Innovaciones

🏙 "Best in Travel in 2025" by Lonely Planet lists Palma de Mallorca as one of the top cities to visit in 2025, being the only Spanish destination in the selection of 30 global locations across "Cities", "Regions", and "Countries". The "Best Cities to Travel in 2025" category features 10 cities, including Palma de Mallorca. Deputy Mayor of Tourism, Javier Bonet, emphasizes the 12-year commitment to cultural, gastronomic, sporting, and sustainable tourism as key to its selection.

🏁 Plus Ultra airline, led by Julio Martínez, plans to expand its fleet from six to ten Airbus A330 by 2026. The carrier has surpassed its previous year's revenue in the first nine months and expects positive year-end results. It collaborates with Sata and Rainbow and will renew these partnerships, adding a second aircraft in Poland next season. Plus Ultra operates in over 200 airports globally and will introduce Buenos Aires as a new destination in October 2025, aiming for daily flights to Cartagena, Bogotá, and Lima.

🏑️ Accenture's study reveals that 66% of travelers are dissatisfied with current planning options, with 48% finding trip organization fragmented due to separate bookings. 64% struggle with bundling services for a connected experience, and 97% would prefer a superapp for travel. Navigation complexity frustrates 61%, while 56% are hindered by limited personalization options. Privacy concerns arise for 52%, particularly regarding data security and unwanted promotions. Business leaders see AI as a transformative opportunity, with 73% focused on cost-saving and efficiency, and 63% on revenue growth. Barriers include talent training, with two-thirds of executives viewing it as a limitation. Presently, 34% of organizations allocate over half of their tech budget to AI, expected to reach 69% in the next 18 months.

✈ Iberia postpones the world commercial debut of the Airbus A321XLR to November 1, transitioning from Madrid-London to Madrid-Paris. The first flight, IB585, departs Madrid at 08:00, returning from Paris Charles de Gaulle as IB586 at 11:45. Long-haul operations begin November 14 with Madrid-Boston, taking 8 hours and 25 minutes, thrice weekly plus an A330 flight. Washington DC follows on January 15, 2025, with six weekly flights. Iberia's eight A321XLRs feature 182 seats and boast a 15% greater range (8,700 km) than the A321LR, targeting East Coast North America.

🚢 Royal Caribbean's third Icon-class cruise ship construction began at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, with its debut scheduled for 2026. The Icon of the Seas, the first in its class and also the world's largest cruise ship, debuted in January 2024. Icon-class ships feature LNG propulsion, reducing emissions, and boast the largest high-seas water park, Category 6. These ships include seven pools, over 20 restaurants, and 15 bars and lounges, with a gross tonnage of 250,800 TRB, a length of 365 meters, and a capacity for 7,600 passengers.

🏨 StayTalks, an innovative customer service system featuring an AI-driven voice bot, enhances guest interaction and improves operational efficiency in hotels. The voice bot can handle common queries, manage reservations, provide service information, and improve customer satisfaction. It operates 24/7, reduces wait times, scales complex cases efficiently, and is constantly evolving to adapt to the dynamic hotel sector. StayTalks will also incorporate natural email response in the future.

📞 Key facts from the article include: Externalizing a hotel's call center can lead to a significant sales increase, with specialized agents able to perform revenue management campaigns and increase reservation averages by up to 60%. Call Seeker data shows up to 65% of quotes sent result in bookings. Externalization also offers personalized and professional attention, optimizes resources, reduces costs, ensures efficient multichannel management, and provides valuable data for decision-making. Operations Manager Antonio Granados of Ring2Travel highlights the importance of quality interactions in customer retention and conversion.

📊 On October 17, 2024, the article discusses the importance of differentiating between direct and indirect production costs for business profitability. Direct costs are linked to the production of finished units, while indirect costs affect production processes but are not easily assigned to individual units. Examples include rental costs of industrial premises and investments in facility improvements. The article highlights the role of ERP systems in managing these costs and the impact of digital transformation on cost control, emphasizing automated processes and real-time monitoring with production control software.

🏨 In Valencia, "ITH TechYroom 2.0" project advances, led by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) at Caro Hotel. The initiative aligns with Valencia's sustainability objectives as the 2024 European Green Capital. José Manuel Camarero, Secretary of Tourism, visited the hotel on October 16 to review progress on the sustainable room project, which won a July competition by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana. The project focuses on modernization, competitiveness through advanced technologies, energy efficiency, and reducing environmental impact.

✈ Airbus' A321XLR aircraft received EASA certification for a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 101 tons, with the initial 97-ton version certified in July 2023. The new 100 variant allows for long-haul routes with increased efficiency and range, featuring an innovative rear fuel tank for more fuel capacity than its predecessor, the A321LR. Iberia is set to debut the A321XLR commercially on October 26, flying from Madrid to Heathrow, then to Paris Charles de Gaulle, and back in a day. Long-haul operations begin November 14, with an 8-hour 25-minute flight from Madrid to Boston, departing at 12:35 and arriving at 15:00. Washington DC flights are scheduled to start on January 15, 2025.