Market Trends

📑 Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems at Accor, and Chloe Laskaridis, Executive President of Lampsa Hellenic Hotels, spoke at the Hospitality Operator Forum. They unveiled a new luxury vision emphasizing trust, local roots, and sustainability. They discussed the Emblems Collection and a family partnership as examples of lasting owner-operator relationships in today's competitive market.

📚 At the Hospitality Operator Forum, Julien Huel of Groupe Barrière analyzed 15 years of strategic transformation. Key moments include diversifying and expanding the customer base while maintaining luxury foundations. He detailed strategies for sustaining value creation for owners in a competitive market.

📈 Gilda Pérez-Alvarado, Chief Strategy Officer at Accor and CEO of Orient Express, presented at the Hospitality Operator Forum on the evolving hospitality industry. She discussed new drivers of value amidst sector restructuring, highlighting changes in macroeconomic dynamics and asset management models. The focus included the revival of the Orient Express brand, and how hospitality now encompasses trains, yachts, and immersive experiences, reshaping investor expectations and the travel landscape.

🏨 Sylvie Bergeret, COO of MKG, at the Hospitality Operator Forum, questions hotel valuation drivers. With fragmentation in market cycles, territories, and segments, she urges investors and operators to look beyond the obvious. She emphasizes analyzing trajectories, execution risks, and upside potential for strategic value creation in hospitality.

🏨 Béatrice Guedj at the Hospitality Operator Forum highlighted that European hospitality has become a top asset for investors due to its solid fundamentals and strategic repositioning. From 2013 to 2020, it surpassed the Euro Stoxx 50, and since 2022, it's shown resilience, attracting US investors amid market volatility. Despite a drop in volume between 2021-2025, the sector remains stable, with hotel investments rising from 5-7% pre-pandemic to nearly 10% today.

📅 London’s MICE market is thriving in 2025, driven by corporate events, which make up 48% of the global MICE market. London's strategic location contributed to almost half of the UK's 42.5 million overseas visitors in 2024. Training and Education is the fastest-growing segment, with a 5% increase in training expenditure to $102.8 billion in 2024-2025. Hoteliers should focus on tech-enabled spaces and partnerships with educational bodies to leverage MICE opportunities.

🏖 2025 Winter Travel Index by Tripadvisor reveals 60% of travelers plan trips, with 45% traveling more than last year. 54% opt for stays of five nights or more, spending more despite economic concerns. Top destinations include New York City, London, Cancun, and Bangkok. Experiences are key, with 93% prioritizing them in their budgets. Generational travel varies, with younger groups focusing on activities and older generations on relaxation. Data sourced from over 6,123 survey respondents and Tripadvisor site traffic.