnight stays surged to 123.7 million, marking a 28.3% increase from Q1 2023. January recorded 33.3 million nights (+16.7%), February 41.2 million (+19%), and March 49.2 million (+48%). Popular 2023 destinations included Andalusia, Adriatic Croatia, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Eurostat's monthly records for 2024 highlight the growth of online tourism. Full details at Eurostat.
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OpenAI launches SearchGPT

🔍 OpenAI, on July 26, 2024, released a prototype search engine called SearchGPT, challenging Google with its AI-powered capabilities. Initially available to 10,000 testers, SearchGPT uses the advanced GPT-4 model to interpret and organize search results beyond simple link lists, indicating the start of a potential shift in the search engine market landscape.
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Barcelona leaves behind ‘Visit Barcelona’ slogan

🏖️ Barcelona's tourism board unveils new slogan "This is Barcelona," replacing the 15-year-old "Visit Barcelona" on Jul 26, 2024. The rebranding reflects a shift towards emphasizing the city's unique identity and quality tourism. Amid concerns over mass tourism, a protest by roughly 2,800 people led to demands for regulating tourism to prevent overcrowding. Barcelona's new tourism approach focuses on its rich traditions, sports, gastronomy, museums, and music festivals.
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Accor expects its RevPAR to grow by 4-5% this year

🏨 Accor, Europe's biggest hotel group, anticipates RevPAR growth to surpass its medium-term target in 2024. On July 26, 2024, it reported a 6% increase in half-year RevPAR, influenced by events like Euro 2024 and the Hajj. The company, benefiting from positive global travel trends, forecasts a 9-12% rise in 2024 core profit following a 13% jump in first-half EBITDA to 504 million euros.
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Putting generative AI to work for business travel

📈 Travel Management Companies (TMCs) are cautiously integrating generative AI (genAI) tools, with more sophisticated applications on the horizon, poised to transform the industry. As of July 26, 2024, TMCs have limited genAI usage to elementary tasks, such as responding to travel policy inquiries and email parsing, due to concerns about AI's accuracy and the high stakes of potential errors. Despite the slower adoption rate compared to other sectors, the anticipation for future capabilities, like improved customer relationship management and advanced AI assistants, is high. 🧳
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