Carla Mendez

🛒 Visionary Hospitality, led by CEO Antonio Álvarez, aims to reduce food waste in hotels, representing 20% of Spain's waste, with 40% of cooked food trashed, costing €200 million annually and contributing 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases. Their solution, Buffet Waste, installed in 18 hotels by the end of 2024, saved 50,000 kilos of food. The company values sustainability, efficiency, guest satisfaction, and ongoing innovation.

🏨 In 2025, SiteMinder's Hotel Booking Trends reports over 125 million online hotel bookings. Foreign travelers accounted for 60% of hotel arrivals in Spain in 2024, driving bookings despite a 5% room rate increase to an average of €212, peaking at €247 in August. The high season extended to May (9.39%) and October (9%), and advance bookings grew by 6% to 39.41 days. Top booking channels include Booking.com, direct hotel websites, and Expedia Group. Direct bookings ranked second for the sixth year, with a global average revenue of €476 per reservation.

🏖️ FITURTECHY 2025, the central hub for tourism innovation, took place from January 22-24 in Madrid. Organized by the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) and FITUR, the event gathered over 250 experts to discuss the future of tourism and hospitality. The conference highlighted 10 key trends: artificial intelligence, robotics, digitalization, data management, new communication formats, customer and employee experience, regenerative tourism, wellness and conscious luxury, collaborative innovation, and cybersecurity. These trends indicate a shift towards a more technological, person-centered, and sustainable tourism model.

🏨 Over 60 international hotel chains offer room selection for a fee, similar to airlines' seat selection. 20% of customers using hotel websites pay to choose their room number, adding an average of €69 per selected room. Hotelverse, after a €5 million funding round in September, services 60+ brands, including Radisson, Iberostar, Barceló, RIU, Hyatt, and Palladium. Innovations include digital twins for room booking, leading to a 15%+ web conversion increase and a 70% rise in interest for premium rooms. Hotelverse introduces email reservation confirmation with 3D room selection.

📱 Madrid, 24 de enero de 2025, clausura de la 19ª edición de FITURTECHY. Alba Renai, influencer virtual IA, captura la atención en el evento techYfuturo, patrocinado por American Express. Participantes incluyen TikTok, Microsoft, Telefónica, Bravent, entre otros. Discusiones sobre IA, redes sociales y Smart Cities. Un 30% de usuarios cambian de destino por RRSS; más del 40% reserva tras ver TikTok. Temáticas de personalización de experiencias, integración de IA en turismo, y el auge del turismo de bienestar físico y mental destacan. TechYdestino finaliza con taller de IA para destinos.

🏖 On January 23, 2025, in Madrid, the VIII edition of the AMT Smart Destinations Awards was presented at the FITURTECHY forum, part of the International Tourism Trade Fair (Fitur). Winners included Ok Located, Freeplantour, Barceló Hotel Group, Murmuration, and the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. These awards, given by the Tourist Municipalities' Alliance (AMT) and the Hotel Technological Institute (ITH), honor technological solutions aiding in the transformation into Smart Tourist Destinations (DTI). Categories encompassed destination management, tourist interaction, environmental sustainability, and marketing promotion. The new 'Innovative Destination Project' category was won by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria's DataLAB project. The jury consisted of representatives from AMT, ITH, SEGITTUR, Invattur, and Fitur, and recognized finalists in each category. The AMT was founded in 2017 by eight pioneering Spanish tourist destinations, focusing on finance, digitalization, sustainability, accessibility, and cooperation among destinations.