Automatic

📈 El nuevo estudio de Pilar Talón-Ballestero e Ismael Gómez-Talal de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, con Mana Azizsoltani y Ashok Singhana Azizsoltani de la Universidad de Nevada, publicado en IEEE Xplore, propone un modelo de IA para predecir cancelaciones de reservas en hoteles. El segmento B2C transient puede superar el 30% de cancelaciones, mientras que Booking.com registra entre 30% y 50%. El estudio utiliza más de 79.000 registros de datos y alcanza un 96% de precisión mediante un enfoque de stacking meta-modeling combinando algoritmos como Random Forest, XGBoost y LightGBM, y utiliza SHAP para la interpretabilidad del modelo. El modelo es principalmente para investigación pero puede ser aplicado en cadenas hoteleras.

🏖️ Egipto received 16 million tourists in 2024, with Spain being a major market. Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy aims to increase this number in 2025, focusing on Spanish visitor growth. Strategies include forming alliances with airlines and offering new incentive packages. Talks with various tour operators and airlines suggest an expected rise in Spanish tourism to Egypt in 2025. Additionally, the government plans to announce a new hotel investment incentive program this year and aims to add over 120,000 hotel rooms in the next five years.

📌 Hyatt Hotels Corporation has invested over €670 million in 2024, with an additional €3 billion through a deal with Playa Hotels & Resorts starting negotiations in December. On June 28, 2024, they acquired 'me and all hotels' from Lindner Hotels AG, adding over 1,000 rooms in Germany. On October 1, they purchased Standard International, parent of The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotels, for around $150 million, potentially rising to $185 million, adding 22 asset-free hotels with roughly 2,000 rooms. On October 28, Hyatt formed a joint venture with Grupo Piñero, investing €359 million for a 50% stake in Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, plus an additional €60 million, adding 23 all-inclusive resorts. Lastly, they bought three Alua Hotels & Resorts in Spain for €117 million on November 15, 2024, and plan to resell them. Hyatt also signed an agreement on February 10 to acquire Playa Hotels & Resorts for over €2.5 billion, intending to sell its properties while looking to generate at least €1.9 billion from asset sales by 2027.

📈 In 2024, the travel distribution sector, including travel agencies and tour operators, surpassed 70,000 employees. However, 18% of agencies are experiencing talent shortages in hiring and retention. Users over 65 account for 22.8% of travel agency customers, while younger generations use their services less, e.g., 3.3% for those aged 26 to 35. Despite advancements in digitalization, 47% of agencies believe more innovation is needed, and 4% haven't progressed since 2023. Direct sales are growing, with direct distribution nearing 59%. New regulations, such as the reservation registry effective December 2, 2024, raise concerns over data handling and competitiveness within the EU. Additionally, travel agencies face challenges from unlicensed operators, with a 'buzón del intrusismo' set up by CEAV to report such issues.

🏦 Room007 achieved a turnover of 70 million euros in 2024, a 90% increase from the previous year. The company aims to surpass 100 million euros in 2025. In 2024, Room007 opened 13 new establishments, ending the year with 30 active sites and 20 under construction. Highlights include the acquisition of TOC Hostels for 20 million euros in September 2024, making it Europe's largest hostel chain, and the purchase of Casa Gracia in Barcelona for 10 million euros. Room007 Group plans over 20 new openings in 2025 and is recognized by the United Nations and MITECO as the first hostel and boutique hotel chain with zero carbon emissions in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.