TOP NEWS

🧑‍🍳 Jamie Oliver is targeting the U.S. for expansion, seeking partners. Now, with 64 restaurants in over 20 countries, his brand plans to open 15 more this year and 20 in 18 months. Recent openings include Athens and Montenegro, with Belgrade next. Focused on casual dining with responsibly sourced food, potential U.S. locations are NYC and California. His group boasts 16 partners, emphasizing chemistry, experience, and an entrepreneurial spirit. 🍽️

💻 RevOptimum offers strategies for enhancing hotel websites to boost direct bookings. Implement a fast booking engine with transparent pricing and use urgency cues. Convert OTA users by offering a 10% direct booking discount and free perks. Enhance visibility on metasearch platforms like Google Hotel Ads. Leverage guest data for personalized marketing, and focus on selling experiences over price. HotelFuse aims to streamline booking processes, enhancing visibility and reducing reliance on OTAs. Book a free strategy session to explore these opportunities.

📰 Global hotel market expected to reach $5.82 trillion by 2027. By 2050, hotels must reduce carbon emissions by 90% to meet climate goals. Gen Z travelers prioritize personalized experiences 2.5 times more than Baby Boomers. 73% of guests prefer sustainable hotels; 60% are willing to pay more for personalization. Smart technology examples include Austria’s DAS EDELWEISS and Finland’s Panorama Landscape Hotel. By 2025, standardized sustainability metrics will be required in over 30 countries, including the UK, US, and Australia.

🏖 Purple Summer’s Château de Candie in Chambéry reopens May to October 31st. 🏞️ Located an hour from Geneva and Lyon, it hosts 25 rooms for up to 60 guests. Families can enjoy canyoning, water sports on Lac du Bourget, and cultural visits. Adventurers can try Via Ferrata and canyoning in Bauges mountains. Scenic flights from Chambéry airport cost €210 for 50 minutes. Weekly farmers’ market in Chambéry, dining cruises, and picnics in vineyards offered. 🍇👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

🌏 2024: IFOP study reveals 38% of Paris tourists are pop culture-driven, citing "Emily in Paris" as a main reason. The show's Season 5 filming in Venice highlights entertainment's role in travel behavior. With 45.1 million views in the first four weeks, streaming platforms significantly influence tourism, potentially redistributing demand. Venice faces overtourism, while other Italian regions await discovery. ENIT and Alessandra Priante aim to use this opportunity to showcase Italy’s diverse allure.

✈️ Saudia, the national flag-carrier of Saudi Arabia, has implemented a guest-centric operation by converting traditional booking records into dynamic 'orders' using Amadeus’ smart bridging capabilities. This transformation enhances real-time service delivery, offering flexible pricing and digital servicing. The initiative aims to elevate operational agility and guest experience through data-driven retailing. Saudia’s partnership with Amadeus allows a seamless transition while maintaining business continuity with existing infrastructure.

💻 Jul 18, 2025, DirectBooker, backed by ex-Google and Tripadvisor leaders, aims to disrupt OTAs using large language models like ChatGPT. Founded by Sanjay Vakil, with support from Steve Kaufer and Richard Holden, it has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. The startup, using the Model Context Protocol, seeks to provide cheaper, smarter direct hotel bookings via AI, though it remains pre-product with no hotel partnerships. The challenge remains scaling quickly before OTAs integrate similar strategies.

🏆 From June 11 to July 19, 2026, the FIFA World Cup will occur in 16 North American cities, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches. The U.S. GDP impact is projected at $17.2 billion. The longest distance between host cities, Mexico City and Vancouver, is 3,000 miles. The U.S. hotel industry might see a 1.8% RevPAR boost. Cities like New York and Los Angeles are likely to benefit most, while others may see minimal impact.

🍴 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts partners with Grubhub, launching a new service across nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels in 20 brands. Guests can order food via the Grubhub app or QR codes, activating a free six-month Grubhub+ membership for $0 delivery, reduced service fees, and 5% credit on pickups. Charmaine Taylor highlights the convenience for both guests and staff. Rob DelaCruz emphasizes enhanced on-property experiences for thousands of guests and hotel team members annually.