Distribución y Revenue Management

🏖️ Participation of Costa del Sol hotels in the Imserso program has drastically decreased, from 25 to just 8 or 9 hotels. The tourism sector opposes new program terms, as prices set for next season—26 to 28 euros per person per day—do not cover operating costs. Package prices for the elderly range from 132.91 euros for four-day trips to provincial capitals to 464.72 euros for ten-day trips to the Canary Islands. Current season prices are 124.68 euros and 435.95 euros respectively. Major hospitality associations criticize the government's missed opportunity to truly update the main domestic tourism operation for the winter season.

💸 Iberia's promotional campaign "Vacaciones: ¡planifica y ahorra!" offers up to €300 discounts on flight+hotel or rental car packages until May 20, valid for trips until April 30, 2026. Deals include New York from €599 with flights, 3-night hotel stay, and luggage; Miami from €699 with flights and 7-day car rental; Tenerife from €99 with flights and 3-day car rental; Fuerteventura from €179 with flights and 3-night hotel; Rome from €129 and London from €179 with flights and 2-night stay. Reservations can be made with a €99 deposit and flexible installments at no extra cost on Iberia's website.

💸 Travel agencies are shocked by Air Europa's policy change as the airline, part of Globalia, toughens ADM penalties leading to sanctions on intermediaries. Air Europa now aggressively audits agencies for alleged infractions like "churning," where multiple consecutive bookings for the same flight keep or extend seat availability. The airline has notably increased penalties and reduced commissions for agencies in current year contracts, imposing harsher conditions than other conventional airlines and even some low-cost carriers like Vueling and Volotea.

🏡 Kayak, part of Booking Holdings, launched Kayak.ai, an experimental platform integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, designed to test AI-based travel tools. Kayak.ai provides real-time travel information from over 400 providers in a conversational search interface. Successful features from Kayak.ai will be integrated into Kayak.com. The initiative is led by Kayak's new CTO Yaron Zeidman, offering users features like finding destinations under 500 euros, locating direct flights, weekend deals, comparing hotels, monitoring flights, and planning trips with updated pricing.

🏨 Los hoteles en España experimentaron un crecimiento del 1,3% en viajeros extranjeros en el primer trimestre de 2023, mientras que las viviendas turísticas de alquiler vieron un aumento del 8,8%. España recibió casi 17,1 millones de turistas internacionales entre enero y marzo, un 5,7% más que en el mismo periodo de 2024. Alojamiento hotelero: 9.982.298 turistas (+1,37%), vivienda de alquiler: 2.343.593 turistas (+8,87%). El gasto medio turístico fue de 1.378 euros por viajero, con un leve aumento del 1,4%.

🏗 The CNMV approved the Travel Tech 2 (TT2) Smart Investments fund, led by ex-tourism industry executives including Jorge Schoenenberger (ex-CEO of Viajes El Corte Inglés). Aiming to raise €50 million, the fund already has commitments for €37 million, targeting €15 million from private investors and €35 million from institutions like Fond-ICO. The five leaders will invest €1.25 million collectively, focusing on B2B startups valued between €5-10 million that leverage AI for scaling.

🏨 Canarias tops hotel prices in Q1 2025 with an average daily rate (ADR) of €171.6, surpassing Barcelona (€166.9) and Marbella (€166.3). The national average in Spain reaches €139.4, a 5% increase from 2024. Madrid and Baleares see price rises of 11.4% and 13.1%, respectively, while Bilbao and Valencia experience declines of 8.4% and 5.7%. Canarias also leads in occupancy at 84.6%, with significant increases in Benidorm (17.3%) and Baleares (9.7%). Canarias holds the highest revenue per available room (RevPAR) at €145.2, with Baleares and Benidorm leading percentage increases at 24% and 15.7%.

💰 Airbnb's profits plunged by 42% in Q1 of 2025 to $154 million, down from $264 million in the same period in 2024. Despite the fall, revenues rose by 6% to $2.3 billion compared to $2.1 billion in the previous year's first quarter. Adjusted Ebitda slightly decreased to $417 million from $424 million in 2024. The company attributes the profit decline to higher stock-based compensation expenses due to staff expansion, depreciation of investments, and lower interest income. CEO Brian Chesky touts the resilience and adaptability of Airbnb's business model, highlighting growth in overnight stays despite a slight drop in Average Daily Rates (ADR).

🏠 Booking Holdings, encompassing brands like Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable, exceeded market expectations in Q1 2025 with global growth despite geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties. CFO Ewout Steenbergen reported stable demand, with a shift from U.S. travel to Canada-Mexico routes. Room nights hit a record 319 million, up 7% year-on-year, gross bookings rose to $46.7 billion (+7%), revenue reached $4.8 billion (+8%), and adjusted EBITDA grew 21% to $1.1 billion. CEO Glenn Fogel credited their long-term focus and commitment to value creation. Predictions for annual growth in bookings and revenue are cautious, with a mid to high single-digit increase and low to mid single-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share. The company continues to invest in AI, highlighting collaborations with OpenAI, Microsoft, and Amazon, and introducing Kayak.ai.

🏢 Viajes El Corte Inglés has initiated its expansion project in Chile and Mexico, aspiring to become a significant tourist issuer in these countries, and operates under the Tourmundial brand. The plan includes further expansion into other Latin American countries after consolidating in Chile and Mexico. In Mexico, it has 106 sales points, 65% of its 162 American continent offices. In Chile, it has 19 offices, followed by Colombia (17), Peru (7), Panama (5), Ecuador (3), the United States (3), and Uruguay (2). The company's primary goal is to penetrate local agencies with products for European and other global destinations. Viajes El Corte Inglés faces competition from Ávoris, which has also established itself as a tourist issuer in Mexico with the brand Catai.