Eventos

🎄 Paris, London, and Rome remain top choices for European travelers during the Christmas season, including New Year 2025, with growing trends towards European destinations. Amsterdam and Madrid report a 50% and 48% increase in bookings, respectively, from the previous year. Other popular cities for Christmas and New Year celebrations are Brussels, Tenerife, Barcelona, Prague, and Bilbao. Spanish locales like Madrid, Barcelona, and Tenerife are favored by French (22%), German (21%), and Italian (14%) tourists. Nantes sees a 54% rise in interest, Istanbul surprises with a 72% increase, and Milan doubles its New Year's bookings, growing by 119%.

📱 ISE 2025 will take place in Barcelona from February 4-7, featuring cutting-edge AV technologies for the hospitality industry. The expanded event offers seven Tech Zones with sessions and demos, an Innovation Park for startups, and a new North Access entrance for improved accessibility. Keynote by Brian Solis on AI, with thematic summits including Smart Building and Digital Signage. Day Pass available, and free AVIXA Congress sessions in Spanish. Register for free with code 'tecnohoteles' at iseurope.org.

🚀 Ouigo launched ticket sales for the Madrid-Seville-Málaga-Córdoba corridor with prices starting at €9, causing website traffic that overwhelmed their site. Children's tickets start at €7. The service will begin on January 16, delayed from the initial September 26 start date due to train delivery and testing setbacks.

🏖 Hotel chain Riu returns to Fitur in 2025 after a 17-year absence since its last participation in 2008. The announcement was made on social media, highlighting the upcoming presence at stand 8A25. Despite attending Fitur in previous years, Riu's commercial teams held meetings predominantly at their Madrid Plaza España hotel. Fitur remains Spain's primary tourism fair, with Joan Trian Riu, son of retired CEO Carmen Riu, representing the Mallorcan chain, now led solely by Luis Riu.

🏖️ Bernardo Quetglas Riego, President of BQ Hotels and Viajes Sidetours, will receive the Preferente Award on January 22 at the upcoming Fitur event in Ifema's Neptuno room at 13:00. Marga Prohens, President of Baleares, will present the award. Other awardees include Ernesto Veloz (Asoleste), Miguel Amengual, and Enrique Saiz (CEO of Wamos), with officials from Spain and the Dominican Republic in attendance.

❄️ Grandvalira and Ordino Arcalís in Andorra open their ski slopes for the 2024-2025 season on December 6, amidst optimism after uncertain years. With hotel bookings around 85% for the holiday bridge, full occupancy is expected near both resorts. Grandvalira, the largest in Southern Europe, offers over 210 km of slopes and a range of family activities. Ordino Arcalís, known for its technical 30 km of tracks, attracts elite skiers globally. Both stations feature events, improved facilities, and artificial snow systems for the season kickoff.

🏢 Airmet concluded its "Con Altura" tour, celebrating its 25th anniversary, with events in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, attracting over 120 travel agents. Rubén Fernández, Airmet's Director General, highlighted nearly 20 roundtables for independent agencies focusing on daring, listening, collaborating, and specializing. The Airmet convention is set for April 4-6, next year in Sancti Petri, Cádiz, with support from Turismo de Andalucía.

💳 Adyen, a financial technology platform based in Amsterdam with a Tech Hub in Madrid, partners with Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) in Madrid on November 21, 2024, to produce synergies in technology and software for the hospitality industry. Adyen offers solutions that simplify payment management and enhance guest experiences. Over 60% of consumers value a wide range of payment options; 36% have abandoned bookings when their preferred payment method wasn't available, highlighting the need for payment flexibility and customization.

🏨 The "Casos de Éxito de Tecnología Turística" event, organized by Hosteltur, will take place on November 27 at Hotel Santos Nixe Palace in Palma from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. Key players such as Hotetec, Siteminder, and Roiback, among others, will present their success stories in tourism technology, showcasing innovations that have enhanced efficiency and service quality in the industry. The program includes presentations, a welcoming coffee, a coffee break sponsored by Hotetec, and a closing cocktail courtesy of Fideltour.

🏖 UN Tourism, at a meeting in Cartagena de Indias, proclaimed 55 top tourist villages worldwide using criteria like heritage preservation, sustainability, and inclusion. Initially, 260 localities from 60 countries competed. China won the most awards with seven villages, while Spain had two villages listed, one from Aragón and another from Catalonia. Aínsa in Aragón and Mura in Catalonia were recognized for their medieval beauty and conservation. An "upgrade programme" invite was extended to Pals, Gerona. Applications for the next year are now open.