Informe semanal de noticias del mercado francés de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en París
- Tourism industry and Competitors news
Holiday rentals: Google accused of unfair competition 34 companies and federations of tourism companies have sent a letter to the European Commission accusing Google of abusing its dominant position in online search to favour its own business. We are currently witnessing an attempt by Google to extend its dominance in online search for holiday rentals,» the companies wrote in the letter. A strategy «aimed at reducing us and our industry to mere content providers for the ‘One Stop Shop’ (in short, the ability to make all your purchases in one place, editor’s note)» developed by Google, they write in this letter, which we have consulted. «Such a favourable ranking and display ensures that Google’s service gets more attention and clicks from users than any competing service, even if it is more relevant to the user’s search query,» they continue. Echo Touristique
The numerous tourist offices in Tourissima and the World Tourism Fair Among the many tourist offices, we can note that the Spanish Tourist Office is going to make a big splash with a 200 m² space. Spain seduces the many holidaymakers and soon risks to dethrone France as the first tourist country in the world. Croatia continues to make the emulators with more than 600,000 French people in 2018. The Croatian National Tourist Office and its partners will be present in 2020 to share their new suggestions for discoveries. It will be possible to see representatives of the Portuguese city of Braga, a student city with a past dating back to Roman times. It is therefore a destination that is both lively and rich in cultural places to visit. It is clear that these fairs will boost the morale of future travellers who are looking forward to their next holiday. La Quotidienne
The 8 key figures of social media in 2020 Hootsuite and We Are Social Media unveil their annual study on social media and digital trends in France. With a population of 65.2 million people, France now has 58.03 million Internet users, or 89% of the population. Tom Travel
- Aviation news
Air Italy, owned by Qatar Airways, in compulsory liquidation The skies are still darkening over European airlines. After France and its carriers, it is now up to Italy to observe the failure of Air Italy. Although owned by Qatar Airways since 2016, the company has just announced on its website, its «liquidation, in order to minimize inconvenience for passengers holding Air Italy tickets.» Badly in trouble for a few weeks, with losses reaching 200 million euros at the end of 2019, the Italian carrier leaves 1,200 employees on the floor. Passengers with tickets until 25 February 2025 will be able to travel at the times scheduled by other carriers, while others will be blamed or fully refunded. TourMag
- Tour operators and travel agents news
With bookings up 14%, TUI recovers Thomas Cook’s market share TUI just recorded the highest volume of bookings in its history in January, taking advantage of the collapse of Thomas Cook, according to the Financial Times. Following the announcement of these results, the group’s shares rose by nearly 12% to reach their highest level in several weeks. The Hanover-based German company is being rewarded for its responsiveness following the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, one of its biggest competitors, last September. For example, TUI Group has recovered numerous contracts for former hotels operated by Thomas Cook in the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Turkey. Echo Touristique
Thomas Cook: Hervé Vighier buys Jet tours and Eldorador As we were expecting on February 6th, Hervé Vighier won the duel with GIE Asha (Havas Voyages and Selectour Entreprise) for the takeover of the Jet tours brand. «It wasn’t easy, but I won the brand. Now, I will have plenty of time to think and prepare my project,» Hervé Vighier confided to us this evening. After an initial offer of 850,000 euros, the former boss of Marmara put up to 1.1 million euros on the table, when GIE Asha was willing to pay 1.05 million euros. It is thus with a second improved offer that Hervé Vighier had the preference of the judge in charge of the file. He gets his hands on the trademarks and domain names linked to Jet tours, which he will be able to use at his convenience. Echo Touristique
