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📆 During the 2025 Lunar New Year, ending on February 6, Spain set a record as a favorite destination for Asian tourists, with a 192% increase in bookings compared to 2024. Spain is now the number one European and third global destination outside Asia for these travelers. The longer 11-day holiday encouraged long-haul travel. Key markets include China, Japan, and South Korea, with the highest growth from Malaysia (179%) and Thailand (110%). Top Spanish cities visited are Barcelona and Madrid, but preferences vary by nationality, with Chinese tourists also favoring historic cities like Sevilla and Japanese tourists opting for gastronomic experiences in San Sebastián and Bilbao. Asian traveler train bookings in Spain rose by 211.5%, reflecting a trend towards sustainable and flexible travel.

🏨 In 2025, SiteMinder's Hotel Booking Trends reports over 125 million online hotel bookings. Foreign travelers accounted for 60% of hotel arrivals in Spain in 2024, driving bookings despite a 5% room rate increase to an average of €212, peaking at €247 in August. The high season extended to May (9.39%) and October (9%), and advance bookings grew by 6% to 39.41 days. Top booking channels include Booking.com, direct hotel websites, and Expedia Group. Direct bookings ranked second for the sixth year, with a global average revenue of €476 per reservation.

🏢 Key tourism news from Hosteltur.com on February 5 highlights Madrid's growing tourism, with a contribution of 8.6% to the regional economy in 2024 and over 15 million visitors. Aena announced an investment of over €1 billion in Canary Islands airports, with €800 million allocated to Tenerife airports for modernization and efficiency improvements. Spain led hotel night stays in 2023 with nearly 122 million, followed by the UK with 60.3 million and Germany with 42.6 million, with international tourists accounting for 53% of hotel guests and 66% of overnight stays.

🏨 Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a staple in hotel industry discussions, promising transformative effects but raising questions about its utility and effective application. To yield useful results, AI requires structured, relevant, and accessible data, but fragmented data across different hotel systems hampers its potential. The solution lies in centralizing all data into a unified system, allowing for real-time information flow and maximizing AI capabilities. Prestige Software offers an integral platform that unifies data and equips AI agents to process and act on it effectively, transforming hotel management by eliminating errors, providing a comprehensive business view, enabling advanced personalization, and facilitating strategic decision-making. AI agents improve over time with each interaction, making the system smarter and more efficient. This paradigm shift in technology investment optimizes hotel operations, enhances customer experiences, and ultimately leads to increased revenue and guest satisfaction. The adoption of AI is not a matter of if, but when, with the current pace of the industry indicating that now is the time to embrace AI as a strategic partner.

🌱 Benidorm, recognized as the Green Pioneer of European Smart Tourism 2025, showcases transformational environmental management and innovative sustainable practices, including the construction of dikes and advanced drainage systems to combat sea-level rise and flooding. The city diversifies its offerings with sustainable theme parks, eco-friendly golf courses, and cultural events like the Winter Festival, reducing seasonal dependence and boosting local employment. Digital innovations like real-time beach monitoring apps address overtourism sustainably. Benidorm participates in the "Sustainable EU Tourism - Shaping the tourism of tomorrow" project, sharing knowledge and collaborating with over 200 EU destinations. With 15.3 million overnight stays and water scarcity issues, Benidorm implements innovative water management, such as separating rain and wastewater and using biogas from wastewater for electricity.

🌞 Costa del Sol's hotel occupancy reached 78.14% in 2024, up by 1.72 points from 76.82% in 2023, with hotels nearly 80% refurbished in the past 15 years. January 2025 exceeded expectations at 60.58%, slightly higher than 58.23% the previous year, with 80% international guests. Occupancy forecasts are positive, with February expected at 73.26% (up from 70% in 2024) and March estimated at 75.47%, aligning with March 2024's 75.10%. The focus is on recovering national, Nordic, and German markets in 2025.

🏖️ FITURTECHY 2025, the central hub for tourism innovation, took place from January 22-24 in Madrid. Organized by the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) and FITUR, the event gathered over 250 experts to discuss the future of tourism and hospitality. The conference highlighted 10 key trends: artificial intelligence, robotics, digitalization, data management, new communication formats, customer and employee experience, regenerative tourism, wellness and conscious luxury, collaborative innovation, and cybersecurity. These trends indicate a shift towards a more technological, person-centered, and sustainable tourism model.

📆 TecnoHotel OnTour will take place on Thursday, February 13, at the Gran Hotel Don Manuel in Cáceres. The event is geared towards hotel industry professionals, focusing on the latest trends in technology, revenue, distribution, and customer experience. Featured sponsors include Cloudbeds, Mews, Mirai, KHAMA Hotel, and niikiis. Key discussions will cover Extremadura's tourism potential, with experts like María José García, José Luis Iniesta, Caridad Hernández, and Guillermo Antón. Sessions will address topics such as artificial intelligence in hospitality, distributive optimization, sustainable innovation, and efficient team talent management. The event is free for hotel sector professionals, but registration is required. It will conclude with a networking cocktail.

🏨 In 2025, growth at double-digit rates compared to the previous year, driven by dominance in the EMEA region, is reported. The partnership with IHG has shown a positive balance in the first year, resulting in an increase in the American market presence, particularly in the Caribbean and Spain. Grupo Iberostar's hotel division invested 210 million euros, including the redevelopment of properties in Mallorca, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Plans for expansion include new hotels in Aruba, Miami, Mallorca, and Tunisia, with potential ventures into regions beyond current operations such as Africa. The expansion strategy focuses on Beachfront properties, with considerations for long-term plans. The luxury all-inclusive vacation sector is seeing investment interest, and Iberostar emphasizes adapting to customer desires with investments in differentiated experiences and personalization. The urban line is not a growth target, with a strategic focus on Beachfront offerings.

💰 The Turijobs annual report, presented at FITUR, analyzed over 20,000 job listings revealing a tourism sector salary average of €1,734.37/month (€21,000/year), which is 29% above the sector average but 26.32% below the national average, showing a 5% increase from 2023. The Baleares lead with €23,831/year, while Sevilla has the lowest at €17,126/year. Sectors vary: restaurants (€23,467), events (€24,188), and maintenance companies (€24,328) offer higher salaries, contrasted by bars and cleaning services on the lower end. Management roles earn more, with Regional Managers at €62,479/year, illustrating disparities by region, company type, and job position.