Distribución y Revenue Management

🇨🇺 The Cuban government reported a 29.7% drop in tourism for the first quarter compared to the same period in 2024, with a loss of 237,000 tourists, totaling only 571,000 international visitors. The decline was primarily in the Russian and Canadian markets, as well as among Cuban expatriates. Russian tourism nearly halved, while Canadian visits fell by 32% from 399,000 to 272,000. Other countries with decreased tourism to Cuba include the United States, Germany, France, Argentina, Mexico, and Spain. No signs indicate an imminent recovery in tourist volumes, exacerbating the country's economic crisis.

💸 Paraty Tech, a company specializing in tech solutions for tourism accommodations, establishes a strategic partnership with Trust Payments to optimize booking conversion and enhance payment experiences. The collaboration offers hotels robust, customizable payment solutions with over 50 integrations and flexible billing strategies, targeting the Portuguese market with plans to expand. Diana Costa of Paraty Tech and Laurence Booth, CEO of Trust Payments, highlight reducing failed bookings and creating memorable payment experiences as key benefits.

💣 A terrorist attack in India-controlled Kashmir on April 22 caused 26 deaths, including 25 Indian tourists and one Nepali. Following the attack, a steep decline in travel bookings hit the local economy, and Indian authorities indefinitely closed 48 tourist spots. Over 60% of families canceled plans for Kashmir between May and December 2025, with some agencies reporting up to 90% cancellation rates. In 2024, Kashmir saw 23.6 million tourists, contributing 7-8% to the state's GDP and employing around one million people. Security operations have since intensified.

🏨 RateHawk, an online B2B hotel, flight, and transfer booking system, saw a 67% growth in global bookings in 2024. The Emerging Travel Group, based in the UAE, reported a gross transaction value of $3.7 billion that year (~€3.3 billion), greatly driven by RateHawk. Celebrating nine years, the company connected with over 70 new international accommodation providers, totaling over 300 wholesalers worldwide. Direct contracts with more than 34,000 accommodations were signed, reaching 120,000 total, and offering over 2.6 million lodging options. Demand for transport bookings doubled, with a 25% uptake of a new train travel service across Europe. RateHawk integrated with over 500 new entities, including Ctrip, and opened a new office in Singapore in 2024. The company now has over 93,000 travel professional partners globally, with over 7,000 in the Iberia region.

💻 Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhances competitiveness in the dynamic hotel sector by redefining guest interactions and optimizing operations. AI assists hotels of all sizes in analyzing data, automating tasks, and adapting in real-time. It personalizes user experiences, predicting needs and suggesting custom rooms and services, boosting satisfaction and revenue through upselling and cross-selling. AI chatbots provide instant, personalized, multilingual customer service, improving perception and efficiency. Pricing optimization through AI adjusts rates based on demand and external factors, maximizing occupancy and profitability. In content creation and marketing, AI generates personalized content across channels, optimizing time and cost. Predictive analysis aids hotel management in decision-making, operational improvements, and cost reduction while enhancing guest experiences. GNA Hotel Solutions offers marketing and technology services with AI tools to help hoteliers stay competitive and elevate service quality.

📍 Ávoris and Air Europa bolster collaboration targeting the Caribbean. Travelplan, now owned by Barceló after a 2022 acquisition from Globalia, launches "Especial Caribe" with flights from Air Europa. Packages cover Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Mexico, departing from multiple Spanish cities. Transfers are in Madrid, utilizing Air Europa's Boeing 787 Dreamliner or Iberojet's A350/A330. The special program, active from May to October, includes eight destinations. Previous deals had linked Air Europa with Iberojet for long-haul operations due to fleet shortages.

🛫 CEAV's vice president José Manuel Lastra expresses dissatisfaction with the new Imserso travel bid, claiming many agency requests for program improvements have been ignored. Agencies seek increased compensation, criticizing the current increase from €14.50 to €15 per seat as insufficient, a mere 3.4% rise after four years, well below IPC-influenced operational costs. Agencies, dealing with over a million people, argue for a doubling of the current fee, considering their significant service contribution. The bid also notes a reduction to 789,000 spots despite over four million potential users and a call for more diverse destinations, including the Cantabrian coast and a focus on rural tourism to combat depopulation in rural Spain. Lastra highlights the need for better communication and collaboration with the administration to enhance the program.

🏨 Despite the global economic upheaval caused by the trade war and geopolitical tension instigated by Donald Trump, Spain's hotel reservation levels remain resilient. In the last week, 22.5% of bookings on the Travelgate platform were made more than 90 days in advance, nearly identical to last year's 23.2%. Spanish bookings rose by 32%, UK by 12%, and US by 27%, while German bookings slightly declined by 1.5%. However, the Canary (-1.7%) and Balearic (-5.9%) Islands saw a drop in reservations, potentially due to connectivity issues, higher prices, or limited summer availability. Other regions like Andalusia (+5.45%), Catalonia (+7.82%), and Valencia (+12.49%) experienced an increase in bookings compared to the previous year.

📊 Mirai, a hotel sales analytics firm, now offers comprehensive monthly sales reports in PDF format delivered via email, detailing the performance of direct sales. These reports include year-to-date and year-over-year comparisons of reservations, room nights, stays, cancellations, sales, average prices, booking lead times, and average length of stay. Hotel chains can receive aggregated data and rankings for multiple properties. Reports are available the day after monthly reservation reviews and can be accessed for previous months on the Mirai extranet. 📊

🏨 Spanish hotel chains pioneered tourism expansion globally, with the top 30 groups holding 279,228 rooms abroad, adding over 70,600 since 2013. Meliá Hotels International leads with 58,822 rooms by 2024, having grown by 15,800+ since 2013. Minor Hotels Europe & America follows with 44,789 rooms, and Barceló Hotel Group ranks third with 44,640, having fully acquired Crestline Hotels & Resorts in 2017. Riu Hotels & Resorts, focusing on ownership, grew by 7,428 rooms, while Iberostar Hotels & Resorts reached 21,601 rooms, a slight increase from 2013.