Automatic

🏖️ 56% of Hanaley Travel's clients chose off-peak months to travel in 2024, with savings often exceeding 20% compared to high season. In low season, Japan, Argentina, and Tanzania emerged as favored destinations due to less crowding and availability of accommodations and activities. Parks and monuments see up to 40% fewer visitors, and the majority of surveyed travelers (93%) enjoyed a richer experience. Preferred traveler profiles include young couples and retirees interested in cultural immersion and sustainable tourism.

🛌 Alberto Malpartida, CEO of Tripcare, spoke at the AEGVE International Summit 2024 in Sevilla, discussing the increased risks in business travel, including extreme weather, geopolitics, and labor strikes. He advised travel managers on risk evaluation, updating travel risk policies, staying informed, briefing travelers on issues, and providing mitigation measures like 24-hour assistance. Positive projections for 2025 events were discussed, with trends expected to surpass or stabilize compared to 2024's record levels. Bosch's Senior Travel Manager, Sandra Felix, critiqued the NDC implementation and emphasized airline consideration of travel manager needs by 2030. The Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau hosted the Summit, highlighting Andalusia's MICE offerings and the renovated Ilunion Alcora hotel.

🏦 Booking Holdings, encompassing Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, and OpenTable, reported earnings of $2.517 billion for the third quarter, matching the prior year's profit. Nights booked increased by 8%, with revenue rising 9% to $8 billion, attributed to strong European performance. CEO Glenn Fogel highlighted cost efficiency and strategic initiatives for long-term positioning. The net profit of $2.5 billion excludes potential fines from Spain's competition authority, against which Booking has filed an appeal.

🏨 In Spain, hotel companies decreased by almost 4% in the past year, while the number of open establishments increased slightly by about 2% to 14,427. The peak was in 2018 with nearly 13,500 active hotel companies. Andalusia leads with 2,488 hotels and hostels, followed by Catalonia and Galicia. Hostels are divided into 1* silver (3,548) and 2-3* silver (2,726), whereas hotels are categorized by gold stars, with 4* gold hotels being the most prevalent at 2,509. Data from DIRCE as of January 1, 2023.

🏖️ El Gobierno aprobó 10.600 millones de euros en ayudas para los afectados por la DANA en la Comunidad Valenciana. Pymes y autónomos recibirán 838 millones, con solicitudes del 19 de noviembre al 31 de diciembre de 2023. Booking.com recurrió una multa de 413 millones de euros impuesta por la CNMC por prácticas que limitan la competencia. Trip.com muestra optimismo en su crecimiento en Europa, con más de 5,3 millones de descargas de su aplicación y un notable aumento en reservas de vuelos y hoteles.