Business travel

Set to replace the OUI.sncf and Assistant SNCF applications from next January, SNCF Connect will bring together all the digital services offered by the company in a single app.

Brussels Airlines has just redesigned its visual identity. But more than this cosmetic change, the company's identity reaffirms its positioning as THE national airline of Belgium, according to a company spokesperson.

Jose Silva, CEO of the Dubai-based Jumeirah group, was in Paris to talk about the clear upturn in tourism in Dubai, and to share his desire to make his group a major player in the world's luxury hotel industry.

With a new brand for the Accor group, Hyde Hotels, and a second W for the Marriott group, the range of lifestyle hotels continues to expand in Dubai.

Brittany-based Finistair has been operating flights between Brest and Bordeaux since 16 November. Two weekly flights are available for business travellers.

There are once again up to three daily non-stop flights between Paris CDG and Los Angeles. In addition to the Air France-Delta Air Lines tandem, Air Tahiti Nui has been back on this route since 16 November. Competition will intensify further next April with the arrival of French Bee.

The latest aircraft in private airline VistaJet's fleet, the Bombardier Global 7500, can be considered the "Rolls Royce" of business jets. The aircraft offers exceptional performance and should come into its own with the resumption of on-demand air transport. Particularly between Europe and the United States.

A new Courtyard by Marriott in London City, the completion of a Sheraton and Marriott complex in Frankfurt, a Hyatt House and Hyatt Place duo in Los Angeles, plus a number of Holiday Inn Express hotels in the pipeline: the airport hotel sector is continuing to develop at cruising speed.

BA Euroflyer will be British Airways' low-cost airline, which should help the IAG group to regain market share at London Gatwick airport. The airline is due to take off in the summer of 2022.

Accor is expanding its long-stay accommodation offering in Singapore with the management buyout of 8 on Claymore Serviced Residences, an 85-apartment property located in the Orchard Road district.

David Kelly, Hilton's senior vice-president for continental Europe, notes that European travellers are becoming more attracted to the United States as the country reopens to international travellers. In Europe, the recovery in business travel is encouraging, according to the hotelier.

Finnair is beginning to reveal its long-haul destinations for summer 2022. The carrier will be flying to Tokyo-Haneda, a route scheduled for 2020. And it will begin flights to Busan in Korea and Dallas-Fort Worth in the United States. 

Just when South-East Asia was dreaming of becoming the next region in the world to offer a high-speed rail alternative to its inhabitants and visitors, most of the projects are severely delayed, if not cancelled altogether. The only exception: the line between China and Laos will go into service on 2 December...

Mama Shelter is due to open in Lisbon next January. At the same time, the brand will be spreading its lifestyle spirit throughout the French regions, with openings planned for Nice, Dijon and Rennes in 2023.

High-speed rail is becoming an increasingly important part of people's lives. This is particularly true in the European Union, Japan and China. Elsewhere, significant progress has been made in the United States and Latin America. In Africa and the Middle East, only Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Morocco belong to the club of HSR nations. But projects abound everywhere, waiting to be realised!

With its flawless technology to date, and a network that has become the largest in the world, China is the all-round champion of high-speed rail. And it has every intention of consolidating its supremacy over the coming decades. Even beyond its borders.

The high-speed rail network is often only at the planning stage in many parts of the United States. However, the Biden investment plan should stimulate the construction of new high-speed lines. The first concrete results are expected around 2028.

It's not just in the United States that people are talking about high-speed rail. The American continent is buzzing with plans for high-speed rail networks. There are projects in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Panama. Except that none of them has yet seen the light of day. Or completed.

Ruby is maintaining a steady pace of openings: the German hotelier has just opened its first address on the Swiss market, in Zurich. In the meantime, it is planning to open a hotel in Florence, as well as several in China, starting next year.

The Bulgari Hotel, which opens its doors on 2 December in the Golden Triangle, is a new competitor on the Parisian palace scene. The jewellery brand's hotel arm also has a new project in Los Angeles.