Distribución y Revenue Management

📈 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.

📌 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.

🏖️ 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.

✈ Iberia reached 30 million passengers in 2024, capturing 3.7 million in the last five years and holding 85% of Madrid's hub growth, increasing market share from 42.5% in 2019 to 45.3% in 2024. Air Europa grew by 890,143 passengers to nearly 10.9 million, while Ryanair served about 7.2 million, up 201,663 since 2019. Wizz Air surpassed EasyJet with 1.3 million passengers, and Aeroméxico added 389,333 for a total of 727,361. Barajas airport ended the year with 66.2 million travelers, 4.4 million above pre-pandemic levels.

📝 Silvia Gualano authored an article titled "Optimiza la gestión del la salida en Airbnb," published on 2025-02-18. The article appears in the eventos category on RoomCloud's website, accessible at www.roomcloud.net. The logo image is 4625x2778 pixels in size. The content urges sharing the story across various platforms and includes navigational aids such as skip links and a "Go to Top" button for user convenience.

🏦 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.

✈ Ryanair cuts 643,000 seats at Spanish airports between March 30 and October 25, affecting airports with under 3 million annual passengers. Santiago Airport loses 334,000 seats (-11.4%), Zaragoza sees a reduction of 113,000 seats (-18.5%), and Santander drops 88,000 seats (-10%). Valladolid and Jerez suspend operations entirely; Valladolid plummets from 154,000 to 60,000 seats, losing Barcelona flights from March 28. Jerez's offer declines by 7% to 700,000 seats, while Asturias faces a smaller cut of 1.8%, or 27,000 fewer seats. Volotea aims to increase its Spanish offer by 9%, covering some gaps left by Ryanair, whose CEO criticizes Aena's tariffs and suggests regional airports be managed by local authorities—a proposal rejected by Aena and the government. Aena introduces incentives for airlines to increase traffic at smaller airports.

🏨 Direct hotel sales mean guests booking through a hotel's own channels, avoiding up to 25% OTA commissions. A target of 40-60% of direct bookings is considered balanced, while some boutique hotels achieve 80%. Strategies include a fast website with a 3-click booking process, exclusive web rates, incentives, and the use of social media, email marketing, chatbots, loyalty programs, SEO, targeted digital ads, and retargeting campaigns to attract guests without third-party fees.

🏖 Cuatro operadores, Mundiplan, Seniorplan, Nautalia (Travel Live), y Ávoris, se preparan para competir en la próxima licitación pública de los viajes del Imserso para la temporada 2025-2026. Ávoris, con una prórroga ya otorgada para 2024-2025, planea vender 900.000 pasajeros y destaca un nivel de satisfacción con los viajes por encima del 90%. La inversión estatal en el subsidio de estos viajes retorna dos o tres euros por cada euro gastado. Los operadores apuntan a mantener su participación en los tres lotes del programa y se enfocan en la satisfacción del cliente senior.

🏖 The interview with tourism consultant Ángel Díaz, published in HOSTELTUR magazine in January 2025, discusses the broader concept of the "visitor economy" which surpasses traditional tourism metrics. Australia, for instance, has quantified contributions from international students—accounting for 9% of total income in 2019—exceeding holiday visitors. Spain's metropolitan areas like Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia, leverage existing tourism infrastructure for various visitor-derived economic activities. The PIMEC Turismo Hub, in partnership with InAtlas, analyzes the economic impact of visitors, beyond standard tourist expenditures, to include the entire value chain. The challenge includes quantifying the substantial yet uncharted economic influence of student visitors. Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress example illustrates how tourism infrastructure can foster a digital industry ecosystem. The visitor economy incorporates long-stay accommodations, medical services, and other niches, indicating a shift towards a more liberal economic approach and the need for public-private collaboration to attract targeted visitor segments.